Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 533

Chapter 533: He Broke Up with Her
“Does it have to be like this? I mean, can you not just tell them that you like me—”

“NO!” Ariana refused so harshly that Nicolai stepped down the bed. He looked at her with a stunned expression on his face.

“You didn’t even let me finish what I wanted to say.”

“I know what you were going to say, Nicolai, and the answer is no,” Ariana stated with a hint of panic in her eyes. She thought of her past and the present and suddenly felt suffocated. Her entire life was full of blemishes, and she didn’t want to lose Nicolai too.

If she was to tell her parents they would try to pull her away from Nicolai, Ariana was not ready for that conversation yet.

Not with them, nor with Nicolai.

She felt disgusted by her own skin; what were the chances that Nicolai would not feel the same? He was with her because he felt that she was untouched, unblemished. What if Nicolai was to find out that the woman he adored was long tainted?

And her parents, who, despite meeting her after years, had all kinds of hopes from her. It made her suffocated and tired.

There was no relief in her heart, only worries and anxiety.

Nicolai stared at her; he could see that there was something wrong with her. He wanted to reach inside and drag whatever demon was making her suffer out before pummelling it to death.

What the hell was wrong with her? He was trying to reach out to her, so why did she keep pushing him away? It was as if someone was choking her.

“Ariana…”

“Just drop it, okay?” She said harshly. “I am fine.”

“You look anything but fine!” There it was, the same sentence that had driven him to the edge countless times.

“Why does it matter to you? Did you not just call me a booty call?” She snapped, pulling the shirt back on her shoulders and buttoning it up. “So why do you care about your booty call? That’s all I am to you anyway? Leave me alone, Nicolai.”

“You fucking know that I did not mean it,” Nicolai felt his temper rise as well; he couldn’t believe he wanted to kiss the heck out of this same woman and now he wanted to strangle her. “If you were nothing to me, do you think that I would have gone to such fucking lengths to get your freaking reputation back?”

He ran his hands down his face and stated,

“I do not understand you. I have been nothing but an open book to you, and you keep pushing me away, Ariana. You know if you keep doing this, then I might just let this fucking go, princess.”

Ariana’s eyes widened. Nicolai thought that she would stop him or at least tell him that she was sorry, but someone knocked on her door and said to her, “Ariana, are you awake?”

“I–I am; I will be out in a second,” she said to Mateo before turning to look at Nicolai. “You should go; we will talk about this later on.”

Later? Can she not fucking see that he was hurting? He had put her first no matter what, and this was what he was getting in return?

“You know what? Fuck this,” he snapped before turning on his feet and heading out of the room.

His movements were forceful as tension rolled off his shoulders and body. He walked down the stairs and found Mateo sitting on the couch, looking at him with a light frown on his face.

“What got your pants in a twist?” he asked, and Nicolai only released a strangled voice because he was not sure that he was going to be able to say anything polite at the moment.

Mateo was the only one who looked almost identical to Ariana, and the man was no less of an arsehole than the one above.

“Did you call me for something?” Ariana asked as she stepped down the stairs. Nicolai turned and looked at her, and sure enough she had covered every mark that he had left on her body as if they never existed in the first place. Like he freaking didn’t exist.

“I did; I wanted to take you with me to the mall. I don’t suppose that you have a lot of clothes with you, right?” Mateo smiled at her. He then glanced at him before saying to Nicolai, “How long are you going to stay here? Don’t infect my sister with your barbaric germs, Nico.”

That fucker was testing his freaking patience –

“That was rude,” Ariana glared at her second brother before saying, “You shouldn’t say such a thing to him. You should say sorry.”

“You are taking him too seriously, Ari,” Mateo laughed. “He is a man with no shame whatsoever; in fact, I am sure he doesn’t even have a heart to feel upset.”

“I will apologise on his behalf,” Ariana turned to look at him, but she only glanced at him before turning to look at Mateo. “Everyone has a heart; you shouldn’t say such things to anyone.”

Everyone? She sure as fuck doesn’t have one.

Nicolai glared at her, but the woman simply looked away as if she could not see anything. At the same time, she peeked at Mateo, looking sickened and worried.

She was so terrified of the notion of Mateo finding out about them that she looked like she was about to throw up. Fuck this.

“I am leaving,” Nicolai announced. His good mood was ruined as he stepped out of the house without looking behind him.

They could all go to hell. But with how cold Ariana fucking Ashford was, she might as well freeze hell itself.

He stepped out of the apartment building, stepped in his car, and drove away. He did not care about what and how Kayden was going to return because, at that moment, he truly could not care about even himself.

Three hours later, when he returned home and headed to his room, he found a miss call from Ariana, and underneath it was a message,

[I am sorry, I really didn’t mean anything back then, I should have dealt with the situation calmly but ended up saying some really harmful things.]

[And I am grateful for what you have done for me.]

Not today, Satan.

Nicolai ran his hand through his hair before typing,

[You have some weird way to show it.]

[I know I was rude, I am really sorry about it. Thank you for understanding and not saying anything out of the line in front of anyone.]

Nicolai narrowed his eyes, and before he could say anything, Ariana sent another message,

[And I think that it will be better if you stay away from me for the next few days.]

[What for? What happened this time to make you run away from me]

[I am not running away, Mateo was asking me about you all the time and even Keon asked me twice. It seems like they sense something amiss which is why I think it’s better if we don’t meet for a few days.]

[Why does it matter to me?]

[You know it, Nicolai. My family doesn’t exactly approve of you.]

[And they matter so freaking much to you? I was with you when none of them were. ]

[I am not saying that they matter more than you or that you are any less important. I just don’t think this is the right time to tell them the truth.]

[Because if they find out the truth, then they will ask me to stay away from you.]

[And you will listen like a good little girl, right?]

[Nicolai— they are my family… no matter what the circumstance, you can understand this too, right?]

[You wouldn’t want to do anything to let them down, right?]

So, staying with him was equivalent to letting her family down? Nicolai curled his lips in disdain. Here he thought that they were getting better, and she just freaking snapped him out of that daydream.

[No, I don’t understand shit.]

He sent.

[For me, you have always been more important. Do you think that I have it all sunshine and daisy here? Fuck no, the difference is that I am willing to fight for you and you on the other hand, cannot even bother to stay with me.]

[If staying with me is such a freaking tragedy for you then you might as well leave. Because I can’t freaking take it anymore.]

[You are not doing this, Nicolai.]

[No, I am doing it. I have done enough, I have heard enough, and I have hidden myself like a dirty secret for you long enough. I can’t waste my time with your indecisiveness anymore, Ariana. I am not your fucking toy.]

She called him, but Nicolai hardened his heart and refused to attend her call.

[Pick up the call; what do you mean by that?]

[You know what I mean. We are done.]

[No, we were nothing in the first place. Send the money to my account before deleting my number.]