Ariel opened and closed her mouth, lacking words to explain her situation.
Aiden was still glaring at her as he lifted Moon off the floor. “You’ll pay for what you’ve done,” He said sternly as he carried the wounded Moon over to the living room.
Ariel saw Moon giving her a secret satisfied look, proud of her manipulation.
Ariel was angry, she couldn’t believe Moon would go to the length of even hurting herself just to get Aiden’s attention.
She looked toward the living room and saw Aiden tenderly tending to Moon. She knew they were expecting her to come and apologize, but she wasn’t going to apologize for something she didn’t do.
She simply turned and walked back to the fridge, taking out the snack she initially wanted.
She was about to walk out of the kitchen when Aiden caught her by the arm and dragged her to the living room.
“Apologize, Ariel; you should be grateful that she’s not charging you for harming her,” Aiden spoke coldly, holding Ariel’s shoulder firmly in front of Moon, who was now sitting on the sofa.
Ariel couldn’t believe ears, this duo really fit each other, so insensitive and stupid.
She turned to Aiden with a neutral face and replied simply, “I won’t apologize,”
Aiden’s face turned murderous; he was willing to forgive her for what she did, even though what she had done was unpardonable; he would have just let it slide if only she apologized; he never expected her to refuse, to apologize for her wrongdoing.
“You see?! You see, Aiden, she’s so wicked, she was about to kill me, but when you came in, she suddenly pushed me down, threatening to hurt me later if I told you about what she did to me,” Moon cried, tears flowing down her cheeks.
Ariel was marveled. ‘What an actress you are, Moon,” She thought.
“Ariel, apologize and let things end here,” Aiden threatened.
Ariel chuckled; what a bunch of lunatics.
“I’m sorry, dear husband, like I said, I’m not apologizing for something I didn’t do. You’re adopted sister right here was the one who cut herself,” Ariel pointed to Moon.
“What?! You bitch! You dare to lie against me!” Moon sprang up from the sofa and raised her hand very high to slap Ariel, but before her hand could reach Ariel’s cheeks, a hand-held hers from behind.
“Hello, everyone, what’s the drama about?” Viktor walked around the sofa and gently released Moon’s hand.
The moment Moon saw Viktor, she started to act funny, as if she didn’t want to be there anymore.
Ariel noticed it, and once again, she suspected the history behind Moon and Viktor’s relationship.
“Good thing you are here, Viktor, look what Ariel’s done to Moon,” Aiden walked ahead and held up Moon’s wounded hand to Viktor.
Viktor looked at the hand, then slowly turned his sight to Moon, who was now looking down at her feet.
“Come on, Moon, the same hand? Aren’t you afraid of mistakenly cutting it off for good one day?” Viktor chuckled very softly.
Ariel was surprised at Viktor’s words, if she understood him properly, he was insinuating that this wasn’t the first time Moon had done something like this.
Interesting.
Aiden frowned, he didn’t understand what Viktor was saying.
“What do you mean, Viktor?” He questioned, still looking coldly at Ariel as the culprit.
Moon immediately sent Viktor a pleading look, not wanting him to say anything to Aiden.
Viktor understood her look but simply smiled at her. “Well, that’s the same thing she did on the day we were supposed to have a court marriage, she told everyone I was a threat to her life just because she no longer wanted to marry me, and she suddenly discovered that she loved someone else more,” He looked at Aiden briefly.
“So, I don’t know the whole story about this situation, but I can guess that she is accusing Ariel of hurting her, so I’m here to tell you that she is a good liar, a perfect liar.” Viktor turned to Ariel with a smile, then outstretched his hand to her.
“Come on, join us at the poolside,” He took her hand and led her out of the house.
Aiden was still looking confused; he watched with a frown as Vicktor led Ariel away from him; when he could no longer see them, he slowly turned to Moon.
“What did he just say?” He asked Moon, his face angry.
He was really finding it hard to believe that the Moon he’d known as a child could turn out to become a person he could not recognize anymore. A person who could hurt herself just to frame others.
