Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 524

Chapter 524: Increasing Burden
“Mister Ashford,” Ariana greeted the man who had called her, looking at her father; she did not know what to make of him. Theodore had been fair to her by not refusing to hand down a punishment to Penelope, but he had still been merciful to her as he still held hope towards her.

Theodore was a bit hurt when he heard Ariana call and address him as Mister and not Father. However, even though it upset him, he didn’t show it on his face. He smiled at his daughter with his hands behind his back and said to her, “Come with me?”

Ariana nodded in response, and Theodore turned on his feet before heading towards the office that belonged to him.

“First of all,” He began as he opened the door of his office and stepped inside. He stepped to one side and let Ariana walk inside; once she walked past him, Theodore closed the door behind him. “I would like to apologise to you. You might not know this but—”

“I do,” Realising that it was better to confess, Ariana turned to look at Theodore and exhaled a heavy sigh, “I –heard what happened just now; I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I had no idea if it was my place to speak up or not.” There was a slight hesitation in her voice.

“You heard?” Theodore frowned lightly, and taking his frown as that of annoyance and disapproval, Ariana said to him, “Yes, I am sorry. I heard Penelope screaming that she did not want to marry, followed by the sound of quarrelling and slapping.”

“I believed that something went wrong, which was why I wanted to stop it. As I thought that no matter what kind of woman Penelope was, she deserved to marry a man of her liking.”

When Theodore heard her reasoning, he turned silent and felt even more annoyed by the things that his daughter had done. Clearly, his adopted daughter held nothing but bad intentions towards Ariana, and yet despite the things that she had done to her, Ariana still wanted to speak up for her.

This showed a clear difference between the two of them.

“And what do you think now?” Theodore asked.

“I…” Ariana clenched her fingers and stated honestly, “I think my intervention was nothing but foolish.”

Theodore nodded in approval. At least his daughter was kind but not foolish.

He walked over to his chair and sat down on the large cushioned chair before tipping his chin at the chair opposite him. “Sit,” he said to Ariana. “There is something I would like to speak and ask you.”

Ariana had an inkling about what Mister Theodore wanted to talk to her about, but even so, she walked over to the chair and sat down. Once she took her seat, she heard Mister Theodore say, “How are you doing, Ariana?”

“I am feeling fine,” Ariana responded, feeling a bit overwhelmed. She was not used to a father caring for her; the only father figure she had in her life before was Mister Harlow.

And that man only knew how to raise his hand on her and ask for money.

Mister Theodore stared at her as if he wanted to gauge something; it was because he realised how terrifyingly similar Ariana was to Kaylyn. Other than her eyes, she looked like she was carved from the same mould as Kaylyn.

His eyes softened when he looked at her before saying to her, “I am glad that you are doing better. What Penelope has done to you is nothing but sheer foolishness on her part. I assure you that other than her, everyone in the family is overjoyed with your return. So please, don’t restrain yourself. No matter who raised you and where you grew up, it doesn’t change the fact that you are my daughter.”

Ariana was touched when she heard the words of Mister Theodore. Warmth bubbled in her veins as she knew that the reason Mister Theodore was saying these words to her was because she told him that she was hesitant to join the conversation just now.

“Thank you,” Ariana said to Theodore, who waved his hand and stated, “There is no need for you to thank me. I am your father and making you feel safe and protected is my responsibility,”

Theodore wanted Ariana to feel at home instead of worrying about whether she was going to be accepted by them or not.

He paused and asked with a sharp gaze, “Nicolai, he told me that you and him are friends. Was he speaking the truth?”

Ariana’s breath hitched as she looked at Mister Theodore, whose gaze seemed to be X-raying her. She swallowed the words that she wanted to say and nodded.

Seeing her response, Mister Theodore heaved a sigh of relief. He said to her, “Oh, that’s good. Please don’t take me wrong; I am not against you marrying a man of your choice. I just feel like you can do better than Nicolai.”

His eyes hardened as he stated, “That boy is kind at times, but when he is done with something, he is crueller than anyone. You saw too, didn’t you? Penelope and him grew up together, but he slashed her face without blinking an eye.”

“For Nicolai, relations are different from us. It’s like an On and Off switch for him,” he explained. “If he can love you and treat you better than most, I assure you —he can also hurt you in the worst way possible.”

But he did it for me. Ariana wanted to say these words, but before she could, Mister Theodore went ahead and said to her, “But I am relieved to know that you and him are not lovers. I just knew when I saw that you wouldn’t let me down, Ariana.”

And Ariana, who had always been pushed on the pedestal of being perfect, once again felt as if she was being burdened by something heavy.

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