Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 397

Chapter 397: The meeting of brothers (2)
“She is my…” Nicolai trailed off as he turned to look at Ari, who had gone unnaturally stiff. What was she to him? A lover? Girlfriend? A woman he wanted to pursue?

Nicolai would have loved to put either of the tags on her head, but as of now, she was nothing more than his booty call. And before anyone came after his throat, it was her words and not his.

He cleared his throat and answered, “She is my friend, but I can’t say the same about you three,” he added with a suspicious expression on his face.

Keon smiled at him before saying, “If we are not her friends, then we can always change that.”

As he finished speaking, he turned on his feet such that he was facing Ari. There was something — a touch of subtle tenderness, that Keon was trying his best to hide.

“Doctor Harlow,” he began with a softer smile which was more profoundly kind than any smile he had shown Nicolai. And they were supposed to be childhood friends. “Nico is correct. It is not right for us to keep visiting under the pretext of you being the saviour of our brother. If you don’t mind, can we become friends?”

“There is another option,” Nicolai began, his heart thumping with fright and confusion. “That you all stop visiting altogether.”

Keon ignored him while looking at Ari with a hesitant and waiting expression as if he was going to stand there until Ari agreed.

Ari hesitated. She glanced at Nicolai, who seemed absolutely livid with the very notion of her befriending any other man. While it stroked the petty and selfish side of her, Ari sighed in helplessness.

Nicolai couldn’t possibly expect her world to start roaming around just him. That was simply impossible.

Anyway, men like Keon weren’t meant for her. More importantly, Keon and his brothers have been kind to her. They have made her feel secure and happy in the most Platonic way.

Ari didn’t believe that they had even an ounce of the same thoughts as Nicolai. They were like Aaron, silent but protective in their own way.

“Sure,” ignoring the exasperating look on Nicolai’s face, she smiled at Keon. “I will be your friend, Master Keon.”

Keon beamed down at her along with his brothers.

“Thank you, we will not let you down,” Keon said solemnly and for some reason, his words sounded like an oath to Ari who tilted her head to one side.

Mateo wrapped his arm around Keon before saying, “Excellent. To commemorate this moment, why don’t we do something nice?” He tapped his nose with his other free hand before taking out something that he had brought with him in a paper bag.

“You enjoy painting, right, Doctor Harlow? I heard from Millie that you are teaching her how to sketch,” he said to her as he pulled out a package that consisted of the finest brushes and paints.

Ari’s eyes widened when she looked at the set in front of her and shook her head. “I —I can’t possibly take it. It’s costly.” This set cost at most two thousand dollars, how could she even think of taking it?

When Mateo saw Ari looking at the set wistfully with an expression of hesitation, his heart started to ache. His sister should have grown up in the lap of luxury with the best of everything, and yet here she was worrying about a little set of art essentials.

Penny, who was not related to them in any way, would spend two hundred dollars without batting an eye. What was two thousand in her eyes?

And yet, his sister —

Mateo glanced at his brothers and noticed the same pain in their eyes. He wanted to bring Ari back home with him, but he couldn’t possibly do that—not without alerting the enemy.

There was also Penny. The three of them needed to prepare their parents by making them see the hideous face their favourite daughter hid behind her sweet and kind mask.

Bringing Ari to that house where Penny had ruled and had wrapped people around her little finger, would be making life difficult for her instead of bringing her comfort, kindness, and love.

“It is not,” wrenching himself out of his thoughts, Mateo smiled at Ari and said to her, “I am grateful for your actions when you didn’t give up on my brother. You brought him back from hell’s door and more than that, I am thankful for the kindness you have shown to Millie.”

“Not many pay attention to her, as they believe that she had lost her mind to madness. But most forget that it is the same that they need to fear,” Mateo thought of his aunt and her reckless and careless attitude towards her daughter.

She liked perfection and well Millie was anything but perfect.

Ari still thought that the gift was too much, but before she could refuse, the door of her ward opened again and this time around, the one who stepped inside was Aaron.

He looked windswept and concerned with dark circles under his eyes as if he were under a lot of strain.

“Ariana!?”

“Aaron?” Ari twisted her neck and looked at her elder brother whom she considered her brother. She blinked her eyes and questioned, “What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” Aaron asked with a disbelieving and angry chuckle. “If there is someone who should be asking this question, it should be me! Why did you not tell me what happened to you? Do you know how worried I was when you stopped replying to my messages?”

“Fortunately, I ran into Danny when I went to your apartment this evening, or else I wouldn’t even know that you were admitted to the hospital.”

“I was going crazy thinking something happened to you, I swear to God, I was this close to calling the police.”

Aaron wanted to say something more, but then his gaze fell on the four men who stood in the ward of his sister. “And who are you?” He asked with a frown on his face, as he had never seen these men before.