59 She is stubborn

Sarah woke up early. Aiden was still asleep, holding her in his embrace. She enjoyed inhaling his scent and feeling his warmth.

She thought about the things that happened previous day. Fight with her dad, coming to Vivian's place, finding out that Aiden approached for the purpose of recruiting and talking with Aiden about joining his team in White corp. 'A lot of things happened in one day.'

Sarah was thinking about what's next. 'We have our rental car from airport. We will drive it to Bend to visit Gabriel in GHC. Nurses will probably not give us any info, so we will need to get it ourselves. Note to self: Remember to pack laptops. GHC is not exposing their data to external networks, but if we get access from inside, we can dig out what we need. How long will we stay there? If we stay more than a day, we can stay in a hotel. Just in case, we should bring our stuff with us.' She was thinking what's next, after they leave Bend. 'I want to go and check out my new apartment. And I want to get a car.'

Her fight with Edward was putting a weight on her heart. She remembered that he said that he will stop giving her allowance and even stop paying for her tuition. At first, she was disappointed, but then her mood shifted to anger. 'Hmph, like I need his money. He used this to blackmail me into obedience!? I will show him. That approach does not work on me.' Sarah decided that going forward she will not use credit cards that her parents gave her. If they send her money, that is fine, but she will not initiate it by herself. She needs to show Edward that she can do just fine without his support. He is stubborn, but she is stubborn just as he is, if not more.

Sarah thought about tuition, which is not a small sum even after her scholarship. Luckily, with the courses she took so far, Sarah almost has enough credits to graduate. 'Current semester is paid for, so I'm fine for next two months. I will see if I will enroll to another semester or not. With courses from this semester I will have enough credits for internship.' She remembered that her plan was to do internship at Orion Enterprise, but now, she can't go there. That saddened her. After few seconds she collected herself and got her thoughts back on track. 'After credits from internship, I might have enough to graduate. So, I don't need to pay any more. Hahaha, not bad. In worst case, I will need to take one or two more courses. I will confirm this after New Year.'

Since her 16th birthday, Sarah is in charge of her investments, and her family does not know the worth of her diverse investment portfolio. She is a person who likes saving money and so far she didn't use money earned by her investments. Anyone who does not know the details, would think that she does not have any source of income and that she is dependent on her parents to cover her expenses. If she does not want to depend on her parents going forward, she needs to change her ways. Sarah's knows that income from her investments is stable and more than enough for her lifestyle. She has number of rentals that are providing a steady flow of money into her savings accounts. Her rental properties are worth substantial money, but to cash them in, she would need to sell them, and that is not a quick process. Some of her other investments also would require time before they can be turned into money that she can spend. Her largest investment where she can cash in quickly are stocks. Sarah repeated to herself that if she wants to be financially independent, she needs to change her super-saving mode.

She slowly got out of Aiden's embrace and pulled out her laptop. Sarah was checking her investment portfolio. Smile showed on her face, stocks she has are doing great.

With a heavy heart, she sold $100k worth of stocks and instructed her broker that money gets deposited on her account. 'This will be sufficient for a car. I will send receipt to mom, and it will be up to dad if they will reimburse me or not. If dad agrees to give me amount I spent on the car, that means he is softening up. But I don't want to spend their money by myself, not after what he said yesterday.' Sending her mom a receipt for the car purchase will serve to test her dad's current mood, but also to show him that she can live just fine without his financial support. Since she is upset, Sarah wants to rub this in.

Aiden's body shifted in his sleep. Sarah closed her laptop and went back to bed next to him. If he is about to wake up, she wants to sneak in few more minutes of snuggling before he gets up. She was not able to sleep anymore, so she laid next to him and enjoyed feeling him close to her.

Sarah put her left hand on his chest, and she was able to feel his heartbeat. He didn't change into sleepwear last night. He slept off in his jeans and a t-shirt. T-shirt was soft and transferred warmth of his body. Sarah observed her hand moving up and down slowly with his chest as he breathed. Whole bed smelled of his fragrance. She closed her eyes and took few deep breaths to let his fragrance fill up her lungs. Subconsciously, her hand moved from his chest and slowly went lower, and then under the t-shirt to rest on his firm abs.

She heard Aiden clearing his throat.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?", she asked innocently.

"Are you taking advantage of me while I'm sleeping?" His voice was lazy and raspy how he just woke up.

She realized that her hand is under his t-shirt, feeling him out. There is no point in denying that. She cleared her throat before responding. "Just a little bit." She didn't look at his face, but she could tell that he is smiling.

"I thought I am the shameless one." His deep voice was like a magic spell. Every time she heard him speak, she felt bewitched.

"I can't help it. You are too handsome for me to resist touching you." Sarah said honestly.

Aiden was now wide awake. "If I knew you can't resist my body, I would not hold myself back last night." He got on top of her and started kissing her neck.

Sarah shivered as she felt his hot breath and soft lips, moving lower from her neck with each kiss. Passion consumed her, and she could only think about how fast they can get undressed. As he removed her clothes, he looked at her flushed cheeks and eyes misty from desire. Aiden enjoyed watching her. He knew that this expression is just for him to see.

Her fire was increasing, and she desperately wanted to feel him more. More kisses, more touches, more... He was more than happy to fulfill her wish.