Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 561

Chapter 561: Yet to gain hen, dreaming of eggs
“I thought that you didn’t notice me.” Nicolai placed his hand on the small of her back as he guided her towards his bike.

“How can I not notice you when you are literally burning a hole in the back of my head?” Ariana rolled her eyes.

“Are you sure it was your head?” Nicolai grinned at her, causing her to roll her eyes once again.

“I thought that you were going to at least offer an excuse but it seemed like you really thought through your lower body.”

Nicolai placed his finger on her lips before saying to her, “Shhh, don’t go around saying such things to Nico the Great; he will be really upset if he hears you say something so rude about him.”

“Nico the Great?” Ariana closed her eyes in horror as she knew what the man was trying to say to her. “You actually named it?”

“Yup,” he replied while popping the ‘p.’ Seeing the look of pure shock on her face, he chuckled, “Why are you looking at me like that? Everyone does that.”

“No, they don’t,” Ariana spoke insistently. After all, she hadn’t named her core. What was he even talking about?

“I don’t know about the people around you but my cousin did name his, he calls it—”

“Alright, let’s go back home.” Ariana stopped him with a stroke of pink hue on her cheeks as she walked ahead of him. Nicolai followed her before taking the shopping bags from her hands as he said to her, “Alright, there is no need for you to run. I wasn’t going to say anything.”

“Could have fooled me.” Ariana snorted.

Though she seemed to be pouting, there was a subtle smile on her face.

The two of them were walking a short distance away from one another, and from his peripheral view, Nicolai could see Ariana’s face shimmering with sunlight. It made her look even more radiant under the glowing sun. Her eyes, which were bright blue, seemed to be shimmering like gems.

Damn.

How could a woman be this beautiful? He had seen all kinds of women. Given that he had been involved with them ever since he was sixteen but never had he seen a woman as beautiful as Ariana. Despite holding a charm like that of a seductress, Ariana held an innocence that made her stand out from the rest.

The more he looked at her, the more the urge to capture her and keep her all to himself pulsated within his veins. In his very veins. He started teasing and testing her as a game, but as he got to know her, he just couldn’t stay away from her.

This urge, if anything, became stronger instead of getting weaker.

Nicolai knew that he was screwed for sure.

He spent the entire time looking at her through the mirror of his bike, revelling in every bit he spent in public with her, where he didn’t have to hide and worry about anyone.

Ariana glanced at him when they arrived at the penthouse. She sighed and then said to him, “How long are you going to look at me like that?”

“Look at you like what?”

“Like—I don’t know. Like I am your favourite dessert or something of the sort,” she shrugged. As she entered the penthouse.

Nicolai watched her act as if she wasn’t worried about the things that he had done or his impending marriage with Penelope. His heart swelled with pride and warmth as he strode inside and caught hold of her wrist before turning her around and entrapping her lips in a violent kiss.

“Were you upset with my actions?” He asked, finally addressing the thing that he couldn’t when they were outside.

Ariana breathed heavily, her cheeks flushed red as she stated, “Compared to the time when you came to my room and told me that you set an entire building on fire, I was a lot less surprised.”

“I am glad. I was quite overwhelmed with your lacklustre responses all the time,” Nicolai remarked.

“Do you think that I am in the mood to joke with you?” Ariana asked Nicolai with a light frown on her face.

“Why would you find it funny? I am just trying to lighten the mood,” Nicolai said to her but when he saw that she was still frowning, he leaned down and pecked her on the lips. “There is no need for you to worry; I have it all under control.”

“You marrying that woman is your definition of everything being under control?” Ariana asked.

He shrugged before interlocking his fingers with her own. He said to her, “You don’t have to think too much; when I say that I have it under control, I mean it. Do you think I was pushed to the position of the leader of Phantoms for no reason? I knew that Penelope would come up with a way to use your mother’s death against us.”

“She is ambitious like that; with the threads loose, it was a matter of time before it caught up to us. After all, the matter came to light too soon. Since this matter has been pressing on our mind for so long, we might as well deal with it without leaving any loose ends this time around.”

“You mean Penelope noticed we killed her mother and yet she used it to marry you instead of bringing her mother to justice?” Ariana asked with a look of bewilderment in her eyes.

Nicolai hooked one corner of his mouth up in a smirk as he said to Ariana, “Don’t look like that; not everyone is as kind as you. Penelope has always been someone who looks at people as useful and useless.”

“Do you think that Mrs. Harlow, who didn’t clear your traces cleanly, is her mother? Of course not; in her eyes, that woman is just a fool who made her lose what she desired the most. In short, using Mrs. Harlow’s death as a bait to hook the fish, she doesn’t feel that there was anything wrong with it.”

“And you are confident that you can take her down? Don’t you fear that something might just go wrong?” Ariana looked at Nicolai, who seemed so confident that even her worries seemed to disappear in thin air.

“What’s the point of worrying? What’s coming is going to come; you and I at most can prepare ourselves. It’s not like worrying and fretting is going to help you. And it’s not like you killed that woman for no reason; the worst possible outcome is we can just provide the police with the surveillance recording of that night and prove that it was her who attacked you first.”

“Not only that, she even trespassed on private property. But that would lead your reputation to be affected and we cannot let that happen, so we can only tie the noose around Penelope’s neck.”

He smiled at her before saying, “And even if she is foolishly in a one-sided affair with me, the only person I want to marry is you. I would love to see how she will make me say, –I do.”

Penelope was ambitious and would do everything to secure the safest position for herself. But for that, she had to wait and see if others were willing to play according to her rhythm.

Ariana sighed and leaned her body against Nicolai. The two of them just couldn’t catch a break, could they?

“What am I supposed to do?” she asked. Ariana didn’t feel it was right to leave Nicolai in such a difficult situation alone.

“Nothing,” Nicolai told her with a smile on his lips. “Just try to restrain your temper and don’t let that woman find anything to use against you, which she will but don’t hand it to you. And no matter what happens now, believe me, I will not let you down, alright?”

Ariana nodded without questioning him.

“No, I am being serious,” Nicolai said sternly. “Penelope would try to push herself onto me; she will do anything to make it look like the two of us were together for a long time, so you need to be prepared, alright?”

“You don’t need to worry about me,” Ariana told him. “I am not someone who would lose my mind just because the situation rolled a bit out of my control.”

Nicolai kissed her on the forehead. “I am glad to hear that.”

On the other hand, Penelope stood in front of the De Luca mansion with a pleased expression on her face. Now that she had cornered Nicolai, nice and right, that man had no choice but to marry her. Soon this entire mansion would be under her feet and she would be the mistress of this mansion.

She turned to look at the guard and said to him with an air of arrogance, “What are you looking at my face for? Do you not know I am the future mistress of this house? Open the doors; I am going to meet Mrs. Inez.”

If she wanted to secure Nicolai tightly in her hands, she had to start with Inez first.