Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 422

Chapter 422: Boy or Man
This man— he truly was one of a kind.

Ari shook her head and then stood up on her feet, she didn’t like the thought of leaving the evidence of their debauchery in plain sight like this.

The last thing she wanted was for Nicolai to make this bedsheet a kind of trophy. Given the kind of man, he was—Nicolai might really do it.

Not wanting to take part in any kind of humiliation like that, Ari wrenched the dirty bedsheet off the bed before locating the new sheets in the wardrobe at the bottom drawer.

Once she had cleared and placed the new sheets on the bed, she somehow pulled Nicolai up on the bed. He was heavy, but not as heavy as a cadaver.

Throughout the entire, as she pulled Nicolai up on the bed, the man simply stirred and mumbled strings of words, but not once did he open his eyes.

‘Is he truly a mafia prince?’ Ari thought as she finally succeeded in pulling Nicolai up the bed. How could he sleep throughout all the pushing and pulling? Weren’t mafia princes supposed to be light sleepers? Why was this one a deep sleeper?

She looked at Nicolai, who was lying on the bed on his stomach. His legs were sprawled all over the bed, with his hands spread wide apart as well. His long hair was sticking to his face because of all the sweat.

He didn’t get the time to wash, as he seemed to be waiting for her.

Ari’s eyes softened as she reached out and pushed hair strands off his face, before leaving the bedroom and heading to the bathing room, where she threw the dirtied sheet in the washing machine.

As she finished pressing the button, Ari went looking for her clothes and then pulled them on her body one by one. Once she was done dressing up, instead of heading to the entrance, she returned to the bedroom.

If possible, she wanted to stay the night —not with him in the bed, of course, because that was simply weird. They were nothing but friends with benefits, she couldn’t even imagine Nicolai spooning anyone.

But she couldn’t if she were to stay here, then Ari knew that someone would catch her. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to find out that she had spent the night at Nicolai’s place.

She couldn’t reach for anything more than just a small moment of pleasure. If Ari were to reach any further than that— she would lose more than just him.

There was no way Ari would let Nicolai see just how freaking destructive she could be.

Never.

Because this wasn’t his burden to carry. It was hers.

*** ****

When Ari stepped out of the taxi, she opened the door of the taxi and pulled out a twenty dollar bill from her purse and handed it to the taxi driver, as he had nearly driven her from one side of the city to the other.

“Thank you for helping me,” she said to the taxi driver politely. “I was really in a pinch there.”

“There is no need to thank me, Miss,” the taxi driver smiled at her as he took his beret cap off his head. “I just did what I was supposed to do.”

Ari smiled at the man before standing straight, her face contorted in pain as her core was still stinging, making it difficult for her to walk without a limp.

As it was too late, Ari thought that everyone must be asleep but as she stepped inside the elevator, Arabella, who was sitting inside her car, also stepped out. She frowned and looked at the woman who had entered the elevator.

“Why is she returning at such an odd hour?” Arabella couldn’t stop murmuring as she nosily waited for the elevator to reach their floor.

Her eyes followed Ari as she stepped out of the elevator and mused, “What’s with that limp? Did she get hurt or something else?” Her eyes flickered with a curious gleam.

——

At the Nelson mansion, every member of the Nelson family was dressed in the finest clothing while sitting at the dining table.

“Welcome to the Nelson mansion, Miss Inez, Mrs Nadia and Mister Kieran. And of course, Miss Zena,” Killian greeted the members of the de Luca family who were making their way inside the dining room.

His eyes flickered when he didn’t see Nicolai, but Killian didn’t mention his absence.

“Thank you for accepting our invitation,” said Mrs. Mia with a flattering smile on her face, which was only meant for those with whom she wanted to get acquainted. “I am glad that our families are now overlooking the years-old feud and moving onto another chapter. It is simply wonderful,” she gushed.

“Thank you for inviting us. I hope that you did not take much trouble on our account,” Inez responded as she glanced at the dining table, which was laden with the finest dishes.

There was a vase with a bouquet of roses and in the middle sat a rather fine platter with a decade-old wine.

“No such thing,” Killian signalled his son, who clenched his fingers but released them as he walked behind Zena and pulled the chair for her to sit.

“Please,” Noah said to Zena who smiled and thanked him politely. Her heart bubbled with nervousness as she sat down on the chair.

She hoped that Nicolai would never find out about this, or else he would definitely never forgive Noah or her.

‘But I have to do this for him,’ Zena thought with determination flashing in her eyes. While she had asked her adoptive mother to let her marry Noah, no one –not even Nicolai knew the secret that she had been carrying in her heart–

She had loved Nicolai for years, and her love for him had long surpassed the limits of mortal love. However, Zena also understood that Nicolai would never see her as she did —since he took her as his sister …she might as well do what she did best.

Let him get what he wanted, even if it was for a while.