Chapter202 Let's Break Up
Suburban prison, visitation room.
Harrison stood before the glass partition, his expression indifferent as he looked at the woman on the other side.
Ariana, who once always wore exquisite makeup and dressed impeccably, now wore an oversized, ill-fitting prison uniform that hung loosely on her frame.
In just a few short days, she'd lost so much weight she was almost unrecognizable. Her face was sallow, her eye sockets sunken, her once carefully maintained hair now dull and plastered to her scalp. Her entire being radiated defeated despair.
"Harrison!"
Seeing Harrison's figure, Ariana's dead eyes suddenly sparked with light. She lunged at the glass, her hands pressed flat against it, knuckles white from the pressure.
"You finally came! You're here to save me, right? Harrison, get me out of here quickly! I can't stay here another day. I can't take it anymore!" Her voice was shrill and hoarse, filled with desperate pleading.
Harrison looked at her frantic state, not a ripple of emotion in his eyes, only cold indifference.
He stepped forward and spoke slowly. "I already know why you're in prison."
"You hired someone to deliberately kill Miranda. This is what you deserve."
Those words extinguished the hope that had just ignited in Ariana.
Her emotions immediately became agitated. She frantically pounded the glass, making dull thumping sounds. "No! It wasn't me! Don't listen to other people's nonsense! I was framed! That bitch Miranda framed me!"
Harrison's gaze didn't waver in the slightest. He coldly uttered a few words. "I've already seen the evidence at the police station."
That single sentence completely shattered all of Ariana's denials.
Her heart sank inch by inch, plunging into an icy abyss.
But survival instinct quickly rekindled a glimmer of hope. She changed to a wronged expression, her voice softening with a sob. "Harrison, I'm your girlfriend. You can't just watch me die!"
"Save me, and I promise I'll never go after Miranda again! Everything I did... I did it all because I love you, Harrison! I love you too much. I was just afraid she'd steal you away!"
Watching Ariana's tears fall, Harrison felt no flutter in his heart. Instead, anger rose within him.
Ariana had hired someone to kill Miranda.
Almost.
Just a little more, and he would have lost Miranda forever.
In that moment, many scenes he'd deliberately ignored exploded in his mind with unprecedented clarity.
The person he loved, from beginning to end, had only ever been Miranda.
This time, he wouldn't make the same mistake. He would win Miranda back and spend the rest of his life making it up to her.
Harrison spoke slowly, each word like a knife stabbing into Ariana's heart.
"Let's break up."
The color drained instantly from Ariana's face.
Harrison seemed not to notice her reaction, continuing, "However, I'll ask Miranda to sign a settlement agreement for you."
He paused, the last trace of warmth disappearing from his eyes. "Consider it repaying you for saving my life back then. This is the last thing I'll do for you."
"No! No!"
Hearing Harrison's words, Ariana completely panicked. She frantically pounded the glass, her nails scraping against the hard surface with a grating sound.
"Harrison! You can't do this to me! You can't break up with me! You said you'd love me forever!"
But no matter how she screamed or begged, Harrison never looked back at her again.
She could only watch helplessly as the man she'd worked so hard to steal from Miranda turned and left without a moment's hesitation, his tall figure showing no trace of reluctance.
Noon.
Miranda had just finished lunch with her employees and returned to the company when she saw several people gathered around the front desk, the atmosphere somewhat strange.
As she approached, she recognized the tall figure standing at the reception desk. Her expression instantly turned cold.
It was Harrison.
"Mr. Gu, this is just a small company. I'm afraid we can't accommodate you properly," Miranda's voice carried undisguised distance and coldness. "Please leave."
Seeing her, Harrison's face immediately broke into a warm smile, his affectionate eyes locked on her. "Miranda, I need to talk to you."
His manner drew curious glances from employees passing by, some even beginning to whisper among themselves.
Miranda hated this kind of public entanglement most.
She took a deep breath, suppressing her irritation, and said coldly, "Follow me."
The office door closed, cutting off the employees' view from outside.
Miranda didn't even bother offering water. She turned around, crossed her arms, and looked at him coldly. "You'd better actually have business."
Hearing her displeased tone, Harrison's expression remained unchanged. Instead, he stepped forward, trying to close the distance between them.
"Miranda, I already know about Ariana trying to harm you." His voice was filled with self-reproach and heartache. "I'm sorry. I blame myself for not being there to protect you."
Listening to his words, Miranda's frown deepened.
Was this man's brain broken? Coming to his ex-wife to perform some deep affection act?
She cut him off directly, her tone full of sarcasm. "I don't need it. Save your concern for Ariana."
Unexpectedly, Harrison's eyes suddenly brightened at those words.
"Miranda, you're jealous, aren't you?"
He excitedly reached out and grabbed Miranda's arm.
"Don't worry, I've already broken up with Ariana! She'll never come between us again!"
Miranda was almost amused by his logic.
What was wrong with this man? When he was with her, all he thought about was Ariana. Now that he was with Ariana, he came back to pester her.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Harrison and their failed marriage had long since turned the page in her heart.
"Let go!" Miranda's face completely darkened as she struggled to shake off his hand.
"I won't!"
In the struggle, Miranda's shoulder slipped, revealing delicate skin and a still-visible dark red mark on her shoulder.
The shape and color of that mark was all too familiar to any adult man.
Harrison's movements froze abruptly, his eyes widening as he stared fixedly at that red mark.
His voice turned cold, tinged with disbelief. "Who... did this?"
As a man, how could he not know what that was!
It was a mark left during intimate passion!
Thinking that Miranda had found another man so quickly after their divorce, that she'd let that man leave such intimate marks on her body, Harrison felt a fire burning in his heart.
It burned away his rationality, drove him mad with jealousy!