Clara inhales deeply as she keeps massaging Ariana's back. Ariana finally breaks down in tears, trembling against her shoulder as she lets it all out. Clara closes her eyes and shakes her head. "How in the world did Vincent hurt you?" As she gives Ariana a strong hug, she muses to herself. "It is alright, darling. Simply relax. Everything is well. Later on, we will discuss this. Can you hear me?" As she speaks, Ariana remains firmly hugging Clara while nodding her head in agreement. After taking a deep breath, Clara keeps hugging Ariana while quietly reflecting. "Vincent, oh, how I hate you. Vincent—Vincent, Vincent, Vincent. How in the hell have you behaved?" She grinds her teeth as she muses to herself. "I am going to investigate this further. " She steps back from Ariana gradually and watches as she wipes her face, smearing and rubbing off the makeup that she had just applied moments before. With a laugh, Clara shakes her head. "You have to clean yourself up. You appear disorg
While pressing her palm to her forehead to ease her throbbing headache and attempt to relax a little, she thinks to herself. "I was enamored with him." She looks up at Clara, who at last turns her attention back to her, thinking to herself. After that, she keeps her cool. "What are your thoughts on the director's remarks?" She says, making Ariana blink her eyes quickly as she pushes hair behind her ear to stop it from blocking her face. Then she inhales deeply. "We are moving to Ohio, so I guess it just means we need to concentrate on our schedule and find a way to plan and rearrange everything." With a broad smile, she says, causing Clara to adjust her posture. "Is it not?" Ariana is forced to smile as Clara says calmly. "Indeed, it is. There will be a lot of planning to do because we are moving to Ohio. Regarding Liam," Ariana says quietly, squinting her eyes as she considers her young son intently. "It looks like he may need to take a temporary break from school." She says,
"How are things going over there, for you?" She says, a crazy smile on her face, as she takes the car keys out of her pocket. Ariana shakes her head, grinning. "Clara, there is no need for you to ask how I am doing. I am doing fantastic. Why would you ask a question like this?" With a shrug, Clara chuckles. "Well, I am not positive. Maybe it is because my best friend still hesitates to confide in me about her issues and I do not fully understand how she is feeling." Ariana closes her eyes while Clara says this. Then she looks up at Clara as she unlocks the car. "I will give it some thought and let you know if I am comfortable with it, as I already said." With a swift motion, Clara nods. "Yes. And, okay, I already know that. So let us save our time and stop arguing over that ridiculousness. Let us simply head back home and begin arranging our schedules so that we may depart and attend to our business." She says that with poise, and Ariana chuckles. Clara remarked with a wild smile.
Clara and Ariana exchange glances with a look on their faces that conveys a lack of comprehension about her presence. With a mocking snort, they both turn to resume their seats. Fiona is glaring at them while displaying a look that lets everyone around her know that she is having trouble understanding what she is seeing at the moment. Why are these two women treating her like she is not important enough to spend their time on? Why are they treating her like she is nothing more than a noisemaker while they are around? She is so enraged by the entire scene that she balls her fists. But just as she is about to approach Ariana and do something absurd, their attention is drawn to the sounds of two males. Ariana pauses, her eyes wide, as she hears Vincent and Alex call her name simultaneously from different places. She frowns deeply. Say what now? Turning slowly, she sees Vicente and Alex approaching from different directions. Alex is approaching immediately from the gate entry, while Vi
Ariana looks at Clara as if to let her know that she probably thinks she is dumb. "With these two right in the middle of our path, how in the world are we meant to leave?" Now that they are being so obstinate, everyone is aware that things could get worse if this issue is not promptly handled by a very capable and authorised official team. Ariana becomes even more enraged with Vincent because he refuses to let things go easily. And what is the issue he faces? 'What is his problem?' She thinks. Why does he just keep making her life a miserable misery without stopping? She cannot endure this. Fiona is watching this scene from a few meters away, her face completely shocked. Her attempt to make sense of what she is currently viewing has left her mind completely disoriented. Standing a few meters away from her, arguing with another man over the one person she does not want him to get closer to, is the same one for whom
Ariana leans back against the car and gives the ground a gaze while all of this is happening. She is thinking a lot of things. She knows she can not take this anymore—her body is in complete disarray right now.She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, wondering how she will manage this. If only she had the strength, or if she were an enormous, formidable kickboxer who could easily push people aside, an ability no one could match, then none of this would be so difficult for her. When her eyes finally open, she says, "I want everyone to get away from me right now," releasing all of the rage and uncertainty that has already built up inside of her. Everyone looks at her in disbelief as she shouts so loudly that it startles them out of their conversation. Ariana's angry expressions, which are embedded in her features, cause Vincent and Alex to look at her in disbelief because they were not prepared for her sudden and intense reaction.
