Chapter160 Your Criminal Father
Miranda turned around, arms crossed over her chest, chin slightly raised, eyes quietly settling on Ariana's face.
Since Ariana was so eager to assert her presence, she shouldn't blame Miranda for being ruthless.
Perfect timing. There was something she'd been wanting to confirm anyway.
Miranda stared directly into Ariana's eyes, her lips curving into an ambiguous smile. "If you have the time to worry about me, you should worry more about your father who's still in prison."
Ariana's face instantly turned white at these words.
"If I remember correctly..."
Miranda gave her no chance to breathe, slowly closing in a step, her voice clear and cruel. "Your father's sentence should be almost up, right? Counting the days, he should be getting out of prison soon?"
"What did you say?"
The first to react wasn't Ariana, but Harrison standing beside her.
Harrison was completely stunned, his brows tightly knitted, his eyes full of shock and disbelief. "What prison? What father?"
Ariana's whole body trembled, terror and panic instantly flooding her eyes.
This was the deepest wound in her heart, her most shameful secret.
She'd always maintained an image before Harrison of having a clean background and being pitifully alone, saying her parents had disappeared years ago and she was an orphan, which was why she'd been fostered by her aunt.
She absolutely could not let Harrison know she had a father who'd been in prison.
"No, it's not like that."
Ariana shook her head frantically, reaching out to grab Harrison's sleeve, her voice trembling. "Harrison, don't listen to her nonsense. Miranda's deliberately trying to upset me. Let's go, let's not disturb Miranda's riding."
With that, she pulled at Harrison to leave.
However, Harrison didn't budge.
He was the CEO of Whitmore Group, not an idiot.
Looking at Ariana's panicked, flustered appearance, suspicion immediately rose in his heart.
If Miranda was talking nonsense, why would Ariana be so afraid?
Harrison ignored Ariana's pleas and turned to stare at Miranda, asking in a heavy voice, "What prison?"
Miranda watched the pulling and tugging between them, mockery flashing in her eyes.
She ignored the venomous, murderous look Ariana shot her and calmly met Harrison's gaze.
She spoke slowly. "Her biological father who was sentenced to over ten years for a crime and is currently serving time in prison."
As she spoke, Miranda didn't look at Harrison but kept her gaze on Ariana's face, not missing any change in her expression.
She was testing.
Testing whether Ariana knew she was actually her father's illegitimate daughter.
Ariana's entire body trembled minutely. That face usually so adept at pretense now showed a flash of inferiority, shame, and the despair of having her cover blown.
Miranda narrowed her eyes slightly, a knowing cold light flashing through them.
It seemed Ariana didn't know the truth.
Ha.
Dominic had hidden it deep enough, deceiving even his own biological daughter, letting her bear the stigma of being a criminal's daughter all these years just to protect his own reputation.
"Miranda, shut up! Shut your mouth!"
Ariana screamed, trying to rush over and cover Miranda's mouth. Her delicate face had become twisted and grotesque with extreme humiliation and rage.
"Why are you doing this to me? You just can't stand to see me happy! You're just jealous that Harrison likes me!"
Before she could reach Miranda, Castillo had already stepped forward, blocking Miranda and shoving Ariana back.
"What are you freaking out about? You have a criminal father and people aren't allowed to mention it?"
Ariana was pushed back several steps, stumbling right into Harrison.
She grabbed onto him like a drowning person clutching a lifeline, hugging his waist tightly and crying pitifully.
"Harrison, it's not true, it's really not like that. You have to believe me, she's lying to you..."
However, this time Harrison didn't embrace her back as usual, didn't even offer a word of comfort.
Harrison stood rigidly in place, looking down at the woman crying miserably in his arms, the warmth in his eyes cooling bit by bit.
Elite families valued matching social status and clean backgrounds above all.
He could overlook Ariana being an orphan, but he absolutely could not accept that his partner had a father who'd been in prison.
What he found even more unacceptable was the deception.
"Ariana."
Harrison's voice was ice-cold, carrying suppressed fury. "Didn't you tell me your father, like your mother, had disappeared without a trace?"
Ariana's crying stopped abruptly.
Her whole body went rigid. She opened her mouth to explain but found her throat blocked as if stuffed with cotton, unable to utter a single word.
How could she explain?
Say she lied out of shame? Say she hid it because she was afraid he'd look down on her?
No matter what she said, the fact that she'd deceived Harrison was undeniable.
"Speak!" Harrison's voice suddenly rose, a vein throbbing at his temple. "What else have you been hiding from me?"
Ariana flinched at his angry shout, tears falling even harder, but she could only shake her head helplessly. "Harrison, I... I didn't mean to."
Watching this scene, Miranda found it utterly boring.
How had she never noticed before that Harrison was such a gullible fool? Ariana's clumsy lies had actually deceived him for so many years.
Miranda simply took Castillo's hand and strode away without looking back.
Harrison stood there, watching Miranda's retreating figure, then looking down at the sobbing Ariana in his arms.
In that instant, an emotion called "regret" grew wild like weeds in his heart.
His tone was full of exhaustion and carried a barely perceptible annoyance.
"Stop crying. We'll talk when we get back."
Ariana looked at Harrison's cold profile in disbelief, her nails digging deep into her palms.
Miranda...
This was all Miranda's fault!
If she hadn't opened her big mouth, how would Harrison have gotten angry with her?
She stared intently in the direction Miranda had left, her eyes full of venomous hatred.
Miranda, you just wait! I'll make sure you pay for this!
Not far away, on the balcony of the VIP lounge on the second floor.
A figure stood quietly in the shadows, holding a glass of red wine, taking in the entire scene below.
Celeste.
She'd come here to hang out with friends today and unexpectedly witnessed quite a show.
Watching Miranda's arrogant behavior, Celeste nearly crushed the wine glass in her hand.
Last time, even though Clifton had no evidence and only knew the dress she'd given Miranda was identical to Thomas's mistress's dress, he'd still given her a warning.
Thinking about it, Celeste's eyes filled with venom and contempt.
What was Miranda anyway?
A divorced woman who'd latched onto the Prescott heir. Why should she have to respect her?
Watching Miranda and Castillo walk deeper into the stables, Celeste narrowed her eyes, a vicious curve forming on her lips.