“Yes, I do now.” Ariel responded with a sigh as she wiggled her fingers together.“What happened that night after the both of you discovered your identities?”“He was furious and accused me of being a gold digger and a bad friend who was trying to snatch her friend’s boyfriend. Nothing I said that night to defend myself got in his head. He ended up throwing some wad of cash at me, and it was funny how it was the exact amount I needed for my mother’s surgery. No matter how much pride I had and the amount of humiliation it brought, I still bent and picked the money then I left. Hannah, who said she did not have money to lend me and that her bank was having issues, sent me money when I got to the hospital.”“You know that you wouldn’t have had to go through all of these if you had just given me a call, right?” Mariam still looked angry.“I already made the mistake, there is no way to go back in the past and correct it. I can only move on.”“So you found out that you were pregnant and we
With any more interruptions from Mariam, Ariella explained the remaining things to her, down to Kelvin coming home. She told her in detail about Kelvin going to meet her mother and then signing the contract and getting married, and how he was always accompanying her to every checkup.“I don’t know, but he sounds like a nice guy who was raised by a good woman. How did he end up with a devil like Hannah?” Mariam asked with a shake of her head.“They met when he was younger and Hannah is gorgeous so it’s not a surprise.”“Well, you are very beautiful yourself, so I think the both of you can go to war over him.”“No way. I’m not doing that. I’m leaving after I give birth to my child.” Kelvin may be nice but he does not want her, and she does not want him either. They both have an agreement to go their separate ways. No way was she going to let his mother and Mariam take her into staying. She could never stay or survive in a loveless marriage, and it would affect the baby too. What if he
The two friends quickly moved on to talking about other things, carefully avoiding the topic of Ariella’s pregnancy. Mariam could see that her friends were getting distressed from talking about it and her many questions. Even if she was not happy with the situation her friend finds herself in, it already happened and Ariella did what she did for her mother.She’s also done some bad things in the past because she needed to cater for her siblings. Things he could not talk about and was not brave enough to tell Ariella because she did not want to be judged. To Mariam, Ariella was brave for wanting to keep her child and she was glad that her friend was wise enough to get the baby’s father who was rich involved, not minding that he was Hannah’s boyfriend. Hannah caused everything anyway so it was not Ariella’s fault.Mariam was glad that the baby’s father was someone they could reach easily. What if she’s been some random man? What would her friends have done? It was hard enough to care
“Oh good lord, why today of all days.” Mariam groaned in a low tone for only Ariella to hear. Ariella did not even have the opportunity to react or recover from her surprise at seeing Hannah here when she began to talk.“Where have you been all these days, Ariella? I’ve been looking for you everywhere and your manager told me you left the modeling industry for good.” Her words sounded mocking to Ariella, but to other people it sounded like she was concerned about Ariella.“I was shocked and asked him why you decided to leave suddenly, and he said he has no answer to that. You did not tell me about it, Ariella, and I thought we were friends.” Now, Hannah sounded aggrieved, like she’s been wrong, it made anger begin to rise in Ariella’s heart. Why was Hannah pretending? “We always talk about everything, but you took such a big step without telling me. I even thought you got in trouble or something. Seems like I was worrying for nothing because you look absolutely fine to me and even ha
Mariam could not take it. Her eyes turned red with hot anger, “Stop being a bitch, Hannah. You and I both know the true story of why Ariel’s has been avoiding you. Good friend?” Mariam scoffed, “What good friend would send her friend to…”“Mariam!” Arielle yelled her friend's name with wide eyes, stopping Mariam from angrily spewing out what should be kept a secret.Mariam slammed her mouth shut and could only glare at Hannah who was now smelling at her knowing fully well that they wouldn't be able to defend themselves. They could not possibly say the truth out in front of everyone. Not only would it paint Arielle in a bad light, everyone would know that she slept kelvin. Hannah could still turn the story in her favor anyway and deny it. Everyone would believe Hannah because they regarded her as their queen in the modeling industry.“What? Where did I send her to? Go one, tell us?” Hannah said as she stretched her hand wide, “I’ve always been good to Ariella. Helping her get jobs in
They ended up crashing at Mariam’s house because, according to Ariella, she’s been feeling suffocated in Kelvin’s big mansion and staying out for a long time would do her some good. What Ariella did not plan on was falling asleep on Mariam's couch while they were watching a movie at eight at night. Mariam could not carry her to bed and her couch was soft and comfortable enough, so she just covered Ariella with a thick blanket and went to her room. She joined Ariella in the dreamland as soon as her head hit her pillow. Ariella was feeling groggy and disoriented when she first opened her eyes at the first stroke of dawn. She’s gotten used to sleeping on the bed in her room at Kelvin’s house. It was softer and larger than this couch she was laying on, so she was quick to recognize that she was not at his house. She also wasn’t in the house she lived in with her mother before she got pregnant and had to move. What first came to her mind as she was still laying on the couch was that
Ariella’s eyes dropped to the mess she made in the sink with the tissue paper, but that was the least of her concern. Her breathing was coming out with difficulty, and she felt like she was soon going to have a heart attack. Why can’t her life go smoothly even if for once in her entire existence? Why must everything be fucked up? Hannah being angry at her and trying to take it out on her because of Kelvin’s abandonment only meant that she needed to go back to her former routine of staying indoors and only coming out to visit her mother at the hospital and when she needed to go for her checkups that Kelvin magically finds time to go for with her. Her hand moved to clutch her heart through her chest as she ironed her mouth, trying to take in gulps of air to open up her lungs since her nose was no longer working well. At first, it was still the same and her chest remained close up but as she kept repeating the process, things changed and at last she felt her lungs open up and fresh ai
Ariella brought her hand up to her forehead. Mariam noticed it and her distraught expression. She cocked her head to the side with a frown, “Are you alright?”Ariella shot her a look, “We left Kelvin’s driver outside last night. Do you think he waited until this morning?”“Eh?” Mariam looked confused for a minute before she finally caught up, “You asked him to leave last night, he refused. Him staying overnight has nothing to do with you.”“Stop acting heartless. He was only doing his job.” Ariella scolded.“Good thing you know that he was just doing his job. It’s a nice and big car, big enough to contain him. I’m sure he had a good sleep.”“You are impossible.” Ariella groaned before she turned to walk out of the kitchen while arranging her hair with her fingers. She moved to the door of the house, ignoring Mariam who was following behind her.“Where are you going?” Mariam asked Ariella when she began to move in the direction of the building’s elevator.“To check on him, stupid.” Ari