Chapter151 Her Biological Father Is Out of Prison!
Leaving the restaurant, it was already past two in the afternoon.
Ariana stood by the roadside waiting for her driver to bring the car around. Unconsciously, she reached down and gently touched her flat stomach.
Last night, she'd pulled out all the stops, keeping Harrison busy for half the night.
"I wonder if I'll get pregnant this time..."
Ariana calculated silently.
If she could get pregnant with Harrison's child, marrying into the Whitmore family would be a done deal.
Then, no matter how much that bitch Miranda tried to cause trouble, she wouldn't be able to make waves.
Getting pregnant was the hardest currency in wealthy families.
Thinking of this, Ariana's smile deepened, as if she could already see herself in a wedding dress, walking into the ceremony hall on Harrison's arm.
Just as she was lost in her beautiful fantasy.
Suddenly, a dark figure lunged out from behind a nearby planter, blocking her path.
She frowned in disgust, her high heels instinctively stepping back twice as she covered her nose, looking at him like he was non-recyclable garbage.
"Where did this homeless person come from? Can't you see what kind of place this is!"
Ariana's face showed complete impatience. Her other hand fanned violently in front of her nose, as if that could dispel the nauseating smell. "Get lost! Don't block my way. Can you even afford to pay if you dirty my dress?"
However, the homeless man in front of her wasn't scared off by her scolding.
On the contrary, his eyes stuck to Ariana's face.
"All grown up..."
The man's voice sounded rough and unpleasant, like it had been scraped with sandpaper. "Much better looking than I imagined."
Ariana felt goosebumps all over her body.
Before she could react, that filthy hand with dirt-packed fingernails suddenly reached toward her, heading straight for her face.
"What are you doing!"
Ariana screamed in fright, recoiling as if burned, and slapped away the dirty hand reaching for her face.
A sharp crack rang out.
"Get away from me! I'll call security if you don't leave!" Ariana trembled with anger, her eyes full of terror and disgust.
Just then, a black sedan slowly pulled up to the curb.
The window rolled down, and the female colleague she'd just eaten with stuck her head out, looking over with concern.
"Ariana? What's wrong?"
The colleague glanced at the raggedly dressed man and immediately frowned. "Is this homeless person bothering you? He looks suspicious. Should I call the police?"
Hearing the words "call the police," the man who had been reaching out froze.
He whipped around, his gloomy gaze like a venomous snake, staring at the woman in the car.
That look carried a vicious, sinister light, nothing like what an ordinary person should have.
The female colleague in the car was startled by that look, her heart skipping a beat. The words on her lips were swallowed back down, and she instinctively moved to close the window.
The man withdrew his gaze and looked back at Ariana.
He stepped closer, lowering his voice to a volume only the two of them could hear, and laughed darkly.
"Ariana, I'm your father."
Those six short words exploded like thunder in Ariana's mind.
Ariana froze in place, her pupils contracting violently.
Father?
She stared at the dirty, disheveled face before her, trying to find the outline from her memory beneath the thick grime and unkempt beard.
Though years and prison life had made him unrecognizable, that vicious old scar on his cheekbone...
That's right.
It really was him—her father—Zron!
Wasn't he supposed to still be in prison? How could he suddenly appear here?
Massive panic instantly engulfed Ariana.
If the Whitmore family found out she had a father who'd been in prison... everything she'd carefully built, the wealthy lifestyle within her grasp, would all turn to nothing!
A top-tier wealthy family like the Whitmores would never allow a criminal's daughter through their door!
"Ariana? Ariana?"
In the distance, the female colleague, seeing her spaced out, gathered her courage and called out twice more. "We're heading back to the company. Do you want to come with us? This guy looks dangerous."
Ariana snapped back to reality.
She absolutely couldn't let anyone know this man's identity!
She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the tumultuous waves in her heart, and turned to her colleague with a stiff smile.
"It's fine, just some crazy person who mistook me for someone else."
Ariana clutched her designer bag tightly, her knuckles turning white. "You go ahead. I'll head back on my own in a bit. Harrison just messaged me saying he'll come pick me up."
Though the colleague found it strange, seeing that homeless man's eerie stare, she didn't dare linger.
"Alright then, take care of yourself."
With that, the window rolled up and the car sped away.
Watching the car disappear around the corner, Ariana's tense nerves finally relaxed slightly.
"Heh heh."
The man's triumphant laugh came from behind. "You recognized your dad, didn't you?"
Zron greedily eyed the expensive jewelry on Ariana, like he was looking at a gold mine.
Hearing the word "dad" again, Ariana felt nothing but revulsion.
Her face alternated between pale and flushed as she hissed through gritted teeth, "Shut up!"
She looked around warily, confirming no one was paying attention, then lowered her voice and said viciously, "Don't say anything. Follow me!"
With that, she clicked away in her high heels, heading quickly toward a secluded alley nearby.
Zron wasn't bothered, dragging his tattered shoes and following behind her casually.
The alley was dark and damp, filled with debris, the air permeated with a rotten smell. But for Zron, this was par for the course.
Ariana stopped and turned around, staring at the man before her.
"How do you prove you're my father?"
She still clung to a last shred of hope. What if he just looked similar?
Zron sneered, those dirty hands rummaging through his oil-stained shirt pocket for a while before pulling out a wrinkled, edge-worn ID card and shoving it in Ariana's face.
"Look. Take a good look."
Ariana's eyes fell on the name—Zron Dalton.
The person in the photo was younger, but those vicious eyes and the scar on his brow were identical to the man before her.
Her last shred of hope shattered.
This was reality.
Her biological father was out of prison!
Ariana felt her blood run cold.
This man's appearance was like a ticking time bomb that could blow her to pieces at any moment.
Harrison's parents already looked down on her. If they found out about this man's existence, forget marrying into the Whitmores—they'd definitely make Harrison dump her.
Thinking of this, a dark look flashed in Ariana's eyes.
"You just got out of prison. You don't have any money, right?" Ariana took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm.
"That's right."
Zron grinned. "Prison food isn't good. I've been locked up for over ten years and suffered plenty. But I've got you as my good daughter, don't I?"
As he spoke, his eyes brazenly looked her up and down.
His gaze slid from her well-tailored designer dress to the limited edition bracelet on her wrist, finally landing on the six-figure crocodile leather bag in her hand.
"Tsk tsk tsk, look at this outfit. Really impressive."
Zron reached out to touch the bag, his tone full of greed. "Looks like you're doing well. This outfit alone must cost a fortune, right? You must have plenty of money, huh?"
Ariana turned aside in disgust to avoid his hand, her face black as a pot.
"Don't touch me!"
She opened her bag and, suppressing her heartache and disgust, pulled out a bank card from her wallet.
"There's money in here. The password is six zeros."
Ariana handed over the card, her tone icy. "Take this money and don't come looking for me again. Pretend we never met."
Zron looked at the card but didn't reach for it.
The smile on his face gradually faded, replaced by a shameless sneer.
"You think you can get rid of me with some money?"
Zron snorted coldly. "Ariana, you've got my blood in your veins. You think you can cut ties with me with a little cash? Dream on!"