Chapter 118
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Lucas narrowed his eyes. There was not a hint of sincerity in his nonchalant voice. “Why don’t you try begging me, Ari? Perhaps I’ll consider helping you escape from the miserable situation you’re in.”
Ariel could clearly sense the heavy sarcasm in his tone. She simply ignored him and walked away.
The smile on his face faltered as Lucas watched Ariel’s receding figure.
She must love Jayson deeply judging by how she had remained meek and submissive despite having been treated like this.
Lucas stared at Ariel from behind for quite some time. Then, he took out his phone and snapped a photo of her from where he was standing. Then, he sent the photo to a WhatsApp chat window, which he had not sent anything
to before.
“Mr. Larkin, Ari might just retaliate if you push her too hard. She’s found out that you’re celebrating Mrs. Stanton’s birthday. The situation might get ugly if she shows up and causes a ruckus at the party.
“How about this? Let Jadeon Technologies own one percent of Bluum Corp’s shares. Ari listens to me. I’ll make sure to keep her calm and happy so that she won’t interrupt your lovey–dovey time with Ms. Stanton. It’ll be a win -win situation. What do you think?”
Unfortunately, Lucas did not receive any replies. It was as though he were the only one who could see what was shown in the chat window.
Clearly, Jayson had chosen to ignore his message.
Lucas clicked his tongue. Jayson had perfectly demonstrated his complete indifference to Ariel.
When Ariel went up to Janice, the latter had a frown on her face. Her expression was grim.
“What’s the matter?” Ariel lightly pinched Janice’s cheek.
Janice finally snapped out of it. She had a conflicted look in her eyes as she gazed at Ariel.
“Ari, don’t be mad…”
“What is it?” Ariel lifted her gaze and asked. She was placing the items needed for the ceremony on the nearby
table.
Janice clenched her teeth. She asked Chad for his phone. “Nancy shared a new post on her social media page… Look.”
Ariel was not particularly curious about what Nancy had shared. However, her eyes hardened the moment her gaze landed on the phone screen.
This time, Nancy had shared just one photo.
She was leaning against the edge of a table and holding a black tie with dark red embroidery in her hand. The arm of a man wearing a white shirt could be seen in the lower left corner of the photo. Ariel could tell just by looking at the arm that the man was Jayson.
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“It matches my red dress perfectly.”
Janice was exasperated. “Does she not know shame? There’s no way she doesn’t know that today is Aunt Elena’s death anniversary. Yet, she’s asking Jayson to dress up so extravagantly on his mother–in–law’s death anniversary? What is she thinking?
“She’s clearly trying to mock us! She and her mom are out there celebrating while we mourn for Aunt Elena’s death. Is Jayson going to turn a blind eye to all their wrongdoings and rub salt in your wound just to indulge Nancy?”
Ariel’s expression hardened. She eventually came to her senses when she felt a sharp pain in the center of her palm.
“Jayson… Must he do this? Doesn’t he already know what day it is today? Still, he allowed Sarah and Nancy to do something so cruel and inconsiderate?” she pondered.
Chad’s face darkened as well.
“I’m quite surprised to see how much Jayson cares about Nancy.” His expression turned serious. “If he’s doing this despite knowing what day it is today… Ari, you’ve pretty much wasted the last three years of your life living with that man.”
How cold and heartless Jayson must be to be doing something like this to Ariel?
They had been married for so long, after all. Chad could not help but wonder if Jayson’s heart was made out of
stone.
Ariel fell silent.
Putting aside the matter about the tie, she already had an inkling that Jayson would choose to be with Nancy instead. She was not particularly surprised or disappointed by that.
Yet, Ariel could not overlook the fact that Jayson was ultimately the reason how things had unfolded so far.
Regardless of Sarah’s reason for throwing such a huge party to celebrate her birthday, she was still undeniably trying to provoke the Walkers. Moreover, they had Jayson’s help and support no matter what.
Both Nancy and Sarah knew very well that Jayson would surely take their side, especially under these
circumstances.
“It’s about time.” Katie came into the room while Leonard supported her.
She had prepared herself mentally for the possibility of something like this happening. Still, when it did, Katie could not help but sigh with a dark look on her face. “It’s fine if he’s not coming. Anyhow, we need to proceed with what we have to do today.”
At that moment, Ariel felt extremely apologetic toward Katie and her other family members. These people had to suffer such unfair treatment alongside her simply because she married someone unsuitable.
For a split second, Ariel wanted to just forget about all her concerns and restrictions. She drew a long breath.” Grandma, there’s something I need to tell you.”
