Chapter 75: He Stayed Anyway

“Lemme go, you bastard!”

“Ah, Arianaa!” Christian groaned in pain. He had not expected Ariana’s knee to slam into his most sensitive spot with full force.

His grip loosened instantly. His solid body rolled off to the side of the empty bed, curling in on itself as he endured the sharp, overwhelming pain. Even so, a smile spread across his lips.

“Damn, Ariana,” he growled again, his voice low but strangely energized.

Ariana frowned at the strange excitement in his eyes, her gaze turning icy. “You’re insane,” she hissed. Then she reached into his pocket. “Where did you put the key?” she pulled out the wooden door key from inside.

“I’ll do worse than that if you dare touch me again,” she warned before running out of the room.

Ariana hurried into her own room, locked the door, and leaned her back against it.

“Why's this happening?”

The bitter memories of her past with Christian spun through her mind. She grabbed her own hair, trying to silence the weak, pleading echoes of his voice in her head.

The sound of footsteps approaching her room made her tense instantly. Then the footsteps moved away toward the front door.

“Did he finally leave my house?” she whispered again, straining to listen. A moment later, she heard the front door open.

Christian let out a rough breath, his hand gripping his phone as Lorne’s call came in again and again. “Why is he interrupting my time with Ariana?”

Stepping away from Ariana’s stone house, Christian answered the call.

“Sir, we’ve recovered evidence of Mr. Marley’s murder at the Austen family villa,” Lorne’s voice filled Christian’s ears and sharpened his focus. “Would you like to see it?”

“Yes,” he replied, his voice turning cold, lethal. “Don’t let anyone else get it. I’m not losing my wife again.”

“Understood, sir. I’ll make sure no one else gets their hands on it.”

The call ended. Christian’s sharp jaw tightened, his piercing gaze fixed on Ariana’s stone house.

“Losing Michelle was enough. I'll never let God take you from me,” he muttered, his voice low.

“He didn’t leave?”

A soft knock sounded on her bedroom door. Ariana flinched, quickly covered her ears with both hands.

“Ariana, open the door. You left your slippers behind.” Christian’s baritone voice came through clearly. “How can you walk around barefoot?”

As time passed, his voice outside grew softer, more subdued. He pressed his palm against the wooden surface of the door.

“I love you, Ariana. No matter what happens, I won’t let another man take my woman away from me again,” his voice low, trembling with obsession and absolute possession.

“He doesn’t love me. He only sees me as Michelle,” Ariana whispered faintly, her breath uneven, her voice barely there.

Her sobs began to break through, but she forced them down as deeply as she could until her entire body trembled. She hugged her knees on the floor. “Fate is really toying with me cruelly. I thought he had remarried, but instead he’s here, scaring me all over again,” she added.

“All right, go to sleep, Ariana. I’ll stay here with you,” Christian said again, though no reply came.

“This is all because of Mr. Matheus’ influence. We still don’t know what he wants from Mr. David. We haven’t been able to reach him yet.”

In Edinburgh, inside a grand study, Cedric paced back and forth, his face tense. He looked at his personal assistant, who stood rigidly in front of the large desk, waiting.

“Find a loophole to get David out immediately,” he ordered, his tone rising.

His assistant lowered his head, his expression hesitant. “Under Scottish law, identity falsification for illegal residence is a serious offense,” he explained. “The only possible option is to apply for bail, but the prosecutor will almost certainly reject it due to the high flight risk.”

Cedric slammed his hand on the desk. “I know that, damn it! Do you think I’m an idiot?”

“Sorry, sir. Unless we can prove procedural misconduct in the arrest,” the assistant began, then suddenly stopped. He turned and bowed slightly toward someone entering. “Good evening, ma’am.”

The study door opened slowly. Cedric’s new wife, a pale, frail woman, entered in a wheelchair pushed by a servant.

Cedric’s expression changed instantly. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

“Darling, you’re awake?” Cedric asked, his tone full of false affection. “Let me.” He took over the wheelchair, pushing her toward the sofa area. Then he picked up a bottle of medicine and a glass of water that had already been prepared. “Open your mouth, it’s time for your medicine again.”

“No, Mac.” She pushed the glass of water in Cedric’s hand away. “I don’t need to take it today.”

Cedric froze. “Why all of a sudden? Don’t you want to recover quickly and return to leading Sterling and Strathmore?” he kissed her dry, thin cheek. “Your employees like you more than me. You need to get better so you can go back to the company.”

As Cedric tried to bring the medicine to her lips, she shook her head firmly again.

“If I take that medicine again, I’ll sleep for a long time and won’t be able to see you for days,” she said softly.

Cedric stared at his wife for a long moment. The smile remained on his face, but inside, his anger simmered.

That’s exactly what I want, so you won’t interfere with what I’ve done to your company, you foolish woman, Cedric cursed inwardly.

He wanted to force the medicine down her throat, but he knew her loyal servant was watching him closely.

“All right, you don’t have to take it today.” Cedric set the fake medicine bottle back down, suppressing his irritation. “Then what would you like to do tomorrow?” he asked.

“Go to the company.”

The next morning, Ariana carefully opened her bedroom door. She froze when she saw Christian sitting asleep right in front of it.

“I thought he was just talking nonsense when he said he’d sleep on the floor,” Ariana murmured, her blue eyes studying his handsome face.

His head had slumped to the side in sleep. “His face looks thinner, has he lost weight?” she added unconsciously, then swallowed. “What am I saying?” she quickly turned her face away, her expression turning cold again and stepped over Christian’s legs as quietly as possible.

She walked to Lucas’ room. Inside, Bonnie was still fast asleep on the long sofa, as were Lucas and Toby.

Ariana approached Bonnie and gently shook her shoulder.

Bonnie blinked, squinting as she saw Ariana’s face leaning over her. “What is it, Ariana? It’s still too early.”

“Can I borrow your phone for a moment?”

“Why ask? Just use it,” Bonnie replied, adjusting her position. “Who are you calling this early? Mr. MacRae?”

“No,” Ariana answered, her voice bitter. She had already taken the phone and held it to her ear.

Bonnie frowned in confusion, sitting up and staring at Ariana’s back curiously. “Then who? Mrs. Campbell?”

“The police,” Ariana replied coldly, without hesitation.

“What? Are you serious? Who are you reporting?”

“I want them to take the stranger out of my house.”