Vincent feels enraged. Everyone can see from the fury etched in his features that nobody should ever try to approach him to have a conversation or just to speak with him. He can most likely strike someone in the face. Jeez. The man is covering up the swelling on his face from the punch he took from Ariana's security officer at the door of his workplace with a handkerchief. The story is already widely disseminated throughout the media. This is because of the witnesses who lingered to use their phones to record the thrilling scene. He has already stationed guards at the entrance of his company in numerous locations since he is certain that news reporters would soon storm his agency. He is not yet prepared to address such matters. With an immense amount of rage, he runs into his office and shuts the door, yelling at the top of his lungs and frantically running his fingers through his hair. He is unable to c
A few minutes later, he is relaxed in his car, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel with his other hand against his chin as he stands right a few meters away across the big estate gazing at Ariana's large edifice, thinking calmly to himself with a lot of thoughts in his mind. He shakes his head briskly and then rubs his fingers through his forehead. 'This is going to be one of the hardest things I have ever had to do in my life,' he thinks calmly to himself. He then looks up again at Ariana's building and frowns. 'Why am I even scared to approach her?' He wonders and then opens the door of his vehicle before stepping down. 'I hope this will go smoothly. I haven't portrayed the best attitude back in my company. Will she even be willing to talk to me?' All these thoughts rumble through his mind, forcing him to frown deeply as he adjusts his tuxedo. He had decided to park his car far away from her
Vincent's POV The sight before me gets straight into my nerves, making me feel unsettled. My breathing becomes so hoarse as if I am struggling to catch my breath. As if I have something stuck in my throat. But it is evidence that it is the fury that is already tearing through my body. God knows that if he as much as attempts to touch a single hair on that little boy's body, I am not going to spare even his bones. I shut my eyes and take a deep breath. Is at this point that I feel extremely powerless in ways that I never intended to feel. I can't let him do anything to that boy. The boy whom I just discovered a few days ago is my son. The son I have had for seven years without even knowing. This son I never grew up with. The son I never raised. All these endless, frustrating thoughts are making my anger increase exponentially deep down with me, but I'm struggling to keep my coal. Releasing my fury right now is not going to make every meeting get better. It's only going to mak
Vincent's POV I know that I shouldn't trust their judgment. These people who are with me right now, presently the most notorious criminals in the city, will have to present with the tactics they used to secure this attack. I will have to think wisely because whatever action I want to partake in. I cannot lose my guard and allow them to overpower me because of any stupidity of any sort. I continue to point the gun at the mafia who was previously holding me as he begins to lead me toward the place where they said my son had been kept. The man whom I had already suspected to be their boss was also leading the way ahead of him together with Fiona and another of his bodyguards who had been attempting to apprehend me all the while. The look Fiona is giving me let me know that she still has other tricks and tactics up her slave but I am not going to fall for it anymore. I am also going to show that I have my tricks stuck up in my sack of plans for all of them. They have no idea the e
Vincent's POVBang!!!!!The very loud, powerful, vibrating sound of a gunshot echoes loudly in my ears, almost making my ear drums blackout as I immediately sit up on the ground, placing my hand against my ear. That was so freaking loud. It felt as if my eardrums were about to explode. Who the hell had to guts to do that? I manage to lift my head and look at my surroundings while still placing my hand against my ear as if it could reduce the pain I am feeling. The images around me are a little bit blurry, and this makes me squint my eyelids for a little while, trying to process what I am looking at. "Welcome back to the land of the living Mr Vincent." A voice speaks up, and after a few minutes, the images are now a little bit clearer directly in front of me. The first image I see makes me frown immediately as I raise an eyebrow with shock not believing what I am looking at right now. "Flora?" I find myself saying softly but then she just rolls her eyes and looks away while scof
Ariana's POV I feel like a needle has just been pierced into my ears. What the hell... I don't understand.I don't get it. I look at him with excessive shock in my eyes and then squeeze my eyelids, my brain trying to process what I just heard.I must be in some sort of dream, right? He must have noticed my expression because he chuckles and then shakes his head before gazing down at the ground."I know this must be so hard for you to process because, well, anyone listening to this will think it's a very, very dumb idea, but I can assure you that it's the best thing to do. I am the only one that has the capability of helping you right now, Ariana, and what you just have to do is give me what I want."I shake my head with frustration." Okay, so can I ask a question." I request and he gestures towards me as if offering me the podium. "Yes of course. The floor is yours. Ask away. What do you want to know?" " Why do you want me to marry you?""Because Ariana, at this point, my min
