Focus was blushing as Ken walked over to her, a towel around his shoulders.
“What are you guys discussing?” Ken asked, sitting beside Ariel and taking her steak from her.
He knew she had been checking him out, and it boosted his confidence; he was giving her a secret smile, making her more shy.
“Just great, you just came and put an end to our juicy conversation,” Viktor sighed sipping his drink.
“Oh, I did?” Ken asked Ariel.
Ariel shook her head gently, “Well, I was just asking him about the true nature of Aiden and Moon’s relationship,” She replied.
Ken raised a brow, then slowly turned to Viktor who just shrugged his shoulder and continued sipping his drink.
Ken turned back to Ariel, a little frown on his face as an uneasy feeling settled at the bottom of his stomach. “Why do you care about them… are you jealous?” He asked, a little bit disappointed.
He was afraid that Ariel might have started to develop feelings for Aiden, which was why she was this concerned about his interaction with Moon.
Ariel heard Ken’s question and frowned, “You know that’s not it,” She sounded upset.
“I’m sorry, I was wrong for asking it that way,” He apologized immediately, seeing that he had wronged Ariel for concluding untrue facts.
“Calm down, Ken. If you were in her shoes, I bet you’d be curious too,” Viktor commented.
Keghed, placing his hand on Ariel’s thigh.
“I’m really sorry for asking you that; tell me, what do you want to know about them? I’ll tell you whatever I know,” Ken assured.
Ariel smiled, patting Ken’s hand that was on her lap, “It’s alright, Ken, I’m not upset anymore,” She told him.
“Yeah?” He asked her, making a cute face at her.
Ariel giggled, playfully hitting his arm.
Viktor sighed, feeling left out. “Alright, guys, focus on me; I’ll be the one telling the backstory,” He interrupted.
Ariel and Ken slowly turned him; Ariel looked interested, while Ken looked accusingly at Viktor for interrupting his time with Ariel.
Viktor saw Ken’s look but chose to ignore him; he focused on Ariel and said, “You already know that Aiden and Moon are siblings; well, Moon was adopted by Grandma Nari,” Viktor started.
Ariel nodded, confirming his information.
“Awesome,” Viktor gave her a thumbs up before continuing.
“Moon’s parents were Grandma Nari’s friends, very good friends, but unfortunately, they died in the sea, and till today, their bodies haven’t been found,” Viktor said, his voice carrying a little bit of withheld sympathy for his ex-fiancee.
Audrey was surprised by the news, she had never thought about what happened to Moon’s biological parents, and her backstory was sad, but still, she believed that having a sad or bad past doesn’t mean you’ll become mean, evil or manipulative just like Moon turned out, she believed that was just the traits she acquired on her own.
“I’ll be right back,” Ken pulled the towel off his shoulder and placed it beside Ariel.
Ariel nodded as Ken stood and walked over to the other side of the pool, disappearing through a black door.
She turned her attention back to Viktor and found him smiling knowingly at her, “What? That’s not what you think,” she was said with a shy smile.
“Do you love him already?” Viktor asked mischievously.
“Come on, How did Grandma end up adopting Moon?” She asked to divert his mind from her business.
“Ah, right,” Viktor sipped his drink again, “When she heard the unfortunate demise of her friends, she immediately took Moon in, and after a very short while, she got the court’s approval and Moon became her daughter, I believe you know the rest,” Viktor finished with a satisfied smile.
But Ariel wasn’t satisfied, “Um, I don’t know the rest; what rest are you talking about?” She questioned, confused.
“You really don’t know how and why Aiden came over to live with Grandma Nari at the same period Moon was adopted by her?” Viktor asked.
Ariel sighed; how on earth was she supposed to know that or anything about her dear husband? He never told her anything.
“The only thing I know about Aiden is that he’s rich, Viktor; any other thing is considered personal,” she replied quietly.
Viktor peered at her and saw that she wasn’t joking, “Well, you really don’t know? Fine. I’ll tell you briefly, but if you want to know the reason Aiden left his father’s house to go live with his grandma, you’ll have to ask him yourself, agreed?” He narrowed his eyes at Ariel.
Ariel nodded; this was the second time she had heard something about Aiden’s past. She might not know the story, but from the little she’d grasped, it felt like Aiden had a very bad childhood expe, rience or something related to that.
“Agreed,” She replied, knowing fully well that she was never going to ask Aiden anything about himself; she knew she’d get shunned the instant she brought it up.
“Aiden, Ken, and I have been friends since our diaper days; he was thirteen when he started living with Grandma Nari,” he paused.
“Really?” Ariel asked, surprised.
She curious as to why he chose to live with his grandma; from the best of her knowledge, she knew both his parents were still very much alive. What could have made a child choose to live away from his parents at such a young age?
Viktor nodded, “Yep. When we found out that Aiden moved, we asked our parents to move too, and when we got to the new neighborhood, we were surprised to find that Aiden now had a sister as we had known him to be an only child, but as we spent time together, we came to get used to her and I came to fall in love with her,” Viktor sighed, reminiscing the old days.
“But, it wasn’t for long until we found out her true identity,” Ken suddenly spoke from behind.
“Oh?” Ariel turned to look at him in surprise.
She quickly looked at the door he’d entered before and realized that it led inside the house. He was properly dressed now, a dark green pants and a white top.
“How did you find out?” Ariel was eager to know.
Ken chuckled, sitting back at the same spot beside her. “Just like she did to you earlier…” Ken replied.
