Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 618

Chapter 618: Trying to get better
Ariana clenched her fists when she heard her father say that he saw the video that Jeremy had recorded and kept with him all these years to soothe his own perverse satisfaction.

But this time around, those inky tendrils didn’t reach out to choke the life out of her and she could breathe firmly even though she was teetering on the edge of a breakdown.

No sooner did he finish speaking Kaylyn started to cry even harder; seeing her cry, Theodore turned to look at her and said,

“Kaylyn, please get it together. You cannot start crying at this moment.”

“I am sorry,” Her mother covered her face with her hands and then wiped the tears off her eyes that were sticking to her lashes. She inhaled deeply before exhaling. “It’s just that I cannot forgive myself for ignoring the signs and letting that bastard hurt you. I knew that there was something wrong with that man when he was just a little boy; he was just so creepily obsessed with the idea of following me everywhere. He even tried to intervene in my life without any rights, even though I told him to stay away.”

“But I ignored it because I sympathised with him and so did your father. Because he was an illegitimate child and always so lonely, it’s my fault for not handling the matters properly. If I had, then such a thing would not have happened —”

“No, Mom, it’s not your fault.” Ariana held her hands and shook her head. “You did what you could; it’s not your fault that Jeremy took your kindness as something else and laid down this cruel scheme, all because he couldn’t make you love him. You had done nothing wrong. I don’t blame you; you were just trying to help someone—so please, don’t blame yourself.

“How can I do that?” More tears flowed out of her eyes. “I just can’t help but think that if I hadn’t been so stupidly kind and had left that boy alone when my dad asked me to, I wouldn’t have brought this danger to our life. My dad was right; some people were beyond saving and yet I foolishly thought that he was just being discriminating… if it wasn’t for me—”

“No, please don’t say that,” Ariana squeezed her hands with her own. “Please don’t say that. I used to think in the same way. I was insecure and worried that if you were to find out the truth, I would ruin your perfect family and never dare to get too close to you, always living in fear. So, please don’t think like how I used to think…”

“Ariana, sweetie,” Her dad stood next to her mother as he took one of her hands in his. He looked down at her with tears in his eyes and said to her, “We have never once thought of such a thing. It was us who were at fault and not you; even when Marcia took you away, it was us who failed. If anything, it should be us who should be making it up to you.”

“You are a member of this family; it’s our duty to protect you. You don’t need to worry about such things with us.”

“That’s right,” her mother reached out and cupped her cheeks. “I don’t know what I will do without you; how can you even think that I will be alright with you gone? The reputation of this family? Our happiness? Nothing matters more than you, Ari.”

“Yes, Ari,” Emil rubbed her head and shed the glittering tears in his eyes before saying in a soft voice, “I can only be here because you stayed true to your work and morals. Because you did not give up, how can you give up on your life when you are not doing the same for others? How could you not fight for yourself?”

“Let us take care of you,” Keon said and Ariana couldn’t help but lower her head as tears flooded her eyes. “If you cannot fight for yourself, then let us fight for you. We will stand by your side, no matter what, Ari.”

“We will take care of everything for you,” said Mateo as he stood up straight. “No matter what it is, as long as you say it, we will do it for you. Don’t think that you are alone, Ari. Don’t you ever think that you mean the world to us? Our only little sister.”

His eyes turned red as he spoke, and he couldn’t help it. He said, “You don’t know this, but when you were about to be born, I prepared everything for you. From your nursery to the toys, your big brother took care of everything. I even baby-proofed every corner of the house. Do you think that I can’t protect you now when I was willing to do it when I was just thirteen?”

Ariana sobbed harder when she heard those words. All this time she thought that she was the one who was ruining the happiness of this family, the biggest stain that they couldn’t even wash away if they wanted to. Because of her inferiority complex, she let her worries eat her alive.

If she had trusted them a little, then maybe she wouldn’t have nosedived in this situation.

She thought that they would be disgusted with her because she couldn’t even do such a small thing as filing a complaint or telling someone what was going on with her. If they realised that she was not as perfect and pristine and clean as she claimed to be, then her family would turn their backs on her.

But now that she was looking at their faces, which were filled with relief and guilt, she knew that there was no such thing to begin with.

It was just in her head.

She turned to look at her parents, who were such strong personalities in the eyes of others that people almost worshipped them for their elegance and might.

Yet now the two of them were looking at her as if they were teetering on the edge of falling apart.

So, she did what Ariana thought she should have done ages ago.

She reached out and hugged her parents. She buried her face in the neck of her mother and trembled, “Thank you, thank you for having my back.”

“No…Thank you. Thank you for coming back to us, sweetie. Thank you so much.”