Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 267

Chapter 267: Extra chapter : Overwriting the past
Nicolai was awake. Correction, he was oh so rudely woken up when he had earned the right to sleep until the sun was shining on a*s.

“Goddammit, which motherf*cker dared to call me?” Nicolai smacked his hand around on the bed while burying his head in the pillow. His palm struck against his phone, which he had thrown to the side after returning to his home and jumping on his bed.

He pulled it close and peered at the name that was flashing on the screen, and the second he did that—— all the sleepiness in his eyes vanished.

“Pallas! What a sweet surprise?” He exclaimed as soon as he answered the call.

“It is indeed a surprise, Mister de Luca,” Ariana answered as she looked at the bouquet of jasmine. Whether it was a good one or a bad one, Ariana was yet to decide it. “Can you tell me why you sent a bouquet to me?”

Nicolai pulled his leg close and placed his elbow on his knee. “I did. Did you like it?”

A furrow settled between Ariana’s brows as she turned to look at the bouquet. Well, there was nothing unlikeable about it.

“It’s not the question of liking and not liking, Mister de Luca. I don’t see the point of getting a bouquet for no reason,” Ariana told the man while gently caressing the white flowers that were carefully arranged.

“Reason? I didn’t know that I needed a reason to send the woman, I am pursuing a bouquet,” Nicolai stared out of the window of his room, the sun was shining so brightly, that he could not help but question just how tired he was to not wake up to this blinding light.

“It is neither my birthday…nor anything else, Mister de Luca.”

Nicolai frowned when he heard her confused tone. Yes, confused. It was as if Ariana had no idea why he would go out of his way to send her a bouquet, the way she was reacting was as if he sent a f*cking octopus dressed as a puppy in her house.

And she had no idea what to do with it.

Nicolai had given gifts to many women—— correction it was Zena who had sent those gifts under his name and of course, every single woman had smiled and gushed at how much she loved the gifts that he had given her.

Not one ever acted so lost.

‘Don’t tell me that bastard did not even give her a bouquet,’ Nicolai thought with a scowl on his face. He rubbed his free hand over his face before saying, “You said that you no longer had a favourite flower, didn’t you? So I want to find your new favourite together, Pallas. It is not a big deal.”

A new start where he would be with her and not that prim and proper, Noah Nelson.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ariana whispered, her heart thumping wildly as she stared at the bouquet, for some reason, it felt much heavier than it felt before, and she was not even holding it.

“Well, I am doing it,” Nicolai stated firmly. “There is nothing wrong with appreciating you, Pallas. Take it as an apology for all the time you have to keep up with me.”

But…why?

Was this something she even deserved? Ariana questioned as she stared at the beautiful bouquet.

Appreciation? Her mother told her that her very existence was challenging to accept, much less appreciated.

So hearing those words from Nicolai felt weird.

“Am I worth your appreciation?” Ariana asked in a soft voice, she was worried that Nicolai was only getting wound up along with her because he could not get what he wanted from her.

‘But when he gets close, when sees the real me—— he will know that I am not worth anything,’ Ariana scratched the back of her palm with her sharp nails. Hard enough to hurt, but not strong enough to pierce her skin.

“You are,” Nicolai replied feeling amused and something else but as he was not good with emotions, he needed to check with Aiden what this particular feeling was called. “Why do you think I am chasing after you like a cat will chase after a mouse?”

“Because I said no?”

“Fuck Pallas. Do you think that I am that desperate and pathetic? I know how to take a no, alright?”

Nicolai felt offended. He felt enraged. He felt——-

“Pallas, you better take that back, right now! I am serious,” Nicolai said on the speaker of his phone.

On the other side, Ariana smirked in amusement. There was something fun about winding Nicolai up when he was the one who had been winding her up until now.

“I am getting late, Mister de Luca. I will see you later.”

“Pallas! Pallas! Hey, Pallas! You fuc——”

Ariana ended the call as she turned to look at Timmy. She smiled at her fur baby before saying, “Isn’t it a lovely morning?”

Timmy tilted his head to the side. His tail wagged left and right happily.

“Now then,” Ariana rolled her shoulders and said to Timmy. “We should go for a small walk before I leave for the hospital.”

She had to finish it up before Nicolai came looking for her.

And given that she had provoked him, the chances of him hunting her down were rather high.

“Come to think of it,” Ariana mused while holding her phone. “I need to buy a dress.” One that would cover her back perfectly. “I really don’t know if I can find one, Timmy.”

Evening dresses for balls and parties were usually backless and the ones that were decent and comfortable were not good enough.

Ariana was worried that she might end up being ridiculed if she did not find a decent dress.

Especially when her budget was tight enough to choke her, which it did whenever she looked at her bank account.

She patted Timmy on the head and exhaled, “We can only hope for the better, Tim.”