Ariel was surprised to hear what he said; she hadn’t told him about what happened, how did he find out?
“Aiden told me,” Ken provided then scoffed.
“I don’t understand why Aiden chose to believe that b… girl. After what she’s done, he’s busy consoling her as if you were really the one who did wrong,” Ken said, angry.
Ariel felt a sharp pain in her chest.
He was busy consoling her? So he really though she was guilty? After everything Viktor had told them, Aiden couldn’t still find Moon to be wrong.
What a stupid man.
“How did you guys find out?” Ariel asked.
“That’s a story for another time, dear,” Ken subtly pointed behind Ariel.
Ariel didn’t need to look back to know why Ken was pointing behind her.
She could hear Moon’s sweet and innocent voice behind her.
“Aiden, I thought you said it’ll be just us here?” Ariel scoffed softly as she heard her words.
“I think I’ll just leave,” Ariel was about to stand up but Ken quickly caught her hand.
“Nah, stay, please,” He begged, looking gently into her eyes.
Ariel sighed, “You’re responsible for any problem that arises afterward,” She pointed at him.
Ken chuckled, “Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Ken winked at her.
Aiden’s eyes had immediately gone to Ariel the moment he walked behind his house; he saw how cozy she looked sitting with Ken and smiling at his words as usual.
He slowly walked up to the poolside and sat on the other bench beside Ariel and Ken, Moon lowered herself beside him, clinging to him.
Ariel refused to look at Aiden, even when she could feel his gaze on her, she had decided to just avoid anything that would get her in their way.
“Okay, now that we’re all here, let’s play some game,” Viktor said enthusiastically.
Seven minutes into the game, they were in their third game, and the third one had just started, which left Ariel feeling bored; it was as if the bottle never wanted to stop in her direction.
It was as if it was only Ken and Viktor who were just playing with themselves, daring themselves to do stupid things, like chugging down a bottle of wine.
“Here we go again!” Viktor shouted, a little tipsy.
He rolled the bottle again, and this time, the bottle stopped right in front of Ariel.
“Yay! Your turn! Truth or dare?” Viktor asked excitedly, eager to come up with something crazy for her.
Ariel had been wanting to participate, and now that it was her turn, she was at a loss at what to pick; actually, she didn’t want to pick any; none sounded safe for her now.
“Um, skip?” She asked quietly.
“Aw, bummer, fine, but you can’t cheat, there’s a punishment!” Viktor’s slid two glasses of alcoholic wine to Ariel.
“Um…” She wanted to refuse, but she saw the mocking look Moon was giving her, so she decided to drink it.
“I’ll drink it,” She grabbed the glass and Aiden immediately leaned forward, but Ken beat him to it.
Ken already had his hand holding the upper part of the glass, “It’s just a game; I can drink them for you,” He spoke with concern.
Ariel shook her head at him and took the glass out of his hand. “Don’t worry,” She said before raising the glass to her lips, tilting and pouring the content into her mouth.
“Woohoo! That’s the spirit!” Viktor gingered as she chugged down the second glass.
Ariel placed the glass back on the table with a loud thump, squeezing her face from the bitter and strange taste of the wine. She felt it go down her chest hot and and heavy, she’s never drank alcohol before, and she never knew the experience could be that intense.
Soon, she started to feel her eyes blur, faces started to get unclear.
Aiden was staring at Ariel, his face frowned. He was internally worried about Ariel, he didn’t feel comfortable letting her drink in front t of other people, especially, Ken.
He wanted to send everyone home already, but he didn’t want to seem as if it was because he cared for Ariel.
“Again!” Viktor roared and spun the bottle again.
Surprisingly, it landed at Ariel again.
“Haa! Truth or dare?” Viktor asked, still very much excited.
Ariel couldn’t believe it. Her again?
“Ski-”
“Nope, sorry love, but you can’t skip twice, you’ll have to chose,” Viktor reminded.
Ariel bit her lips, trying to focus her vision on Viktor.
“T- Dare,” She wasn’t sure she was still replying with a clear mind.
“Awesome, anyone got a dare for her?” Viktor asked.
“I do,” Moon suddenly spoke up, a hidden glint in her eyes, she was going to make Aiden hate Ariel more.
“Let’s have it,” Viktor said.
Aiden grew concerned; he was noticing some changes in Areil’s coordination, but he didn’t say a word; he didn’t care about her.
“I dare you to kiss Ken for one minute,” She smiled victoriously at Ariel.
Ken sighed, and leaned toward Ariel, “You don’t have to-”
“No!” Ariel pushed him back, then leaned into him, “I accept the dare,” She said and staggered to get up, dragging Ken by the collar to get him up too.
Aiden was suddenly angry, he never knew that seeing Ariel preparing to kiss another man would be such an uncomfortable sight for him, but should he stop her? Wouldn’t they think he was jealous?
Ariel smiled up at Ken, “I’m going to kiss you today, Ken,” She slurred, causing Moon to giggle at her.
Ken held her shoulder, steadying her, “A kiss on the cheek is fine, Ariel,” He whispered.
Ariel shook her head, then grabbed his face to the center; she tipped her toes, aiming for his lips.
Aiden was extremely uncomfortable as he saw her getting closer to Ken, he’s never felt so choked up without anything physically choking him.
Just when he stood up to drag Ariel away from kissing Ken, Ariel lost consciousness and fell back.
Without thinking twice, he caught her and drew her into his arms. “Game’s over everyone; go home,” Aiden announced angrily, carrying Ariel away.