Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 108

Chapter 108: The Pit Deepens
Ari stepped out of the elevator, with the bag hunched on her shoulder. She bid Arabella goodbye while thanking the lord above. Once Ari was at a distance, she couldn’t help but mutter, “Just because they have money they show off in front of me. Is it too difficult to understand that money is not everything?” However, after three steps forward, Ari sighed despondently.

Money was indeed important. What was she even thinking? If she had money, then she wouldn’t have to worry about this debt that was piled on her head out of nowhere.

“It’s alright, I can slowly pay it back,” Ari cheered herself up. Though she had no idea how she was going to pay the debt back with her meagre salary, Ari did not plan to do anything against her conscience. “If one job doesn’t work, then I will do two more.”

At most, she would reduce the time of her sleep and increase more of her working hours. With new-found determination, she threw the worries at the back of her head. Though Ari knew, the second she was alone, these worries would come haunting her again. However, until then she would pretend as if everything were alright.

Something she excelled in.

Ari walked down the street, after twenty minutes she finally arrived at the bus stop from where she always hailed the bus to the café which was located at the heart of the city. However, just as she arrived at the bus stop, someone who was standing in the dark alley caught her wrist.

“What——” A yelp escaped her lips as Ari was pulled into the dark alley. She was thrown on the floor and a sharp pain shot through her body. Her delicate face scrunched up in pain before she pushed herself off the ground and looked at the person in front of her. “Mister Fletcher,” she sighed feeling alarmed.

What was this man doing here? Did he not say that he would come on the fifteenth day of the month for the repayment of the debt?

“Miss Ariana, what a not so f*cking pleasant surprise eh?” Mister Fletcher said with a cigar in his mouth. His hands were in his golden brown suit which had tiger stripes like print on it.

“What is the matter?” Ari got up and tugged the strap of her bag onto her shoulder. “I thought that I needed to pay the debt on the fifteenth, there are still seven days before that day.”

Though Ari did not have enough money, she was thinking of using her savings to pay the first round of payments.

That was her initial plan but looking at Mister Fletcher, Ariana could not help but gulp. This man did not seem like he was here to just talk with her.

“Eh, that was indeed the case. Until we found out this little detail about you. You once almost f*cking killed someone in high school didn’t cha?” Mister Fletcher added when he saw Ari frown.

Upon hearing Mister Fletcher mention that incident, Ari’s expression turned sombre. She looked at the man in front of her and pursed her lips before saying, “That is a misunderstanding. It wasn’t like that…” Ari wanted to explain, but Mister Fletcher was not here to listen to a woman clarifying herself.

He was here for his money, which was in grave threat as Ariel told him. This woman did not care about her family, if she were to run away leaving behind Harlow… what was he supposed to do?

“Yada Yada, Miss Ariana. It doesn’t matter to me and my boys whether it was a misunderstanding or it was the f*cking reality,” Mister Fletcher interrupted Ari. He said to her, “What matters to us is whether you can pay our fcking money back. We were indeed going to scare you and just let you pay the money, but now that we know you have a criminal record…” he trailed off before continuing, “It makes me wonder whether you will suddenly disappear. You see people with a criminal mind think differently from the rest. And that would be bad for business, don’t ya think so?”

Ari felt helpless. Firstly, she did not understand how this man suddenly came to this conclusion and at the same time, she wondered who told him about that incident. It had been years, certainly, and no one would bring that incident all of a sudden.

“I understand that you are suspicious, but I am not going to run away. I have no money… And no——”

“Are you still continuing with the same claim, Miss Ariana?” Mister Fletcher breathed out three rings of smoke as he placed his cigar back in between his lips and took a swig from it. “Then what is in your bag?”

The bag that Ari had filled to the brim with clothes for protecting the money envelope was now like a double-edged sword for her. Even if she were to say that she was not going to run away, Mister Fletcher and his goons would not listen to her.

At the same time, she couldn’t open the bag and show it to them as there was one million dollars inside this bag!

If they were to see the money, these men would certainly believe that Ari intended to run away.

“These are just clothes,” Ari replied with clammy hands as she tugged on the strap of the bag on her shoulder. “I was going to donate them to the centre for the homeless.”

“Just clothes eh?” Mister Fletcher suddenly laughed, causing Ari to turn even more worried. She then heard the man say, “Miss Ari, you might not know this, but a lot of our debtors suddenly grow very generous before disappearing. So, if you do not mind… Can you overturn your bag and empty it on the ground? I am just checking nothing else. Don’t worry. Chillax” He stated while spreading his hands on either side with their palms facing forward.

However, no matter how relaxed he made himself look, Ari knew that the man was anything but calm.