Ariana's POV
I braid my hair, ignoring Samuel's gaze on me, which is really difficult as he is just sitting and staring at me while I get ready. However, it doesn't feel weird. It feels like this is our routine when in reality, this is the first time we have even spent so much time together.
I am trying damn hard to look decent and presentable in my mother's eyes, so she spares us with her remarks. I am used to her behavior, but it is different with Samuel. I don't want to give her any chance to insult him. He is already doing so much for me, and he definitely doesn't deserve her rudeness.
Suddenly, his hand grips mine, stopping me, then without any warning, he unbraids my hair.
"No!" I shake my head, trying to stop him, but he has managed to release
Samuel's POV I watch Ariana, and this is the first time she looks happy while talking to someone since we have come here. She wasn't joking when she mentioned to me that she dislikes her family. I haven't met every one of them, and even I can say that they all are prudes. "Samuel, meet Misha; she is my cousin." Ariana comes to me and places her hand on my arm, "And Misha, he is Samuel." "Hey." Misha smiles, "I am glad you came with her; at least my husband will not be the only one at the receiving end." She laughs, making Ariana roll her eyes. "Ariana and I, we nearly are the outcasts of the family." She points to herself and Ariana, "I am married against their will, and well, now I feel she is also going to walk on the same pa
Samuel's POV Running my hand through my hair, I take a large sip of the beer. The chilled beer bottle, hanging by the neck between my fingers, completely contrasts the heat on my skin as the afternoon sun is at its peak. It has been a long time nice I have been on vacation, and it feels nice just to relax without worrying about anything. When I made my mind to accompany Ariana, I would not have thought how much I needed this vacation for myself away from my routine life. Ariana brings out the Samuel in me, which was lost with the time. There is something about her that makes me want to be myself again. Even Dad noticed this change in me, which also made me realize whatever happened with me three years back has also deeply affected him though he never showed. "Hey, man!" Kei
Samuel's POV We got back into our room, but since then, she hasn't spoken a word. The silence of Ariana is something that is bothering me, and I have never seen her so quiet. However, the fear in her eyes is hard not to miss. Is she afraid of me? Before I can ask her what is bothering her, my eyes travel to the bruising appearing on her arm as if someone has grabbed her harshly. Placing my hands on her knees, I sit in front of her. "Ariana." I swallow as my eyes flicker to the bruise, "Did I do that to you?" I point towards her arm as I recall grabbing her arm. "No." She blinks an
Ariana’s POV It seems like Justin’s heart felt that I needed him, so a few moments later, I got a message from Rose informing me that Justin was missing me and wanted to talk to me. Instantly, I video call him because it feels like ages since I have last seen him. His face comes before my screen, and instantly my mood gets better. “I love you, baby.” I smile quickly, blinking away my tears because seeing his face wants me to cry more. “I love you too.” He replies, then frowns, “Are you crying, momsis?” “Just missing you, bunny.” I don’t lie to him about crying because he always manages to catch my lie. “I hate it when you cry.” He sadly pouts. “See,
Samuel's POV I eye Becca up and down as she runs her fingers over my chest while pushing herself towards me. She glances at me with those fake innocent eyes while biting her lip. "Why don't we do something fun just to pass the time, since you and me, we both are alone, huh?" She plays with the button of my shirt. "I am with someone else," I answer her, pushing my hands inside my pockets, waiting for her to back off. "But I don't see anyone here." She shrugs uncaringly, running her other hand on my arm, "Other than you and me." "We can surely enjoy ourselves till she returns. I promise we will have a good time." She winks. "Something which you can't have with her."
Ariana's POV I woke up quite early the following day because I needed to get my stuff from that room. I just hope I will be as quick as possible because I am just not ready to face Samuel. I have decided today I will tell mother the truth, that Samuel and I are not together, then I will handle it whatever will happen. Just like I always do. I don't know what I thought when I accepted Samuel's offer. Maybe I just wanted someone to be there for me. However, when I walk towards our room, I meet my mother in the hallway as she is returning from her morning run. She smiles widely as soon as she sees, which obviously takes me by surprise because this is not her usual reaction when she sees me, especially when I am still in my yesterday's clothes. S
Ariana’s POV “I will see you around.” Alfie smiles at me as Samuel wraps an arm around my shoulder, keeping up the act of a perfect boyfriend in front of him. Swallowing the pain, which I feel knowing that these are the same hands that must have been touching someone else last night, I try to look calm. It takes everything in me not to remove his hand from my shoulder. He smiles, looking at me and Samuel then he leaves. I subtly remove Samuel’s hand and walks inside the room as he follows me and closes the door behind me. Before he can ask me anything, I walk straight to the bathroom to gather my stuff from the bathroom because God knows how much I am trying to keep my tears at bay. When I walk outside the bathroom, my eyes dir
Ariana's POVSamuel's murderous glare falls on Jasper, and for some reason, I feel scared because I feel he knows everything.My fear turns out to be true when grabbing Jasper by the collar; he drags him outside the venue. I rush behind him, terrified out of my mind because I don't want Samuel to land in any trouble because of me.My hands flew to my mouth in shock when Samuel threw a punch on Jasper's face sending him down. He doesn't stop there as he holds Jasper by the front of his shirt as he hits him again and again."How dare you touch her!" There is a terrifying rage in his voice, "How dare you put your filthy hands on her?""I am going to fucking kill you." He growls while my heart beats wildly against my ribcage because his every word sou
Samuel's POV Ten years later. That moment is still fresh in my mind when Ariana left me. How can you forget the moment when your everything was walking away from you? I wanted to beg her not to leave me and just give me one more chance, but something refrained me from doing so. This was the punishment which she had chosen for me. Therefore, even if it was killing me, I decided to accept my punishment. There's a hope in this punishment that when it ends, I will find my eternal happiness. Only I don't know when or if this punishment will ever come to an end. Numerous times, I broke down because the pain of bei
Ariana’s POV “Everyone is not lucky to get a second chance at love in their life, but I am one of those few people lucky people who found true love after losing their trust in love.” Samuel smiles softly, but the sadness in his eyes reveals his true feelings, “I fell in love for the first time it was with a wrong person, but when I found the right person, I was not able to cherish her the way I should have.” “I want to blame the circumstances. I want to blame the world for whatever wrong has happened in my life. But the truth is the only person to blame is me.” He clenches his jaws while he stares at the table, “Only if I had the courage to tell you everything from the beginning, then I would not have made you feel betrayed and hurt. Maybe we would still have been friends. But I was a coward, and now I am paying the price of my mistake.”
