Chapter 25 Blaming Games
Everyone looked confused as they didn't know about Ariadne's children. Xander lifted his gaze from his plate to look at Ariadne. He had a complicated expression on his face. Aaron appeared surprised, as he was also unaware of the children.
"Next time." Ariadne said casually, breaking the silence in the room.
"Why? They are my grandchildren. I am so excited to meet with them." Emma argued, unable to hide her frustration.
Both the mother and daughter became enraged when they noticed Ariadne hadn't brought Mary and the kids with her. Half of their plan went to waste. Their mood turned sour. But they wouldn't accept defeat. They could still humiliate Ariadne by bringing up the subject of the kids. They smirked internally as they observed the reaction of the relatives. Everyone looked at each other.
"They are children, guys. What will they do in the midst of so many adults? If you want to meet them, come to our place." Tiara said, furrowing her brows.
Everyone looked at her. Toby smirked at Jose, who had his attention fixed on Tiara the entire time.
"Ariadne, you have children!" Aunt Milla stated, surprised. "We had no idea you had remarried."
Xander frowned, realizing where this conversation was going. However, he remained silent, eating his food. After all, it was none of his business.
"Who is your husband? What does he do? Is he also a businessman? Why didn't you bring him along?"
They bombarded her with questions.
"I am not married. I am a single mother." Ariadne answered.
"What do you mean you didn't marry? Do you have your children out of wedlock?" another relative asked.
"Did you give birth to bastards and raise them proudly?"
"If you call my children bastards one more time, you will regret it, I swear." Ariadne yelled, furiously.
"How rude! Is this how you talk to your elders?" Emma growled.
Ariadne glared at her.
"Have they said anything wrong? You belong to a prestigious family. How can you be so irresponsible as to do something like this?"
"Don't tell me you slept with a married or lowly man. You also have the audacity to give birth to his illegitimate children." Aunt Milla said.
The relatives from Ariadne's father's side didn't have a good relationship with Ariadne's mother. So, they didn't like Ariadne as much. However, Emma, being a clever woman, built a good relationship with them, and they always favored Emma and Crystal.
"Look at Crystal. She will marry Mr. Blake as a normal cultural lady and raise a happy family."
"Becoming the CEO of a billion - dollar company is meaningless if you don't live a respectable life." another relative commented.
"I thought you have changed, but you haven't. You have only brought shame upon our family." Milla remarked, glaring at Ariadne.
"In the past, she had numerous scandals with men. Regardless, Xander's grandfather treated her like his own grandchild. She even used dirty tricks to force my son to marry her." Margaret said this time. "But you couldn't keep the title because you were not worthy of him. You just wasted two years of his life." she looked at Ariadne.
Xander gave his mother a look and shook his head. However, Margaret ignored her son's warning and continued.
"Crystal is such a noble lady, who has only made her parents proud."
"Oh, yeah? She is a noble lady! Please tell me the definition of a noble lady." Tiara said, drawing everyone's attention. "Let me guess. Is being pregnant with someone else's husband's child a noble act?"
"What?" The relatives were stunned by her bluntness.
Emma and Crystal's face turned pale.
"What do you mean?" Milla asked.
"I am not meaning anything; I am just asking. Don't pretend you didn't know Crystal was pregnant with Mr. Blake's child five years ago, which is why Mr. Blake divorced Ariadne and decided to mary Crystal to save the child from being called a bastard." Tiara innocently blinked her eyes.
Crystal looked at Xander, horrified. This revelation would ruin not only her reputation, but also Xander's. Everyone gasped. No one knew about it as both families kept it hidden to protect their reputations and blamed everything on Ariadne.
"And about my children's father, I would like to ask you something, Emma." everyone glared at Ariadne as she addressed Emma by name rather than calling her mother. "You married my father and became Mrs. Miller. But Crystal is not my father's biological daughter. Who's Crystal's biological father?"
Emma's face turned pale. She became speechless.
"What! Answer me." she cocked her brow at her.
"Her father is my ex-husband. We got divorced. Everyone is aware of this fact. How can you say something like this to your elder?"
"No. No one knows who her father is. Even if you are divorced, what kind of father would abandon his child? Who knows she is not a..."
"Ariadne." Crystal shouted. "How dare you insult my mother?"
"Why? Just because your mother married my father, the truth will not change. You enjoy pointing fingers at others while your own hands are not clean."
"Your kids are quite big. I doubt you were pregnant before your divorce. As they are not Xander's, who knows if you have cheated on him." Crystal put the blame on Ariadne.
She knew Xander would be furious if he believed Ariadne had cheated on him.
"Yes, just as no one knows for sure whose child was in your womb five years ago." Tiara stated.
"How could you accuse my daughter of such things?" Emma glared at her.
"A woman who can sleep with her sister's husband, can sleep with anyone. I won't believe her as there's no proof."
