Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 410

Chapter 410: To Be Hated
“Is there something that you want to say to my idiotic cousin?” Aiden asked when he looked at Ari who seemed mutinous.

‘Yes.’

“No,” Ari ignored the desire to hurl some really colourful words at Aiden for two reasons. Firstly, he had done nothing wrong, and her anger wasn’t even directed at him and secondly, because she was in no position to lose her temper at Nicolai.

‘And whose fault is that genius?’ The voice in her head spoke with a slight snicker and Ari turned a deaf ear to its sniggering.

“It’s nothing,” she replied to Aiden who seemed confused but said nothing, as he was not the kind of guy who liked to poke his nose in anybody’s business.

Ari finished signing the discharge form and then picked up her small bag. She turned around on her feet and was about to head out of the hospital when a hand reached out and took the bag from her.

Startled, she turned to look at the person beside her. The hope in her heart surged higher but soon plummeted to the ground when she saw Mateo standing next to her.

“Doctor Harlow?” The man called her in a soft voice and Ari snapped out of her daze.

“Mister Ashford,” greeted Ari while trying to hide her disappointment. What was wrong with her? Since when did she start looking and waiting for Nicolai? So what if he didn’t come to fetch her on the day of her discharge?

Maybe he was busy or something.

She didn’t need his help for something so small and yet, Ari couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed and hurt that Nicolai didn’t care enough to check up on her again.

Suppressing the rising displeasure in her heart, Ari looked at Mateo and asked, “What are you doing here, Mister Ashford?”

The two of them started to walk out of the hospital, well, at least Mateo did while Ari followed him as he was carrying her hospital bag. She couldn’t let him take her bag away, as it held her medicines and ointments.

“I thought that no one was going to be picking you up today, which is why I came to help you with your discharge,” Mateo replied as he peered over at her through his sunglasses which had round frames. “Clearly, I was rather late, as you did everything on your own.”

“You didn’t have to —I am clearly fine, Mister Mateo,” began Ari feeling a tad bit confused and wary. Why was Mateo helping her so much? Was it related to Penny and her heart being a match?

Mateo could see Ari’s guard going up and smiled. However, his smile did not reach his eyes. Once he gets hold of Mrs. Harlow, that woman would be genuinely sorry indeed.

“You don’t need to feel burdened by my actions,” Mateo explained. “I came to the Hospital to hand Millie some of her personal belongings. It was then when I saw you signing your discharge papers on your own, which is why I decided to help you.”

Ari blinked her eyes and nodded, “That was really nice of you, Mister Ashford.” Though she did not let go of her guard, she still didn’t forget about being polite.

“You can call me Mateo— Doctor Harlow. It will be perplexing if you address me and my brothers as ‘Mister Ashford’ in case we are all at the same place,” joked Mateo and Ari furrowed her brows lightly.

She nodded stiffly before agreeing, “Alright, Mateo.” She found it a bit awkward to call a complete stranger by his name.

“Ari.”

“Ariana.”

Two voices called Ari from behind and Ari turned to look at Danny and Leila walking over to where she was standing.

“Danny? Leila?” Ari turned sideways to look at her two and only close friends. “What are you doing here?”

Danny rolled his eyes as he brushed away the strands of the nonexistent dirt off his shoulders and replied, “We came to help you discharge, what else? Did I not send a message saying that we will be here?”

“You did?” Ari’s eyes widened as she took her phone out from the pockets of her jeans. Three taps later she was staring at Danny’s message which he sent early in the morning.

With a sheepish smile, she said to Danny, “I didn’t check it.”

“That— much is obvious,” snorted Dan with a slight pause. He then glanced at Mateo before asking, “And who might you be, sir?” his stance was rather protective as he looked at Mateo.

Mateo was not used to being looked at by anyone in such an unfriendly way, but he still smiled and held his hand in front of him, “Mateo Ashford. You might have heard of me?”

“I have, but never from Ari,” Danny squinted his eyes with his arms crossed in front of him.

“It is not surprising, given that I just met with Doctor Harlow,” replied Mateo with no hesitation. “She was the one who insisted that my brother could be saved and gave him the necessary first aid and treatment before his surgery.”

“It’s because of her that my youngest brother is still alive and well, don’t you think that I should show some respect and gratitude to Doctor Harlow?” Mateo asked with a smile.

His gaze fell on Leila who stood quietly next to Ari and his brows, which were lifted in a lighthearted manner, furrowed.

“Aren’t you—”

“Ari, let us go,” Leila interrupted him before turning to look at Ari. She did not even look at Mateo as she pulled Ari away, leaving Mateo speechless and Danny suspicious.

Danny took a step closer to Mateo and studied him with a haughty glance, “I don’t care who you are, Mister Ashford. But you better not try anything on my best friends, in fact, don’t even think about hurting them.”

“If you ask me, just stray clear off their path. Capice?”

After speaking, he twisted on his feet and swaggered away.

Mateo watched him leave and cursed, “Shit!”

Leila—that woman turned out to be Ari’s best friend?