Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 404

Chapter 404: Shifting Future
After listening to her brother mention the altar and wedding for a long time, Ari finally couldn’t hear anymore. She could hear the contempt in his voice as if Aaron was certain that by mentioning ‘wedding’ and ‘marriage’, he would make Nicolai back off.

If he couldn’t make Nicolai back off, he could at least make Ari reconsider her decision to get too close to this man.

Finally, after getting enough lectures on what kind of men she should be looking for, Ari asked Aaron to leave her alone as she was tired.

But before leaving, he glared at Nicolai as if he were warning him not to go freaky with his sister. As if he could do that when Ari was hurt so severely.

Once he left her alone to take a nap, Nicolai pivoted and glanced at her. He looked mutinous but seemed to be suppressing his anger, “Is everyone close to you like this? If they are, then you might as well tell me now, lest I have them pummelled to the ground.”

“I told you we are not a good match, Nicolai,” remarked Ari with a sigh. “I had the same thoughts earlier—it’s not surprising that everyone close to me has the same kind of thoughts.”

Nicolai’s jaw clenched tight. He asked, “You mean to say that I have to win the heart of every single person around you?”

“No,” Ari lightly assured him. “There is no need to do such a thing.” Because he hadn’t won her heart either—her liking and affection yes, but not her heart.

As she turned her head slightly to the left on the pillow, her lips curled into a small smile as she took in Nicolai’s expression. “What’s wrong? Having second thoughts?”

“Hell would start freezing if I started having second thoughts,” growled Nicolai as he walked over to Ari’s bed. He cupped her cheek and swooped down before claiming her lips in a wild yet soft kiss.

As he pulled back seconds later, “You are mine, Pallas. If winning that asshole with an umbrella shoved in his ass is what I have to win over—I will do it.”

“That asshole is my brother,” She chided him lightly with two clouds of pink wafting over her cheeks.

“Doesn’t make him as lovable as you,” Nicolai shot back smoothly. Did he think that he was off the list just because Aaron was her brother?

He had his name underlined, with a special ink. See if he didn’t make that man be called as an uncle by his children —Woah there.

A voice in his head put a halt on his train of thought. What child? What the fuck? Did all that wedding talk go to his mind—he wanted to just get her in his bed and then put an end to this mess.

A child was certainly not going to put an end to things.

He parted his lips, seeming as if he were about to say something else when his phone rang.

He fished it out and placed it on his ear, as he answered, “What is it?”

Ari had no idea what the man on the other side of the phone said, but whatever he must have said must have been bad news because Nicolai’s lips pursed into a tight line and his brows scrunched up.

A tick started in his right cheek, and Ari didn’t know whether he was aware of this or not— but this happened a lot when he was angry or on the verge of losing control.

“I got it, hold him right there,” Nicolai said to the man on the other side of the call before pulling his phone away from his ear and then ending the call. He raised his head and looked at Ari before saying, “I need to be somewhere, Pallas. Sit tight for me, alright?”

As he finished speaking, his phone started to ring again and Nicolai turned angry. He answered the call and barked, “I said I got it. Just hold a second, do you see fucking wings on my back.”

He turned on his feet before heading out of the ward, he didn’t look back at Ari as the door closed behind him with a click.

Once Nicolai left the ward, the room regained its silence. In the past, Ari had relished in the quiet and the silence —a cup of tea and a nice book was enough to keep her company.

But as she continued to stare at the door, she seemed to be missing that boisterous man already.

‘What am I even thinking?’ Ari chided herself with a shake of her head as she sank further into the blanket.

However, just as she had closed her eyes, there was a knock on the door. Frowning, she turned to look at the door, and asked, “Who is it?”

Whoever was standing behind the door didn’t leave, instead, they knocked on the door again. Ari was considering ignoring the person but when they knocked once more she sighed. She said to the person, “Come inside.”

And when the door opened, she felt her heart skip a beat on seeing Noah standing outside. It took her two seconds to realize that her ex-husband who had been avoiding her was finally here to see her.

As Noah stared at Ari, a deep frown marred his face.

“What—what are you doing here?” Ari asked, coming back to her senses, as she watched Noah stand at the doorways like a guard dog.

Noah ignored her question as he took a shuddering breath which he released and entered the ward. “Are you alright, Ariana?” He asked his eyes, taking in the many bandages and tubes that were attached to the back of her hand.

For days, he had been avoiding meeting Ari as he would rather not face the truth —but as he stared at Ari and her injuries, the impact of what had caused this and the culprit behind it hit him so hard that he nearly stumbled.

He sucked in a breath and broke the gaze away that he had been sharing with Ari.