Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 385

Chapter 385: Splintering Past
“You came…” Ari whispered.

“Well duh, did you expect me to go back home and tuck myself to sleep after finding out that you have been kidnapped?” His eyes fell on the several bruises on her face and neck. “Can you walk, Pallas?”

Ari pushed her hands to the ground and with all her strength, she tried to stand up, but the sharp searing pain in her left foot told her that it was impossible.

Especially when stars were rolling in front of her eyes.

She shook her head and replied, “I cannot get up. It seems like I sprained my left foot.”

Nicolai noticed the swelling on her ankle, he narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Samuel before fishing out his gun and aiming straight at his left foot.

There was another loud bang, followed by a cry that could have put a soprano singer to shame.

“Nico!” Kayden reproachfully said to his cousin, “Can you chill the fuck out? Or do you want everyone to know that there is a raging maniac roaming in the forest with a gun?”

Ari turned to look at Kayden, who appeared angry and upset with Nicolai because he was not being low-key at all.

“I am chill,” replied Nicolai as he bent and picked Ari in his arms. “If I wasn’t then he would be dead by now.” With a roll of his eyes directed at his cousin, he then turned to look at Ari and asked her, “Does it hurt?”

“It stings, but I can bear it,” she replied while looping her arms around Nicolai’s neck.

“I will bring you to the hospital,” said Nicolai as he started walking past the trail from where he came inside the forest. “Hold on a bit longer.”

Ari hummed as she continued holding on to Nicolai. A tingling sensation started to spread in the wound on her abdomen and Ari sucked in a breath, it seemed like the stitches ripped once again.

Kayden was stunned to see his cousin walk away with that beautiful woman in his arms while leaving him to deal with this abomination to humanity and humans.

“L—let me go, do you know who my father is?” Samuel was still trying to struggle, as he knew that if he allowed himself to be dragged by Kayden, he might never come out of the ‘club’ alive.

Kayden sighed. He freed one of his hands and then knotted his fingers in the hair of the man who was trying his best to slip out of his grasp. “Do you want me to bury you right here, eh?” He asked with a tilt of his head to one side.

“If that’s what you want then you can just tell me your favourite way of dying, and I will do it for you. One last show of mercy, what do you say?” Kayden smiled at Samuel, who stiffened in fright.

“It would be better if you stop threatening me unless you want me to skin you alive and throw you in a pond of piranhas,” Kayden warned the man.

Away from the two of them, Nicolai walked through the trails in the forests. Patrick closely followed behind him, with his phone in his hand, he helped Nicolai pave his way through the winding trails.

Raindrops continued to fall on their faces like little watery pellets.

It didn’t take long for the two of them to be soaked to their bones and yet even though her wound was stinging with a dull ache and the swelling on her face had gotten worse than before, Ari felt at ease.

A solemn peace that only Nicolai’s presence could have brought her.

She didn’t speak and neither did Nicolai, who was walking quickly past the paths of the forest. He stepped out of the rickety trail and headed straight to the car, which was not parked far from the forest.

Patrick strode past them and then opened the door of the car.

Nicolai helped Ari sit inside the car, before joining her. No sooner did he close the door of the car than another car stopped behind his own. At first, Nicolai thought that it was Noah, but that was until his gaze fell on the Ashford family insignia.

What were they doing here? He thought while looking at the cars of the Ashford family.

“Drive,” Nicolai had numerous thoughts in his mind, but he believed that Ari had enough excitement for the night. He could feel her trembling, half in fear and half in pain.

Her eyes were fixated on the roof of the car.

“You okay, Pallas?” He asked her.

Ari nodded slowly but then shook her head. The panic and fear in her body were still running high and were yet to be subdued. Her mind and heart were also slowly coming down from the adrenaline high that she was feeling at the moment when she was trying to run away from that man.

She told herself that she was safe and away from being violated before getting buried in some corner of the forest, but her body had yet to get that message.

“I felt sorry for him,” she wrenched her lips and said in a soft voice, “All these years, I thought that I did something wrong—that I shouldn’t have resorted to violence and hurt him and his friends.”

“That day still haunts me until now—I can’t even shake off the jitters when I see blood. All these years, I told myself that I could make up for the wrong that I have committed by saving as many lives as I can.”

“Now I just don’t know —it feels like what I did to him, he deserved every bit of it.” Her voice held a dangerous edge.

This was the first time Nicolai heard Ari talk about her past, and thus he didn’t stop her from speaking. However, when she spoke no more, he leaned forward picked up a water bottle and passed it to her.

“Drink.”

Ari took the bottle from him and heard him say, “Be careful not to drink in a hurry or else you will choke.”

She nodded before opening the lid of the bottle and started taking small sips from it. But as she finished taking her third sip, Ari’s eyes started to well up with tears, and unable to control herself any further, she broke down into tears.