Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 350

Chapter 350: Cowards, Blames and Lies
“Do you know Ariana Harlow?” Mateo asked the elderly woman.

Mateo looked at the street, which was more or less empty, he could see Mrs Harlow walking in the backyard of her house talking to her neighbours. She seemed quite invested in the conversation that she was having.

His eyes fell on the familiar face. So similar and yet so different.

The woman took another take at his face, she asked, “I do. Who doesn’t know about that pitiful girl? But why are you asking about her?”

Mateo couldn’t help but take a few more looks at Mrs Harlow who guffawed and then went back inside her house, still chuckling at something that her neighbour had said to her.

“Why do you call her pitiful when everyone else speaks nothing but foul words about her?” Mateo asked, unable to stop himself from asking the one question that had tormented him for an entire night.

“Who are you?” The woman asked, sounding suspicious. “Are you a hoodlum hired by someone?”

“No, of course not!” Mateo refused at once, he couldn’t believe the words of the woman. Did he look like a hoodlum? Just look at his face, he was one of the dashing men of Clover City, how could he be counted as a hoodlum?

“Miss Harlow had submitted her details for a job application, as we are strict about the kind of people we hire— we always do a background check of those who pass the first stage of the interview,” Mateo made an excuse on the spot. He didn’t want to be captured and caught by police over groundless suspicions.

The woman still looked suspicious as she eyed Mateo warily.

It was as if she were certain that Mateo was one of those men who lured children away by tempting them with candies, but after a long pause where Mateo started to sweat profusely, she said, “Come inside then.”

Mateo heaved a sigh of relief before following the woman inside the flower shop. He looked around at the countless flowers that were placed on various shelves to be sold.

“Thank you for giving me time, Madam—”

“Mrs Burt,” The elderly woman introduced herself as she walked to a cupboard and pulled out a packet of cheap tea bags and porcelain tea cups that looked decade old.

She then walked over to the small circular wooden table and sat down on the chair before saying, “I hope you don’t mind young man, I am an old woman with no strength and old bones left in my body, I can’t stand up for long.”

“No, it’s alright Mrs Burt,” Mateo flashed a polite yet gentlemanly smile to Mrs Burt as he sat down on the chair opposite her.

“I dare say you look like a refined man, but I only have tea bags,” Mrs Burt stated with a smile, her eyes crinkling due to her actions.

“It’s alright, mam. I don’t mind it,” Mateo wanted to wheedle the information about his sister from Mrs Burt, so of course he dared not to say anything rude.

Even if he had never drank tea made from teabags in his entire life, he was willing to at that moment.

Mrs Burt smiled and started preparing the tea. Three minutes later, two cups of steaming tea were placed on the table as Mrs Burt asked, “You said that you are here to do a background check on Ari?”

Mateo nodded, “Yes.”

“Then you can go ahead and hire her, don’t listen to the words of those fools. They are all cowards who only follow one another like a flock of sheep,” stated Mrs Burt with a snort.

“You mean to say they are lying about Miss Harlow attacking a man with a club?” Mateo asked tentatively.

Mrs Burt sighed and shook her head. She replied, “Of course not, they are speaking the truth.”

“But then—”

“However, that girl also had no choice,” continued Mrs Burt with a dark look in her eyes.

“She had no choice but to attack that boy with a club?” Mateo asked while taking a peek at Mrs Burt’s expressions. He had been lied to enough and did not want to listen to any more lies.

Mrs Burt nodded, “Everyone will tell you that Ari had smashed a man’s head with a club, but they will not say the reason behind it. For they are too scared to speak of the truth.”

Mateo frowned because he had many questions that he wanted to ask Mrs Burt. However, these questions could wait for a while. He asked Mrs Burt, “Do you know the reason, then?” If she was speaking so confidently, she should know what happened back then too.

“Of course I do,” Mrs Burt replied, her eyes fixed on the mullioned windows of her shop. “There was this boy who confessed to little Ari back then, that’s how the boys are these days. Just a small proposal and they hope for the girl to agree.”

“Back in my days, men used to bring flowers and rings to propose as they knew the value of a woman’s virtue.”

“There was no such thing as dating and any rubbish like how it happens now— even the decency to let the woman refuse has been wiped clean in some men,” scoffed Mrs Burt. “And this boy who proposed to Ariana was one such man. He didn’t like it when she refused him and tried to coerce her by falling down a flight of stairs and pinning the blame on Ari.”

Mateo’s fingers clenched on his lap. “He did such a thing?”

“Oh yes, and that wasn’t the end of it,” said Mrs Burt. “That boy’s parents were rich and of course, they did not like a little girl from no background doing such a thing to their son. I am almost certain that they were aware of what their son did, but still made Ari apologise to their son.”

She paused and added, “In fact, it would be correct to say that it was her mother who took Ari to the hospital and forced her to bow her head in front of the boy. Literally.”