Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 332

Chapter 332: Twisted memories
“Are you sure that you would like to drink brandy at such an hour?” Nicolai asked Mrs Harlow. The two of them were now sitting in the lounge room, with the air conditioner at full blast.

The scent of jasmine lingered in the air as two large bouquets were placed in the large vases on either side of the door.

Nicolai used to bring his fuck buddies to this room in the past, but ever since he met with Ariana, this room had hardly been used by him.

Mrs Harlow, who was looking around the lavish lounge room, turned to look at Nicolai upon hearing his question.

She chuckled and said, “Of course, if you had a troublesome daughter like mine, you would be drunk too most of the time, Mister de Luca.”

Nicolai gritted his teeth upon hearing those words. Because Mrs Harlow, who was unaware of his parenting and childhood, did not know that he had once heard the same words from his father.

The man was a coward who couldn’t face his flaws, and yet somehow his drinking habits were connected to his son.

“Bring her a glass of brandy,” Nicolai said to his assistant, who nodded and left the room. He then turned to look at Mrs Harlow and questioned, “What is it that you wanted to say to me?”

“You know Mister de Luca,” Mrs Harlow stated as Nicolai’s assistant returned and placed a bottle of brandy and a small glass in front of her, which he was carrying on a tray. “The very second I saw you, I knew that you were too kind.”

The assistant, who was about to leave the lounge room, paused and turned to look at Mrs Harlow. He could not believe what he was hearing. Mister de Luca? And kind?

These two words were used together? Could they even be used together?

With a shake of his head, the assistant took his leave as he truly cared for this job.

Inside the room, Nicolai was frowning as he watched the woman who was drunk beyond her limits.

“Honestly, I am not even surprised that my daughter tried to seduce you. Ariana— she has always been eager, greedy, and ambitious,” Mrs Harlow burped as she picked up the bottle of brandy and poured herself another drink. “It’s shameful enough that she chased her sister away to take her place on the aisle, but that girl still doesn’t know where to stop.”

“It’s as if she is trying to embarrass me to the point of oblivion.”

Nicolai’s frown deepened as he was certain that the Ariana he knew was rather different from the one whom Mrs Harlow spoke about.

“Truthfully, Ariana — I never even wanted her as a daughter,” gritted Mrs. Harlow. Her brows furrowed and her face showed a hint of contempt. “How I wished I could have aborted her when I had the time to do so, after all, everything she has ever done is nothing but a disappointment.”

Nicolai was lost in his thoughts but upon hearing the sheer malice that Mrs Harlow held for her daughter, he could not help but turn his entire attention to Mrs Harlow.

“Though I agree that it was my fault somewhere as I would rather not have her and that might have caused our relationship to be filled with strife and stress,” confessed Mrs Harlow.

She raised her hand and then took a swig of the brandy that she had poured for herself. “I will admit that I did not love her as I did my two children but it’s just so difficult to love her.”

“Are you here to tell me how less you think of your daughter, if that’s the case then—”

“Oh no, Mister de Luca,” Mrs Harlow chuckled as if finding Nicolai’s words amusing.

She brought the glass of brandy onto her lap and looked at Nicolai with her reddened eyes as a furious blush scattered all over her cheeks and neck due to the strong drink she was drowning.

“I don’t think any less of my daughter. No matter what she is mine — but how can one even love her? She dresses like a widow. Always wearing black — with god-awful pieces of accessories and that cold expression of hers! Goodness!”

‘I think she looks just fine,’ Nicolai knew that Ariana liked to dress like a gothic princess but he had a feeling that she wore those dresses as her own way to rebel against her mother.

“How many times have I asked her to be feminine, to wear clothes that are light coloured and beautiful? But has she ever listened to me? No,” Mrs Harlow chuckled as she brought the rim of the glass to her mouth.

“What do you—”

“Ariel told me that you have been confounded by my daughter,” Mrs Harlow went on as if she had never heard a thing that Nicolai said to her. “How? I have no idea as her looks alone are enough to make a man know she is not the kind of woman who deserved to be loved but only to be used.”

“If she was loveable, would Noah have kept her away from him? The fact alone that Noah did not touch her for three years is enough to prove how hard she is to love or like. I have seen many men crawling towards her, but only because they want to spend a night with her.”

“After all, her body is the only thing that is something worth keeping.”

Nicolai clenched his fingers, but he did not stop the woman from speaking as he wanted to understand Ariana.

The woman had always kept him at bay.

‘Is it normal for a mother to resent her daughter to this point?’ Nicolai thought with furrowed brows.

He couldn’t answer that question as his father had hated him just as much as Mrs Harlow hated Ariana or maybe more than her.

But Nicolai had given that man enough reasons to hate him, Ariana didn’t seem like the woman who would have ever taken a toe out of the line.

“Not to mention that she had almost killed someone.”