Chapter 38 He's Changed
"Are you attending the festival?" Crystal inquired, jolting Xander out of his thoughts.
"I haven't decided yet."
"Oh.. but you should attend. There will be many businessmen. The festival benefits every businessman."
"Yeah. I will think about it. Attending means I have to stay there throughout the festival. I have the kids, so I am not sure." Ariadne explained her predicament.
Though the two kids at home were not the actual concern. She was concerned for Alex. She didn't want to stay away from him.
"You have Mary and Tiara to look after them. By the way, where's Mary?" Crystal asked as she hadn't seen Mary since her arrival.
Ariadne panicked at the question.
"She went to meet some of her relatives." Tiara quickly responded, saving Ariadne.
"Oh. Anyway...Ariadne... I have a special request for you." Crystal remarked, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"What's it?" Ariadne asked.
"I have been a huge fan of Autumn Collection since the beginning. And now that we all know you are the owner, I don't want to pass up this opportunity."
Everyone looked at her, wondering what was on her mind.
"I want you to design our wedding ring."
Xander immediately looked at Crystal, surprised. The wedding had not been decided yet. Ariadne realized Crystal was trying to humiliate her. However, she would not allow her to succeed in her attempt.
"Of course, let me know and I will show you the designs. You can select from them."
"Actually, I would like you to create a special design for us." Crystal held Xander's arm as he sat next to her and leaned in.
Xander stared at Ariadne, his face expressionless.
"Oh, Sure... Just let me know if you have any specific theme preferances."
"Thank you. I will let you know when it's time. I would have asked you to design our engagement ring as well, but it was already assigned to another brand. The owner is a friend, and I promised her that we would order our engagement ring and other jewelry from her." Crystal explained with fake disappointment.
"Oh, it's not a problem." Ariadne dismissed the subject.
Tiara restrained herself from rolling her eyes at Crystal's drama while Jose ate the cookies without a care in the world. Xander, too, was silently sipping his coffee.
She wondered how Xander put up with her at all. It was clear that he didn't know her real face at all. 'Is love truly blind?' She pondered.
The entire time, Adrian was silently eating his cookies, while Autumn kept glancing at Xander. Xander noticed it but ignored it, assuming it was her childish nature.
Autumn suddenly leaned into her mother, who sat beside her, and whispered into her ear while looking at him.
"He looks like Alex."
Xander raised a brow at Autumn, questioningly.
Ariadne paled as she feared Autumn would accidentally mention Alex in front of them.
"What's it?" Crystal asked, irritated by Autumn's childish behavior.
She didn't like other women to have Xander's attention, even if it was a child.
"It's nothing. She's just a little curious." Ariadne exclaimed immediately before turning to face her daughter. "Stay quiet and be a good girl. Okay? We will talk after they leave." she said softly.
Ariadne sighed with relief as Autumn nodded and didn't say anything further.
"We should leave now." Xander said after a while, as everyone finished their coffee.
Crystal didn't protest as her task had been completed and they left shortly after.
.
As Mary stayed with Alex, Ariadne video called them after the guests had left, and spoke with them for a while. Following that, the family ate dinner and the children went to sleep. As it was the weekend, Ariadne and Tiara stayed awake and sat together for a late-night conversation.
"She has the nerve to come and invite you." Tiara spoke while sipping her coffee.
"Let it go, Tia. It doesn't bother me anymore."
"Oh, really? I know you, Aria." Tiara looked at her sharply, causing her to sigh.
"Perhaps a little, but I can handle it. I have no expectations from him, so there is nothing to be hurt about."
Tiara clenched her jaw. She wanted to teach Crystal a lesson, but Ariadne always stopped her as she didn't want any attention. They were only here for a year and would then leave. She didn't want anyone to find out about Alex and ruin their plans. She wanted to protect them from Crystal for as long as possible.
She did not want Crystal to ruin their childhood like she had her own. She recalled how Emma and Crystal made her life hell after moving to the Miller Residence. She knew that Xander might eventually find out about the children and was well aware of his power. If he vowed to take the children away from her, she didn't believe she could stop him. So it was better that the kids' identities remained hidden for as long as possible, if not forever. If they were a little older, they could defend themselves.
"I know we have talked about this before, but the more I see them, the more I think about it."
"What's it?"
"Have you noticed there's no chemistry between them? It's always Crystal who clinged to him while he behaves like a robot with no emotions."
