Chapter 218
Betty was delighted to see Ariel dropping by Larkin Manor he went up to her and clasped her hands. “How come you got here so late? You just finished work?”
After speaking to her on the phone, Betty thought Ariel wouldn’t be able to visit her for quite some time.
Ariel responded gently, “I came here from the office. Didn Tayson send some gardenias here today? I’m planning on moving them to where my office is.”
Betty paused momentarily. “Yes, he did. He said that they were your favorite. Since they’re tearing down parts of the house and working on the renovation soon, the plants may not survive if they just leave them there.”
“That’s why I’m taking them to where my office building is It’ll be easier for me to look after the plants there, Ariel explained.
“They’re over here. Come and have a look at them yourself, Ari.” Betty led her to the sunroom, found to the left outside the door.
Ariel spotted the gardenias, which had been carefully dug up and moved here..
She hadn’t checked or monitored these plants for the past two months, but it was obvious they were well taken care of. The leaves looked fresh and green, and Ariel could also find tiny flower buds growing on the branches.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
As Betty checked the time, a thought occurred to her. “Ari, you should call Jayson and ask him to come back now
Ariel stiffened. She had a calm look in her eyes.
She didn’t even have to consider whether she could get Jayson to come and stay over. Although they were once married, they didn’t even have each other’s contact numbers.
They could even say their relationship was worse than one would have with a random stranger
“Grandma, my phone’s out of battery. Besides, I don’t think we need to call him.” Ariel smiled faintly, yet she sounded quite firm.
Betty observed her response and made no further comments.
She stepped out of the room and called Jayson when Ariel checked the plants.
Betty mentioned nothing about Ariel. Instead, she told Jayson she was having a headache and asked him to return as soon as possible. Jayson conceded eventually.
Betty was beaming as she returned to the room and chatted with Ariel. “You haven’t had dinner, right? Should I ask the maids to prepare some food for you?”
She looked at Ariel’s thin, fragile form worriedly. Ariel seemed even more frail since she was quite tall. Betty couldn’t help feeling concerned about her.
Ariel glanced at her watch. “It’s alright, Grandma. I’m not hungry. I’m taking the gardenias back to my office in a while.”
Betty was flabbergasted, “It’s almost 9:30 pm already. Why make another trip to your office when it’s already so late? You should just stay over tonight and arrange for the plants to be delivered tomorrow.”
Just as Betty finished saying that, they could hear the sound of a car engine coming from outside.
(L) +25 BONUS
Ariel and Betty looked in the direction from which the sound was coming
Jayson was on his phone as he got out of the car. He didn’t even blink when he spotted Ariel’s car, which was parked in the distance.
He went on speaking to Matt. “Uh–huh, I just found an interior designer. They’ll come up with a new layout design”
Jayson noticed Ariel as soon as he entered the room. He stared at her for a brief moment, then turned his eyes to Betty, who was grimming widely.
It was obvious Betty had tricked Jayson into coming home. He wasn’t really bothered by these things. Instead, Jayson asked, “Grandma, where did you put the books I left here recently?
Betty was extremely pleased to see Jayson home. She said chirpily, “They’re in your bedroom. Do you need them
now?”
Jayson nodded. “Yeah.”
Betty immediately instructed a maid to fetch the books for Jayson.
Ariel happened to notice the covers of those books. She was quite familiar with the titles since they shared in- depth knowledge of aerospace engineering. Moreover, these were rare, special–edition books.
Betty wasn’t curious about why Jayson wanted those books. She directed her gaze to Ariel. “You should stay here tonight, Ari. I’ll have someone make you some chicken soup.”
Ariel shook her head. She gently refused the offer. “It’s alright, Grandma. I’m just stopping by to get the gardenias. I can’t stay around for long since I still have a few things to do at the office.”
Betty pursed her lips. She grumbled, “It’s already so late. What kind of workplace is that to be making you work until this late?”
Ariel smiled. “I’m alright, Grandma. I’ll get going, then.”
Betty had no choice but to glance at Jayson and signal him to do something. But Jayson hadn’t noticed Betty was looking at him. He was still talking to Matt on the phone.
He didn’t spare them any of his attention. Jayson also didn’s seem to care whether Ariel was staying or leaving.
Betty shot him a glare. There was nothing else she could possibly say when Ariel refused to stay over with the excuse of work.
Soon enough, she instructed a few people to help move the gardenias into Ariel’s car.
Ariel was only using work as an excuse.
She had only stopped by Larkin Manor for the gardenias. No matter how late she had gotten there, Ariel wouldn’t choose to sleep over at her ex–husband’s house.
Matt had overheard the conversation between Ariel and Betty while he and Jayson were still on the phone. He sounded quite surprised. “Ariel’s leaving even though it’s already so late? I thought she’d use the opportunity to stay over.“!
He was certain that Jayson truly wanted to divorce Ariel. As for Ariel, Matt still had doubts about how she felt about the divorce.
Jayson’s expression remained impassive as he checked the books the maid had brought over. He seemed completely uninterested in what Ariel would be doing next.
+25 BONUS
Chapter 219
