"I don't give a fuck about your past."He said seriously before adding, "you don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable. Whatever happened to you, won't change my feelings for you."

Aria took a deep breath before starting, "My parents died when I was seventeen. I was broken, I had nowhere to go. Our house was on loan, I stayed there for a month until I ran out of money so they kicked me out. I had a boyfriend, his name was Paul. I stayed in his apartment for two weeks. One day he returned home with two men and they took me away." she stopped to glance at Alexander to see his expressions.

When she saw that his s face was neutral, she continued, "Then I learnt that he sold me to them-- they would always beat me everyday, if I don't obey them. They would toture me in every ways possible then send me to the hospital to heal me. They raped me not one but two times. Before they could do it again, I ran from the hospital and bumped into Ben."

"Your adoptive father?" He asked to which she nodded before continuing, "I wasn't In my best condition so he took me to his home. He didn't have a wife nor a child. He was alone and owned a restaurant. I told him my story. He allowed me to stay with him and few days later, he made me his daughter legally."

Alexander didn't say anything. He was in deep thoughts. Aria sighed but smile painfully, "So yeah…that's my past."

He stayed quiet. Aria took his silence as a rejection so she stood up and was about to walk away, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I thought you don't want me anymore? Who would want an abused girl, anyway? You deserve someone better." Aria smiled but at the same time, her heart was breaking.

"Like I said, I don't give a damn about your past. I don't care whether you were abused or not. You're extremely strong. You've been through so much yet you live your life like nothing happened." After saying that, he stood up and placed his hands on her shoukders, "Don't think so low of yourself."

Aria gave him a smile and hugged him, "Thank you."

"Don't thank me, love. You have no idea how lucky I am to have you with me." He hugged her back tightly.

"I feel safe with you.",Aria said, unknowingly, a tear fell from her eyes.

"And I'll always protect you from anyone. I'll always keep you safe, make you feel loved, that's my promise to you, love." Aria hugged him tighter at his words.

"What was your ex's full name?"Alexander asked after a few seconds.

"Paul Vaughn." She replied, neither of them were ready to break the hug.

"Vaughn? Are you sure about that?" Alexander asked and she nodded slightly, "I'm sure, why did you ask?"

"Caroline's last name is Vaughn and her son sold a girl-- I think that's you. When Caroline learnt about what he did, she asked him to go get you back and when he left, he never came back."

"So is he dead?" Aria asked to which Alexander shrugged, "I don't know."

"Does Caroline know that it's me?"

"She had her doubts." He replied before saying, "I'm invited to a charity ball. My whole family's gonna be there, come with me?"

"Okay." She smiled, "But I don't have any appropriate dress for a ball."

Alexander broke the hug and already started missing her warmth, "We'll get you one. It's tomorrow so how about we take you out for shopping again?"

Aria smiled, "But this time, I'm going to pay."

"No. There's no way that I'm letting you pay. I invited you to come with me so everything related to you for that ball is my responsibility. Besides there's no way that I'm letting my girlfriend pay."

"Girlfriend?" Aria asked, her eyes slightly widening. Alexander nodded, "Any problem with that?"

"No" she shook her head, "No problem at all."

"Anyway, I'm going to pay, that's final." Aria said firmly.

"How about I buy the dress for you and you pay for our dinner?" He tried to make a deal.

Aria thought for a while before nodding, "okay. Give me some time, I'll get ready." Alexander nodded as she left.