Ariadne looked at her, frowning.
"Yeah yeah I know... He's like that... he doesn't talk much.." Tiara rolled her eyes while waving her hands in the air. "But hey, he's the most successful businessman in this country. He's a dominating man. He must have emotions, right?" she added.
"What are you trying to say?" Ariadne raised her brow, causing Tiara to sigh.
"I am trying to say that he's a mysterious man, and his relationship with Crystal is also... odd. It doesn't match what I have heard about them."
"Just let them be. As long as we are at peace, don't interfere with their lives." Ariadne said dismissively.
She would prefer not to discuss her ex-husband's love life. Sensing her mood, Tiara didn't press the topic further.
"Was he also cold towards you when you were younger? I mean, how could you fall in love with someone who treats you coldly?" Tiara asked after a moment of silence.
"He wasn't cold towards me, in the past." Ariadne paused for a moment before saying, with a small smile, "Rather... he was nice to me. He had also helped me many times."
Silence fell again as no one said anything. Tiara looked at her quietly.
"He has changed a lot." Ariadne sighed, remembering the day she fell in love with him.
(FLASHBACK)
Nine-year-old Ariadne and her friends were building boats as a school assignment, in their garden. Crystal was also present. Ariadne was overjoyed as her boat was almost ready and it was beautiful. But she didn't notice that Crystal was staring at her boat the entire time. She whispered something into the boy's ear, who was sitting next to her, and he nodded with a smirk. Unaware of their plan, Ariadne was inspecting her boat when the boy suddenly grabbed and broke it.
"Hey, why did you break my boat?" Ariadne yelled.
"It looked bad. Make another one." the boy remarked rudely, and Crystal smirked.
Everyone was smirking at the broken boat. Crystal would always team up with the other kids and bully Ariadne. Her eyes welled up with tears as she gazed at her broken boat.
"I will tell my dad." she stood up and dashed towards the mansion.
However, because she was crying, she was unable to see the person in the path and ran into him.
"Hey... careful." Xander said as he caught her.
Ariadne's face lit up as she saw him. After his father's untimely death, Xander became cold and distant. He even stopped making friends, except for Ariadne and Crystal. So, William would frequently bring him to the Miller residence to play with the girls. She liked him as he was always nice to her and didn't bully her like the others. Even others didn't bully her in front of him.
"Why are you crying?" he asked, noting her teary eyes.
"Tagor broke my boat." Ariadne replied, pointing at the boy in the distance.
Xander frowned while staring at the boy.
"Come with me." He said before taking her hand and walking towards the children.
"Why did you break her boat?" he asked the boy.
"I didn't like her boat. That's why." the boy said arrogantly.
Xander narrowed his eyes at him, while Tagor smirked. In an instant, Xander stepped forward, snatching his boat from his hands and smashed it. Everyone gasped.
"Hey. How dare you destroy my boat!" Tagor exploded with rage.
"Just as you dared to break her boat." Xander glared at the boy.
As he was older than them, the boy remained silent and didn't dare argue with him.
"Let's go. I will help you making your boat." Xander offered his assistance, which made Ariadne overjoyed.
"Really? Thank you."
Xander picked up her broken boat and moved to the other side of the garden.
"Hey, wait for me," Crystal called from behind as she dashed towards them.
The three of them sat together, and Xander helped Ariadne in making the boat. It came out the best of them all, and Ariadne took first place. Ariadne developed a strong admiration for him since then.
(END OF FLASHBACK)
It was also then that William considered arranging their marriage. He observed how the boy returned to his old self and behaved normally in their company. He even seemed to enjoy his time with them. So, he assumed Xander would be happy with Ariadne. But it wasn't untill much later that Ariadne realized, that Xander actually wanted to be with Crystal, not her. William appeared to have misjudged his feelings for the wrong girl.
"We need to attend the festival. We need a potential investor." Tiara remarked after a while, jolting Ariadne from her thoughts.
"Yeah.. I am going to the festival."
"I will join you."
"No, there's a lot of work here." Ariadne protested.
"Aria, Crystal might do something. The way she was telling you to go, I knew she had something evil in her mind."
"Don't worry. I will deal with her. Alex is more important right now."
"Okay, fine." Tiara sighed with defeat. "Let me know everything. I will help you from the shadows." she added.