Moon was crying silently, her tears flowing freely like a dam. She slowly walked toward Aiden but he raised his hand to stop her, a hard frown marking his handsome face.
“Answer me, Moon, what did Viktor say? Did you do all those things he said, and this one too, did you do it?” Aiden asked, looking down at her gazed hand.
Moon shook her head profusely, sobbing, “No, no, I didn’t do it, Aiden, Viktor was just trying to frame me because he’d probably still hurt because I had cut off our engagement,” Moon desperately went over and held Aiden’s hand.
Aiden didn’t move, he wasn’t convinced by Moon’s words anymore, and he knew he Viktor, he wouldn’t be so petty to lie against a woman, and even if he wanted to frame a woman, it wouldn’t be the woman he cared for, because as long as he knew, Viktor was still very much in love with Moon.
“Let go, Moon, when you’re ready to tell me the truth, I’ll listen to you then,” He was about to walk away from her, but she suddenly hugged him from behind, resting her forehead on his shoulder.
“No, Please, don’t walk away from me, Aiden, please, It was really Areil, she cut my hand when I asked her to pass me the knife in the kitchen, I only wanted to have a good relationship with her, since she’s your wife, but I never knew she bore a malicious thought toward me, I promise you, I never framed or hurt anyone,” She shook her head as she cried.
Aiden sighed, shaking his head; he was very disappointed in Moon. He never thought people would change so much, but he had to accept it. He gently patted Moon’s hand that was holding his tummy.
“It’s alright, Moon, you can stop crying,” He consoled. At the end of the day, he knew he was the only one Moon had.
She was the only sibling he had, too; they had practically grown up together, schooled together, and did everything together. He never liked to see her hurt, and if pretending to believe her was the way out, then he’d do it, he would only hope that she’d change along the way.
“Come on, let’s go,” He held her wrist and led her out of the house.
Ariel was surprised as Viktor led her behind Aiden’s house; she’d never been to that part of the house before; she had never really toured the house.
But the view here was beautiful; Aiden had coconut trees and beautiful flowers planted around the whole place, making you feel as if you were on a real beach.
“Want to swim?” Viktor asked as they reached the pool.
Ariel slowly shook her head, “No, I’d just sit and watch,” she replied.
Viktor nodded, already knowing she would refuse.
He took her over to a barbecue stand, turning over the stake to check it was ready to be eaten.
“Here you go, Princess,” He gave her a stick of steak.
Ariel smiled as she took the steak from him.
“Sit over here,” he led her over to a bench and went over to a cooler to fetch some drinks.
“We were supposed to have some pasta, but as you saw, our cook decided to hurt herself, ” Viktor said as he lowered himself on the bench opposite Ariel’s
Ariel bit her lips, looking at Viktor seriously. “Viktor, do you really believe that I didn’t hurt Moon?” She questioned.
She felt his sincerity, but she just wanted to know if he had just said all those things because he wanted to save her from Aiden’s wrath and Moon’s drama or if he really meant what he said.
Viktor smiled, “You think I’m lying?” He raised a brow at her.
Ariel sighed, “I do believe you. I just want to know if what I’ve believed is the truth,” She replied.
Viktor nodded, “It’s the truth, Ariel. I’ve known Moon long enough to know what she can and can’t do. It still surprises me how Aiden could be blind to all these,” He answered.
Ariel was quiet for a while before she spoke. “Can I ask something?”
Viktor nodded again, “Yes.”
Ariel thought about how she was going to phrase her question to make it look less busybody.
“Um, about Aiden and and Moon… what’s really their relationship?”
“What’s going on, guys?” Ken suddenly emerged from beneath the pool.
“Oh my god!” Ariel almost fell off the bench as she saw Ken suddenly surface from the pool.
Her shock immediately wore off as she stared at his washboard abs and toned muscles. She knew Ken was handsome, but she never imagined him to be hot like a model.
“You’re staring,” Viktor whispered, chuckling.
Ariel felt her cheeks reddening. She slowly looked down, chastizing herself for her brazenness.