"My daughter will never lie."
"Why? According to you, if Ariadne can lie, why can't your daughter? Is she some sort of goddess?"
"Enough." Xander shouted, making everyone fall silent. "It was not Crystal's fault. I am to blame. Nobody will say anything bad about her." He added.
Ariadne's chest tightened at his confession. However, she remained composed, not allowing her emotions to show on her face.
"Mr. Blake, we are not here to talk bad about your fiancé. Believe me, we are not interested in your personal affairs." their hard gazes locked for a brief moment before Ariadne looked away. "But my children are not someone, about whom anyone can talk rubbish. No one has the right to do so. Becoming a mother is my personal choice. When I divorced, I left the city and moved to Purple City, where I gave birth to my children and built my career. Throughout this time, none of you were by my side or helped me in any way. So, you have no right to know what I do in my life, let alone criticize me." Ariadne said, looking at everyone.
"Dont try to play the victim here." Emma pointed her fingers at Ariadne before turning her gaze to the other relatives. "Let me tell you something. This girl fled the city after killing my daughter's child by pushing her down the stairs. We were kind enough to let her go and not turn her over to the police."
The relatives gasped after hearing another revelation.
"She was the one who came between Mr. Blake and Crystal and ruined their lives. She didn't even spare the unborn child."
"You mean the illegitimate bastard child? Mr. Blake could have married Crystal if he loved her that much. And for killing the child....."
"Shut up. You will not talk about my daughter." Emma became furious.
Aaron told her to calm down, while Toby and Jose exchanged glances as the scene heated up.
"Why? Can't you face the truth? Ariadne is the rightful hire of Miller Group, but she received nothing from the property except her mother's savings. You appointed your own daughter to the CEO position." Tiara said, looking at Emma.
"She was not interested in business." Emma replied.
"It's a good excuse. Look at her. She is now the CEO of Watson Group."
"Who knows how she got that position."
"Hadn't your daughter done it too, long ago? That's why Blake Corporation helped Miller Group grow. She became CEO only because she is Aaron Miller's daughter. Who knows whether she would have been a CEO by her own. Ariadne had earned her position. And before you slander Watson Group's reputation, keep in mind that it's not any ordinary company. So, if you believe anyone can get the CEO position of Watson Group simply by sleeping with someone, you are a fool. You know nothing about business. You simply can't accept that others are more talented than your so-called noble daughter."
"Your accusations are false. Aria had previously asked for money to launch a jewelry brand." Emma said.
"Did you give her the money?"
"Why should we? She was a spoiled, irresponsible girl. She would have wasted the money. It's the hard work of others."
"Then how come Crystal launched her clothing line?"
"She is a hardworking woman."
"I am speechless. All you did was blame Ariadne for being an irresponsible woman, while providing your own daughter with all sorts of support and money she asked. You are a hypocrite and a very clever woman, I must say." Tiara smirked.
"Watch your language. Who are you to blame me for such things? Ariadne had done nothing but waste money, cause trouble, and bring shame upon the family. We have had enough of you. Who are you to slander us in our own home?" Emma roared. "How could you bring such a girl into my house?" Emma glared at Ariadne.
"Excuse me! This is not your house. This's my father's house. I have every right to stay in this house and bring whoever I want. But I know I will not be able to live peacefully here if people like you continue to cause trouble. That's why I didn't return to this mansion. It was your daughter who came to my office and invited me and my family. We were not dying to get here." Ariadne paused.
"I am not surprised by any of this, as I knew your intentions would never be good. I only came here to collect my mother's belongings. I think we have had enough of your nonsense. We are no longer interested in staying here. Let's go, Tia." Ariadne and Tiara stood up and exited the mansion, without waiting for any response.
The room fell silent.
"How arrogant. She must have a sugar daddy to think so highly of herself." Milla stated after a while.
"Enough." Xander shouted. "So, this is your family dinner! Did you invite her only to humiliate her in front of everyone? Never invite me in the future because I don't have time for such nonsense."
"Xander, you are getting it wrong. You saw how arrogantly she spoke to everyone. We had no bad intentions. It's all my fault. I had no idea things would turn out like this." Crystal began crying. "I am sorry, everyone."
"No, Crystal. You haven't done anything wrong. Aria was always a rebellious girl who never cared about anyone. Even after five years, it appears that she hasn't changed." Aunt Milla consoled Crystal.
Everyone sympathized with Crystal and Emma, and Ariadne became the villain once again. Xander clenched his teeth but didn't say anything else. He was deep in thought.
"Let's call it a night. I need to leave now." he said after a while.
"Okay, I will not ask you to stay longer. I know the evening didn't go well, and I am sorry for this." Crystal said with a sad face.
"You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault."
Xander and his men said their goodbyes to the family and left for his penthouse.