Sunlight Boutique,
“Try this one on” Ariel stretched her hand from the dressing room and collected the dress the man handed her.
“Another one really, it was just yesterday you bought some clothes for me. I don’t need other clothes, I can just go home to wear something else”, she opened the curtain of the dressing room to speak with Rex.
“No, we’re burning anything that has the slightest touch of Damian Ford” Rex said, his voice laced with jealousy. She rolled her eyes at him, and he smiled. Ariel Ann changed into a dress and stepped out of the dressing room.
“You sound jealous, are you?”
Rex chuckled lightly.
“Jealous? No honey, it’s called possessive”. He held her hand gently. “You look beautiful, by the way.
“Beautiful, you’re exaggerating. I know I look ridiculous in these dresses. Besides, you don’t need to put on a show”
“No honey, you look beautiful” Rex said sincerely.
“Sir, I can’t help but notice she was trying out our most exclusive collections, which means it has an exclusive price tag”, the shop assistant said.
Ariel looked at the clothes and realized it was really an exclusive collection.
“How much?”
“The dress cost $20, 000”
Rex handed his black card to the shop assistant, “I’ll take one dress each of her size and I want it delivered to the Anderson mansion.” The shop assistant collected the card.
“You don’t have to put in so much effort into making people believe we’re in love; these clothes are way too expensive, and that’s too much.”
“Oh, I’m not putting on a show, and you won’t be the only one benefiting from this; I want to see you in each of these dresses.” Ariel sighs.
“The ones you bought yesterday, I’ve not worn.”
Ariel Ann wheeled Rex to the car.
“Where’s Pius”
“Hop in, I’m driving.”
Ariel looked at him surprised but still obediently sat in the passenger’s seat.
As the car drove further and further away, Ariel Ann’s heart began to pound. Beads of sweat began to drop from her face to her neck as she swallowed her saliva hard when she realized that the car had already left the city. She looked at the stoic man anxiously as she no longer felt good.
Could it be that Rex Anderson wanted to kill her?
Was it because of Damian Ford?
Could it be because of the call he received while they were coming? What did the other person at the end of the call tell him?
“Um… Sir, where are we going?” Ariel Ann couldn’t help but ask.
Rex Anderson looked at her pale face and smile.
It’ll be fun to tease her.
The man continued driving without sparing her a glance. Unable to bear his silence, she asked again.
Rex Anderson packed the car by the side of the road, removed his seat belts, tilted his head to the side and glanced at her with a malicious grin, he curled his lips upward, revealing his teeth.
“The land of the dead!”
“….”
He leaned forward as he looked at her with a fixed gaze, which sent a threatening “you’re my target” message.
Ariel Ann trembled, her heart beating faster as she sat frozen on the spot. All the color drained from her face.
Oh my god! I don’t want to die!
Rex Anderson chuckles lightly as he traces her hand with a finger, causing all the hair on her body to stand up.
“I sold you out”
“….”
“It’s funny seeing your face, just look at your face in the mirror”
Ariel Ann frowned, “Devil Anderson, you brought me to a remote place in the middle of the night, and I’m not allowed to know where you are taking me to? It’s funny to you, right?”
“Graveyard” he said and zoomed off.
“What!”
So he wasn’t lying when he said he was taking her to the land of the dead.
The fear that once consumed her started getting back at her as she felt a chill run down her spine.
Although she’s not one to believe in ghosts’ stories, she had a strong sense of fear at night after her mother’s death.
Not long after, the car stopped in front of a couple of tombstones.
Ariel Ann curled up in the passenger seat with her eyes closed.
Rex Anderson glanced at her “Get down”
“I won’t. Rex Anderson, even if you want me to die I need to know what I did. How did I offend you? Did you not already know that there was nothing else between Damian Ford and I? And I’ve already given you the go ahead with the woman you love. If you think I’m standing in your way, I’ll cooperate with you. Giving up the position of the young mistress and vice president is not hard! Why kill me?”
Rex looked at Ariel’s puzzle at her analytics.
“Who said I was going to kill you?”
“But you said in the ca…”
“I already said it was a joke”, Rex sighed in frustration.
“But… We’re in the grav…”
“Today is my parents’ funeral.”
Ariel Ann was startled as she pursed her lips.
How could she have forgotten that Rex Anderson’s parents had passed away…. Well, maybe if Rex hadn’t frightened her she would have remembered.
“Sorry! It wasn’t intentional.”
“So Mrs. Anderson, can you get down now?”
Rex Anderson turned around, opened the back seat and handed a bunch of fresh flowers to Ariel Ann and started walking towards the tombstones.
Ariel Ann shrunk her neck and followed him.
At night the graveyard was especially cold and silent, causing people to shudder.
Following Rex Anderson, they walked past a field of flowers and saw his parents’ tombstones.
Rex Anderson stares at Ariel Ann “still daydreaming”
“Oh..” Ariel walked in front of the tombstones to bow. “Auntie and uncle, I’m very sorry for visiting you late.”
“She’s your daughter-in-law.” Rex Anderson spoke from the side
Naturally, his parents couldn’t hear him, neither could they reply, and all they heard was the rustling of the winds.
At that moment, Ariel Ann looked at Rex Anderson looks she realizes she has never seen him this desolate.
His condition was the same as his, but she still had her deadbeat father alive. She could see, touch and speak to him. But he … Nothing..
Rex Anderson stared blankly at the tombstones, his eyes devoid of emotion.
“Mom, dad, don’t worry. None of those evil people will live or die. I’ll give them what’s more than death.”
Ariel Ann looked at him and blinked, her heart filled with sorrow. Although Rex Anderson’s face was devoid of emotions, she could hear the depression in his voice.
It is obvious the man has been suppressing his pain all along.
Ariel Ann tiptoed as she gently patted his shoulder. “Rex, I know it’s not easy for you to know your parents’ murderers are roaming freely, but hatred can’t bring you happiness if you can let go of your hatred. It will also mean freeing yourself.”
“Put down my hatred?”
Ariel Ann paused and said consolingly “I can only advise you to let go of your hatred. I’m not asking you to do so for the sake of the people who harmed you! It’s because I don’t want you to live your entire life in hatred or do things you’ll regret later! Rex Anderson, taking revenge will tire you out. You’ll end up losing yourself, which is too much of a price to pay.”
“If I put down my hatred, my tombstone will appear here next to my parents.”
“Rex, if we’re to talk of hatred, I also hate my father! He was merciless after my mother died. He took over the company, brought Tanya Albert and Elvira Ann home, forced me to change my birth certificate and, in a short period of time, I had fallen from being the young miss of Ann to an illegitimate child and poor little girl.