Ariana's POV I know he has assured me that everything is going to be fine and I should relax and not let it get to my head.But God I can't help it. I seriously can't. I am 100% impatient as I continue to pace back and forth in endless stances all over every section and every nook and cranny of the large sitting room while Clara remains seated on the sofa with her legs also trembling, looking at me with a worried expression on her face."You have to calm down, Ariana, okay? worrying yourself this much is not going to make the situation even better." She says, but then I turn my face to look at her and watch as she immediately shuts her mouth, gazing at the ground."I am sorry. I shouldn't have said that" she replies immediately, and I can tell she is feeling extreme guilt for actually losing Liam when he was directly under her watch. But the Lord knows I can't blame her. I wasn't expecting her to be so strong enough to overpower powerful-looking strong kidnappers like that.I just
Vincent's POV What I am doing right now is extremely stupid, but call me crazy; I cannot let this type of situation just pass me by; this is my son we are talking about, so I am going to follow this marker to the last drop and ensure that everything goes the way it should.I and the officers are precisely stepping into an unknown territory, with our eyes all around us, trying to observe the surroundings and figure out any potential threat that may come out from nowhere.As per the phone call Ariana received, and the information we were able to gather from tracing the call, this is where the location came from. And we are all scrutinizing every way deeply, trying to figure out any single slight suspicion that might give us what we are looking for.The police officers gave me a gun, just in case the threat we are about to meet is much more deadly than we can anticipate. I don't need to be taught how to use it, it is something I am quite familiar with and have been an expert with for a
Ariana's POVHeavens know that I have never been in such heavy turmoil as the one I am right now. The confusion in my senses is extreme. I am not in my right senses as I scratch my fingers endlessly against my hair pacing about the sitting room with Clara following me every step I go to ensure that I don’t delve into the very deep pits of madness. Vincent is not around now, but well, I can’t blame him for not being here. He is just as troubled as I am. He had followed the officers with their investigation to make sure that things didn’t relent and they got to the bottom of this. I know he is going to do everything within his power to ensure that this goes well, even neglecting his own business, but, I can’t help a very strange dark feeling within me that tells me that this is only just the beginning, that this is just a tip of the iceberg and far worse things are about to come. I don’t understand and I don’t get it. Why are they doing this? Why? I keep thinking to myself as I gna
Vincent’s POVThe confusion and the frustration in my mind is beyond what I can comprehend. I am now relaxed back in my office, rubbing my palm through my forehead with a lot of thoughts racing through my mind. Ariana.She is the only person I can think of right now. I had thought that this method of trying to rescue her from her problems would have gotten her to soften towards me. But if not anything, she has gotten worse. I don’t know, I was hoping that maybe her feelings would be rekindled by the extreme sex experience we’ve been having. But she keeps distancing herself away from me even more. I don’t get it. Is she now just sleeping with me to satisfy her sexual needs, or what? I rake my fingers through my hair with frustration and then slam my palms against my table. What the hell am I even doing? Why the hell can’t I just for once stop thinking about her? It is just so hard. And then, there is the thought of that Alex fellow, who seems like he is relentless and bent on ge
Ariana's POVWithin a few minutes, I am back home to see Clara pacing up and down in the living room, looking as though the entire world has descended upon her. I took a deep breath and shut the door quite loudly to grab her attention because it seemed like she didn't notice me stepping in. She jolts and almost loses her footing the moment she hears that as she looks at me, stepping in with wide eyes. Okay, her reaction right now is frightening me because I have never seen Clara look this frightened or paranoid to this extent in my life before. I chuckle and step into the living room, dropping my bag against the sofa. "Never you ever scare me like that," she says loudly and I raise an eyebrow at her." I'm sorry, I had to. You look like you were lost in the world for a while so I felt like bringing back your attention." I say and watch as she chuckles nervously as if... Okay, that laugh looked kind of forced. She didn't have the intention to laugh. Something is wrong with her.