Who says she can’t handle herself? Arianna was proud of her effort, she finally sent Luca away and now she could have fun without one giant standing out like a dark cloud over her.
However, an important person was currently missing from this party and she went to Victor,
“Is Mimi not coming?”
Victor turned to her with a wide smile – his happiness knew no bound since the news of Mimi’s pregnancy. Arianna wondered if he ever got tired of stretching his face and thinking about it now, Victor rarely expressed any kind of emotion aside from that. Weird.
Arianna knew some people were naturally funny, but Victor’s could be over the top. And speaking of which, she has never even seen him angry, the closest was him throwing a tantrum on Marcel, but extreme anger? No. Victor was always cheerful with a bubbly attitude. Well, she was probably thinking too much. It was just Victor being Victor, she pushed the matter to the back of her head.
“No, Mimi’s not coming,” Victor answered, turning at the last minute to welcome a guest that had just arrived.
“Have a great time!” He waved to the man, before giving her his attention once more, “She just returned home and needed to spend more time with her family. Moreover, Mimi needs to have the rest as well and I promised her I’ll party for both of us,” Victor beamed at her.
Arianna shook her head, those two were perfect for each other. She tried to imagine it, but Arianna couldn’t picture Marcel letting her party for the both of them without an entourage of babysitters to keep an eye on her. It was not happening.
“Fine, party hard then. And once again, congratulations,” She told him before returning to the party.
.....
The living room was beginning to fill up and Arianna hoped Victor knew what he was doing because if any of Marcel’s esteemed collection gets damaged, he was really getting it from his cousin tomorrow. Marcel loved his collections the same way a dragon loves its treasures and it was extremely precious to him.
However, it seems someone wasn’t entirely dumb because looking around the room now, Arianna found out that most of Marcel’s precious items were missing and she could only guess that Victor kept them in a safe place – and it wasn’t stolen.
A tap on the shoulder took Arianna off guard that she almost struck the stranger with her elbow had the woman not spoken at the last minute.
“You’re Arianna, right?” She inquired tentatively.
Arianna’s brows furrowed in confusion, and still had her guard on even as she turned to stare at the stranger fully. For some odd reason, the woman seemed oddly familiar as if she had seen her somewhere until it hit her.
“Yeah, everyone here kind of knows who you are,” Lydia chuckled and Arianna scratched the back of her neck timidly. It seems she has become a local celebrity in the underworld.
If it was in the past when she wanted nothing but to escape Marcel and this hell hole he locked her in, it was definitely game over now. Everyone knows her face and she would be captured back to Marcel each time she escaped.
Ugh, it was hard to get accustomed to the fact she was no longer a prisoner here. Not that she was entirely free – she couldn’t even leave the base without Marcel letting her out. It was as if she only traded the prison for a better one. At least she was stuck with Marcel and not his father.
Goosebumps climbed up her arm at the thought, Arianna still couldn’t get past the revelation that her mother and Daniel dated. She frowned, should she tell Marcel about it?
No, no, she shook her head, the idea wasn’t feasible. Moreover, there was no guarantee that Elijah told her the truth. He could be messing with her head, trying to drive a wedge between her and Marcel.
What if she tells Marcel about Elijah’s identity and he interrogates him and gets the truth for her?
No.
Arianna battled inside of her. What if Elijah is the only connection to get to her mother and she ruins that by handing him over to Marcel?
What if her mother really dated Daniel and there was more to the story? Ugh! She needed to know.
Fine, Arianna decided she would tell Marcel about Elijah, but that would be after she had enough information about her mother. Arianna didn’t know what to expect from this, but one thing was for sure, she wanted to look her mother in the eye and question why she abandoned her.
Did she hate her that much?
But knowing the truth would require her meeting with Aziz or whoever Elijah was pretending to be, and right now Marcel hated his ass so much he would not invite him back to the base. What was she going to do?
“Hey, are you alright?”
Arianna was jerked to reality when she suddenly saw Lydia in her face, invading her space. She took a step back, startled.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, but you were out of it that I was beginning to get worried.” She quickly explained seeing the frown on her face.
“No, it’s nothing,” Arianna said, running her hands through her hair. She needed to concentrate and think of a way to contact Elijah later.
She looked over Lydia’s shoulder and asked her, “Did you come alone, where are the others?”
“Come, let me take you to them,” She took her hand and began to lead her outside. Arianna cast a look behind her before stepping into the lawn where several cars were packed. However, a certain jeep was surrounded by a group of girls. Most men couldn’t take their eyes off them and Arianna rolled her eyes towards heaven.
Men.
The girls must have sensed them coming because they began to turn, one after the other until Arianna saw a certain face and froze.