Ariana's POV Until now, I never realized how good it feels to take charge of your life. You feel so powerful. Whenever anything went wrong in my life that turned my life upside down, I always tried to put together my life again. Even now, I am doing the same. The only difference is that all the other times, I didn't want to, but I had to. But now, I want to get hold of my life and put together the pieces of my life for myself. I want to be in charge of my own happiness and destiny. I want to do this for myself and Justin. He deserves a sister who is stable in her life, not someone who is an emotional mess. I don't want the impact of my poor choices to reflect on him. So even though I have said many times, I will say it again; I will make ever
Ariana's POV Gathering snacks in my arms, I walk into the living with a wide grin on my face. Justin turns to me, adorning a similar grin, and rushes to help me carry the snacks. "Be careful." Turning around, Justin glances at me then he crawls inside our blanket fort. Rolling my eyes, I smile as I carefully enter Justin's fort. "Next time, we will make an even bigger fort," Justin exclaims and opens the packet of chips. "Which movie shall we watch?" I ask while turning on my laptop and connecting it with the Bluetooth speakers because my laptop speakers volume is not very loud. "The Karate Kid," After thinking for a moment, he replies.
Ariana's POV Max's fingers draw lazy patterns on my arm while keeping his arm wrapped around me. My head is resting on his chest, finding comfort in his strong heartbeat. He is alive, and he will be okay. We both lie in each other arms in silence. However, there is no awkwardness between us, just meaningful silence. Somewhere we both are at a loss for words. Maybe we do not know how to voice these newfound feelings. I feel him pressing a small kiss on the top of my head, which causes me to raise my head from his chest to glance at his face. His throat works as he swallows while blankly staring ahead. A moment later, his gaze flickers to me, and I watch a myriad of emotions passing through his face.
Ariana's POV There are rare moments in my life when I truly feel helpless, where the feeling of being useless dominates all my other emotions. This is one of those rare moments as I sit across Max with a stoic expression, probably because I feel too numb to react. The silence around us is heavy. I can clearly hear the ticking of the clock on the wall behind me. Its ticking reminds me of the ticking of a time bomb, and somewhere it is not far from the truth. Time. Is. Ticking. With each moment passing, I feel my chest constricting. All these feelings were too familiar, the vice-like grip clutching my chest, making each intake of breath difficult than the previous one.
Max's POV Uncertainty is a part of our life since the beginning. Never in our life can we be sure what will happen next or what will be the outcome of our decision. I can't change some things in my life because those things are not in our hands. However, this doesn't mean I will submit myself to my fate. My life may be full of uncertainty, but this will not stop me from living my life the way I want. When I beat cancer a few years ago, I promised myself that I would not waste my second chance at life and live my life in the best way I could. I want to live my life free of any burden and totally focus on my happiness. I have seen people living the last days of their life with unfulfilled wishes. And I choose not to be one of those people.
Samuel's POV Ariana has left to drop off the children. Justin has also gone with Ariana. Even I was about to leave, but when I watched Max limping towards the bench, I changed my mind because he was in real pain, and he may need someone to be with him. I can clearly see Max is trying to downplay his pain, and the reason behind this pretense is Ariana. He is definitely hiding something from everyone, especially her. I recall the look on his face when I saw him at the hospital; he was shocked. Probably because of the thought of Ariana finding something he doesn't want to share. However, it would not have been possible because firstly, we are not in contact, and secondly, even if we were, it's not my truth to tell. So I would have never told Ariana anything if he didn't want to share it with
Ariana's POV "It has been so long since we all did something together as a family, other than hiking. Please do arrange such classes in the future as well; my family and I had a great time." Mrs. Brooke smiles, handing me the canvases which her kids were holding. A smile forms on my face when I notice both of her children have attempted to draw a landscape. And honestly, for someone who has painted for the first time, it is excellent. "Sure, I will try to arrange such painting sessions whenever it is possible." I keep the canvases on the table where other canvases are also placed, "I have your contact details, I will inform you where these paintings have been donated. So if you want, you can go and check them." Following dad's footsteps, I will donate these paintings to hospitals, retirem