Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 571

Chapter 571: Focusing on the wrong things.
Once she was gone, Ariana turned around and looked at Penelope’s retreating back. She wanted to know who this person with whom Penelope was suddenly having so many meetings and message exchanges was. Was she looking for a way to deal with her?

And where was she thinking of bringing her?

No, she had to meet with Nicolai and talk about this matter with him. Though she knew that her family could help her too, compared to them, Ariana trusted Nicolai a bit more, as he had no consideration when it came to Penelope. But the same couldn’t be said for her family, who had raised Penelope since she was a child.

Ariana narrowed her eyes and stepped out of the kitchen. Now that she knew that Penelope was trying to harm her, she was going to be on her guard even more. She couldn’t let that woman harm her any more than she had already.

“Either she is trying to kick me out of this house or Nicolai’s life,” murmured Ariana. These were the only two reasons why that woman even bothered to make a move.

However, when she arrived at the penthouse, she didn’t run into Nicolai, as the man was still busy with the senate but with his cousin, who came to bring something to Nicolai.

“Wohohoho, look at that.” Kayden snickered when he saw Ariana. “Are you missing my cousin so much that you came to look for him in broad daylight? Naughty, I like it. I had no idea that you were this exciting, Miss Harlow—or should I say Ashford?”

Ariana didn’t bother with his teasing and simply said, “I came here because I wanted to tell Nicolai something.” She stood up from the couch and said to Kayden with a light glance, “Just tell him that Penelope seemed to be involved with something crazy again and if possible he should keep an eye on her. Of course, I will do it too since the matter is related to me.”

However, just as she was about to step out of the penthouse, Kayden raised his hand and caught her by her collar. He looked down at her when she raised her head and stared at him with confusion in her eyes.

“You mean to say that woman is scheming something behind your back?” Kayden asked.

“Isn’t that what I just said?” Ariana asked back with a frown on her face.

“Hmm,” Kayden continued to stare at her before letting go of the collar of her shirt. He then said to Ariana, “I don’t think that she will make a move on you; if anything, she must have hired someone to do it for her.”

“What do you mean?” Ariana asked with a raise of her brows.

“Nothing,” Kayden raised his hands in the air and questioned, “Just saying. By the way, I wanted to ask you something: If that woman is determined to harm you, are you going to let go of her? I heard from Nicolai that you are quite a nice and kind woman.”

There was a reason why Kayden said these words to Ariana. Though he was not aware of what was going on between her and Nicolai, he was clear on one thing. Nicolai was interested in this woman.

Since this was the first time his cousin was interested in someone, of course Kayden was going to be supportive of her. But the bottom line was that the woman shouldn’t be a kindhearted idiot.

Because someone like her could never survive in their world, if Ariana was like that, then he was going to let Penelope succeed with her plans.

Cruel but only the fittest survived in this world.

“Do you think I am a fool?” Ariana raised her brow and stared at the man with a calm look on her face. “It’s true that I am kind. But I am not foolish enough to forgive someone who is bent on harming me.”

“Is that so?”

“Then what do you have in mind?” Kayden asked with a smile on his face.

Ariana glanced at him lightly before saying, “Since you are so certain that Penelope must have borrowed someone else’s hands to harm me, then isn’t it only right that she faces the consequences of it? What if the person who was supposed to be harmed is exchanged?”

Kayden stared at her for two seconds before he burst out laughing. He clapped his hands and said to Ariana, “And here I thought that you were the innocent kind.” He raised his hand and made an OK gesture before saying, “Don’t worry. Just wait for Nico’s call.”

Once he finished speaking, he fetched the document that he came to take and left the penthouse. Ariana watched his retreating back but didn’t say anything as she sighed and then walked out as well.

She wished to meet with Nicolai but knew that the man was trying his best to control the situation and protect her.

On the other hand, when Nicolai finished listening to Kayden, he raised his head and looked at his cousin.

“Did you touch her?” he asked.

Kayden paused. He was telling Nicolai about his foolproof plan that would certainly deal with Penelope, but the man seemed to be fixated on something else.

“What did you say?” Kayden questioned with a frown as he didn’t understand the gist of Nicolai’s question.

“Did you touch Ariana?” Nicolai repeated. “You said that you caught hold of her.”

Was his possessiveness unhinged? Maybe. Since he was willing to break the arm of his own cousin for touching her. But then again, Ariana was the same. The last time, when Penelope was all over him, Ariana had sent him a gem of a message.

[Don’t forget who you belong to, Nicolai de Luca.]

Was the message printed and framed, hanging on top of his bed? Yup.

He fucking adored that she was being so open and forward with him. But what he didn’t love was that his cousin tried to get handsy with her. Was he being petty? Possibly.

But was he going to change? Certainly not.