Ariella spent the next few hours watching a movie on her phone, just to keep herself busy, as she waited for Mariam to clear her schedule and send her the location they would meet. When the text message came a few hours later, she quickly dressed up and left the house.She did not want Kelvin’s driver to drive her at first, but she changed her mind. Since Mariam did not know where she was, she picked a place that was far from Kelvin’s house but closer to Ariella’s, thinking that she may be at home and that location would save her some cab money. Ariella was touched at the gesture.Ariella was sure that Mariam would scream and immediately begin to hound her for answers if she were to see her in this car, but she was already going to tell her friend everything, no need to stress herself by taking the train or paying a high fee for a cab.Mariam was just paying a taxi driver when Kelvin’s driver pulled up in front of the small restaurant. Ariella’s thought about Mariam seeing her getting
Ariella's heart immediately began to this fast against her chest. She had not expected Mariam to immediately notice that she's added weight and even say that she was pregnant. She did not bother to make any moves to refute the accusation when she knew that it was true, and she already intended to tell Mariam about it.Just that in the next second, Mariam smiled and took back her words.“I was just joking, you don't have to go pale. I know you are not pregnant since you refused to get a boyfriend and turned down every man that approaches you.” Mariam snorted before she continued, “Maybe you are no longer exercising, and you are eating too much because you left your agency. But you know that it would be difficult for you to get back in shape if you want to join another agency tomorrow, right? You are piling up troubles for yourself.”Seeing that Mariam was already living quickly from the only opening she had to tell her what was going on in her life, Ariella stopped her with a confessio
Thankfully, Mariam did not jump to her feet again, so Ariella was not scared that she would scream out loud and attract attention once more. Mariam just went frozen in shock that after a few seconds, Ariella began to get scared that she had shocked her friend into a frozen state and would need to have her rushed to the hospital.“Mariam,” Ariella leaned across the table to whisper her friend's name while she threw a risky glance around to see if anyone was watching them, and no one was.She knew that the news she had just dropped was too much. She should have explained everything from the beginning to lessen the blow instead of answering her friend’s questions, but it was too late. She had shocked Mariam into becoming an ice block.“Mariam!” She stretched her hand and tall her friend on the face, softly, sighing in relief when Mariam snapped out of the haze she had fallen into.Arielle relaxed back on her seat. “Welcome back to earth.” In another situation, what she said would have b
“Yes, I do now.” Ariel responded with a sigh as she wiggled her fingers together.“What happened that night after the both of you discovered your identities?”“He was furious and accused me of being a gold digger and a bad friend who was trying to snatch her friend’s boyfriend. Nothing I said that night to defend myself got in his head. He ended up throwing some wad of cash at me, and it was funny how it was the exact amount I needed for my mother’s surgery. No matter how much pride I had and the amount of humiliation it brought, I still bent and picked the money then I left. Hannah, who said she did not have money to lend me and that her bank was having issues, sent me money when I got to the hospital.”“You know that you wouldn’t have had to go through all of these if you had just given me a call, right?” Mariam still looked angry.“I already made the mistake, there is no way to go back in the past and correct it. I can only move on.”“So you found out that you were pregnant and we
With any more interruptions from Mariam, Ariella explained the remaining things to her, down to Kelvin coming home. She told her in detail about Kelvin going to meet her mother and then signing the contract and getting married, and how he was always accompanying her to every checkup.“I don’t know, but he sounds like a nice guy who was raised by a good woman. How did he end up with a devil like Hannah?” Mariam asked with a shake of her head.“They met when he was younger and Hannah is gorgeous so it’s not a surprise.”“Well, you are very beautiful yourself, so I think the both of you can go to war over him.”“No way. I’m not doing that. I’m leaving after I give birth to my child.” Kelvin may be nice but he does not want her, and she does not want him either. They both have an agreement to go their separate ways. No way was she going to let his mother and Mariam take her into staying. She could never stay or survive in a loveless marriage, and it would affect the baby too. What if he
The two friends quickly moved on to talking about other things, carefully avoiding the topic of Ariella’s pregnancy. Mariam could see that her friends were getting distressed from talking about it and her many questions. Even if she was not happy with the situation her friend finds herself in, it already happened and Ariella did what she did for her mother.She’s also done some bad things in the past because she needed to cater for her siblings. Things he could not talk about and was not brave enough to tell Ariella because she did not want to be judged. To Mariam, Ariella was brave for wanting to keep her child and she was glad that her friend was wise enough to get the baby’s father who was rich involved, not minding that he was Hannah’s boyfriend. Hannah caused everything anyway so it was not Ariella’s fault.Mariam was glad that the baby’s father was someone they could reach easily. What if she’s been some random man? What would her friends have done? It was hard enough to care
“Oh good lord, why today of all days.” Mariam groaned in a low tone for only Ariella to hear. Ariella did not even have the opportunity to react or recover from her surprise at seeing Hannah here when she began to talk.“Where have you been all these days, Ariella? I’ve been looking for you everywhere and your manager told me you left the modeling industry for good.” Her words sounded mocking to Ariella, but to other people it sounded like she was concerned about Ariella.“I was shocked and asked him why you decided to leave suddenly, and he said he has no answer to that. You did not tell me about it, Ariella, and I thought we were friends.” Now, Hannah sounded aggrieved, like she’s been wrong, it made anger begin to rise in Ariella’s heart. Why was Hannah pretending? “We always talk about everything, but you took such a big step without telling me. I even thought you got in trouble or something. Seems like I was worrying for nothing because you look absolutely fine to me and even ha
Mariam could not take it. Her eyes turned red with hot anger, “Stop being a bitch, Hannah. You and I both know the true story of why Ariel’s has been avoiding you. Good friend?” Mariam scoffed, “What good friend would send her friend to…”“Mariam!” Arielle yelled her friend's name with wide eyes, stopping Mariam from angrily spewing out what should be kept a secret.Mariam slammed her mouth shut and could only glare at Hannah who was now smelling at her knowing fully well that they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. They could not possibly say the truth out in front of everyone. Not only would it paint Arielle in a bad light, everyone would know that she slept kelvin. Hannah could still turn the story in her favor anyway and deny it. Everyone would believe Hannah because they regarded her as their queen in the modeling industry.“What? Where did I send her to? Go one, tell us?” Hannah said as she stretched her hand wide, “I’ve always been good to Ariella. Helping her get jobs in