His Toxic Addiction-Chapter 335: Three Words, Eight Letters.

Music Recommendation: Say You Won’t Let Go - James Authur.

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"I love you, Arissa," the last note read.

She blinked and tried to bring the air knocked out of her lungs back into it. She sniffed and stared at the note amazingly.

And then it hit her. She remembered their predicament and immediately raised her face to him, "No, no, no, Nick," Arissa panicked, trembling visibly, "You can’t say you love me. Love is a strong word," she cautioned him, trying to suppress the happiness that ran through her when she read the note.

The skin between Nicklaus’s brows came together. He walked through the petals, taking steps to her but Arissa took two steps away, shaking her head in denial.

Nicklaus paused two steps away from her. Arissa looked down to the floor when he stood before her, she couldn’t face him.

Nicklaus took another step closer and stretched his hands out. Catching a hold of her waist, he pulled her into himself and made her look into his eyes.

Silence covered the living room and the only sound that could be heard was the sound of their breath. They stared deeply into each other eyes, with trains of thoughts passing through their mind as they immersed themselves in their world and still found comfort in the next person’s presence.

"Nick," Arissa was the first to break the silence, "I’m scared and I don’t understand what you mean. I haven’t been a perfect companion to you, I always leave you stressed out either with my problems or my attitude toward you. You can’t love me, tell me you’re joking," she said with shaky breath trying to to scream at his face that she loved him more than he could imagine.

She does not know how to make him believe it but she loves him. She loves him more than he would ever imagine because she loves him.

Nicklaus chuckled and rubbed the tip of her life affectionately, "I thought the same," he said, "When we first met that night, I had no idea you’d become this important to me. And now, I can’t even imagine what life would be without you because you are my life and you mean more than you would ever imagine to me. I thank my lucky stars we met and that’s because I love you," his voice was firm, "I love you, Arissa and I want to love you until we take our last breath," he confessed, breathing rapidly in fear of rejection.

Reading words and hearing someone say them to you are two different things. Arissa stood like a monument and stared at him unblinking while her chest heaved up and down fast as if she was drowning.

She felt hot, sweat broke down her back.

Nicklaus took her hands in his. He raised them to his lips and planted soft kisses on them before saying, "You promised to be honest,"

Arissa nodded, "I did," she gazed deep into Nicklaus’s penetrating gaze, unfazed.

Nicklaus squeezed her hands, "I want to hear your confession," following his words, his Adam apple gulped up and down due to uncertainty.

Arissa raised a brow at him, "Confession about what? I did nothing." she sounded nervous having a clue of what he asked about.

Nicklaus let go of her hands and stepped closer to her. He placed both hands behind his back towered above her and said, "I want to hear your confession about me. What do you feel for me?"

Arissa gulped.

’This is it, the perfect opportunity you have been waiting for. Tell him nothing but the truth!!!’ her inner mind screamed.

Her lips parted and she shut them up. They parted for the second time and for the second time, she shut them up again.

Nicklaus became apprehensive when she repeated that act and said nothing. His confidence left him and he could feel himself crumbling down already.

Arissa flashed Nicklaus a radiant smile, she raised a hand to his face, rubbed his lips tenderly with her thumb, and pulled him down before kissing him.

Nicklaus who had braced himself for burns was taken aback by her sudden kiss. He took his hand off his back and sandwiched their bodies together when he felt positive energy from the kiss.

Slowly, she separated from his lips. She breathed heavily and gaped at him with an adorable smile on her lips. Everything happening at the moment seems too untrue to be true.

She still can’t bring herself to believe that Nicklaus said those three words and eight letters to her. She never imagined she would live to this day, she never imagined he would say it first and she never dreamt he would mean it the way he meant it.

She felt it, the sincerity and respect in his words, she felt it. His words came straight out of his heart and it stunned her.

She promised him to be honest with him and now, she would be honest. He had already quenched her fear so there was no need to hide anymore. She loves him and she doesn’t mind what the next person’s opinion would be.

"Nick," she paused, took in a soft gulp, and hugged him. For the hundredth time in the day, she hugged him buried her face into his chest, and listened to his calming heartbeat.

"Nick," she began, "I met you at that club on that fateful night. I’ve made a lot of wrong decisions from the day I was born until this moment and what I did that night was among my list of wrong decisions. I wasn’t supposed to do that, my parents told me whoever the groom was would need a virgin as a wife and to get on their wrong side, I went to the club that night. I was angry and unreasonable because I could not imagine giving two years of my life to some random stranger and also my body and because of this reason, I avoided all intimate touch with you when I finally became your wife." tears trailed down her beautiful face and she raised her face to him. Staring into his eyes with tears in hers, she went on, "However, when I got to know you better for who you are and not what you were as a contracted husband I do not want to see, you showed me how beautiful some wrong decisions are. I thought my life would become meaningless and the marriage would become a disaster that would break me... I never believed you would end up making it a beautiful disaster," her face turned all red and her tears flowed the more, making Nicklaus all emotional.

Nicklaus held back his emotions and listened to her patiently.

"I tried, trust me, I tried not to fall for you. I tried not to go against the contract and I tried to hold my heart but it wasn’t working. I tried lying to myself, I tried being all mean to you to prevent it but it wasn’t working. So many times I cried with a heavy heart because I thought you’d never come to love me. So many times I held myself back from becoming the real me for you so you won’t figure that I’m in love with you." she brought her palm to her face and unhurriedly cleaned her tears with the back of her palm, "Trust me, I tried but I wasn’t strong enough, my love for you was. Whenever you act nice before me, it crumbles me further because those acts are true and threaten to force my true feelings out of my actions and mouth. It was torturous, it tortured me so much but I had to endure. I endured not because I love the pain that comes with it but because I do not want to be tagged as selfish. I understood this as a contract marriage you got yourself involved with for a higher position and your company and that was why I decided to stay quiet and struggle with it. Each time I reminded myself that I’m just a contract wife, it shatters my heart but I had to make it a daily reminder so I don’t hope for something more than I should expect....." she trailed off to sniff.

Nicklaus tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and waited for her to continue speaking.

Arissa chocked, "I lied to myself a thousand times to feel alright but not anymore.... I can’t go on lying to myself, Nick." she blinked slowly, "I..." she paused, with a small laugh at the end, "I love you and I’m so grateful to be finally able to let them out." she held both sides of the shocked man face and continued, "I love you more than you would ever imagine. I don’t know how it happened but your little acts got to me, it made you special to be able to get into my heart and I gladly fixed you in after opening the locks for you."

Nicklaus can’t say he did not see this coming but he can also say he never saw it coming. He figured she could love him or maybe feel something for him but the fact she opened up all of her to him amazed him.

He laughed softly, tears stood at the corner of his eyes and he pressed his forehead on hers, holding both sides of her face gently, he said, "Thank you so much. I love you more," he felt more fulfilled than he has ever felt throughout his whole existence after hearing her.

He caressed her cheeks and dried her tears, "No more tears. When I say I love you more, I just don’t mean I love you more than you love me, Arissa. I mean I love you more than the bad days ahead of us. I love you more than any fight we’ll ever have. I love you more than any obstacle that would ever come between us. I love you more than you’ll ever know." he planted a tender kiss on the crown of her head, "Thank you for walking up to me that night,"

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