Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 499

Chapter 499: Cries of the strong
Nicolai kicked himself off the wall against which he was leaning and said to Mateo, “I am here because I am her friend, and compared to you, I am much closer to her. So, I believe that it’s better for me to stay with her.”

He was not leaving until he had his say.

“Nico—”

“Then you can stay.” Theodore looked at Nicolai with an assessing expression. “But I do hope that you will know where to draw the line, right?”

The Ashford family had been neutral for years; they have never aligned themselves with the Serpents of the Phantoms.

Theodore had no plans on doing such a thing either, and to top it all, he had heard of Nicolai’s fame. As a father, he did not believe that he was a man worthy of marrying his daughter, for he knew how many women Nicolai had been with.

He didn’t agree with it when it was Penelope who wanted to marry Nicolai, and he was not going to agree even more now that it was related to Ariana.

His daughter, who had suffered at the hands of Marcia, deserved a man who would worship the floor that she walked on, not someone like Nicolai, who was too chaotic and impulsive.

He could seriously hurt his daughter with that explosive anger of his.

Above all, Theodore did not believe that any man was worthy of his daughter.

Nicolai raised a brow, but he did not refute Theodore. He wanted to tell that man that the train he was worried about had long left the station. He had not only gotten close to Ariana; he had done it so closely that she had cried his name like that was the only word she knew.

However, he was worried that Theodore would kick him out if he was to say such words. Nicolai bowed his head and conceded without saying a word; he then walked over to Ariana, who was lying on the bed.

He waited for the Ashford family to walk out of the room before sitting down at the edge of the bed.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” He asked while staring down at Ariana, who stared back at him.

Nicolai raised his hand and then placed it against Ariana’s cheek. He lightly caressed her face, and Ariana closed her eyes as she relished his warm touch against her cold skin.

His kind gesture made her recall that one memory of her childhood, the only one that was filled with warmth and happiness.

Back to the day when she was whipped on the back of her legs by her mother and was thrown in her room with a burning fever. No matter how she cried, her mother did not take a look at her condition. In the end, she had no other choice but to stay quietly in her bed.

It was then when Aaron came to her room with a bowl of crudely made porridge.

‘I cooked it,’ he told her in a soft voice. ‘Mom doesn’t know, so don’t tell her, alright? Just make do with it, and I will ask Aunt Fiona to cook something for you tomorrow. I will buy some chicken for the chicken soup with my pocket money…so stop crying.’

As he spoke those words, he helped Ariana eat the porridge. It was one of the worst meals that she had eaten in her entire life, as the rice was too mushy and the potatoes were hard.

But Ariana still remembered that porridge till now.

Just as she remembered Aaron leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead while telling her –

‘— I am here for you.’

‘But Nicolai was not Aaron,’ Ari thought as she opened her eyes and looked at the man in front of her. For some reason, she felt like the dream that she had been chasing after was not as impressive as the reality that she was living in.

The nightmare she was living in was over, and it was already a new day.

“… It’s nothing. I was just feeling a bit stressed with everything that is going on. Ari didn’t want to tell Nicolai the disgusting things that she had gone through. She knew she should, but—a part of her held her back.

She was worried that Nicolai might leave her.

It was funny that a woman like her who had been abandoned more than once was worried about being left behind by a man.

“The body being found out, officers coming to investigate me … and I recall that I did not eat anything in the morning because I was too nervous.”

Nicolai looked at her before sighing, “That’s how a lot of children faint; you should eat a balanced meal.”

“I am not a child, Nicolai,” Ari said to him with an exasperated note.

She tried to slide down the bed but was instead pushed back down.

“You still look a bit sick, so you should just continue lying down,” said Nicolai. “And are you hungry? Should I ask someone to bring something for you to eat? No, you shouldn’t eat anything, as you did not eat for a day. Maybe a drink or soup will suffice.”

“…I”

“Don’t say that you don’t want to,” Nicolai said to her sternly. “I know that you are feeling overwhelmed by the change of the entire situation, but you cannot harm your body.”

Seeing that he was really worried about her, Ariana did not refuse. She sighed and said to him, “Then maybe some mushroom soup. I do feel a bit hungry.”

No sooner did she finish speaking; someone outside yelled loudly,

“Someone make some mushroom soup right now!”

If she was not wrong, it was Emil.

‘This..’

Nicolai rolled his eyes as he turned to look at her. Seeing the surprised look on her face, he asked, “Why are you staring at the door like that?”

“This is the first time I have seen anyone worrying about me to this extent,” said Ari. She paused and turned to look at Nicolai. “But why are you here? Don’t you have work to do?”