She was ready to start a new life. As soon as Diego comes back, everything will be ready, they will fly off to a strange country and she will finally say goodbye to her old life. She will get a new name, become a whole new person that she already started dreaming about. She wanted to learn a new language and change herself completely.
First, she must cut her hair, she thought. She took a pair of scissors and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn’t want to remember herself that way again, Ariana Montenero will be no more.
She had always had long hair since she was little. Armand loved it, he never wanted her to cut it any shorter. The more reason why she had to cut it drastically. She tied her hair into a ponytail and took a long chunk of it before she cut it mercilessly.
She wiggled her new hair, it fell right below her chin. She lifted the tail she had in her hand with a satisfied look. The first step was done.
Before she could decide what to do with the hair in her hand, there was a knock on the door. She wanted to surprise Diego with her new look, she ran towards the door in excitement.
She opened the door holding her ponytail in one hand. Before she could form a word, her heart stopped. Her face was drained from all colors.
“Miss Ariana … I’m glad you’re alright,” Arturo was at the door pointing a gun at her. “Are you alone?” he yanked her away from the door and wrapped his arm around her neck. His eyes scanned the area, he stretched his other arm to point the gun into the room.
“Arturo … I’m alone,” she picked her words carefully.
“You need to come with me, we’ve been looking all over for you.”
Arturo slipped his gun at the back of his pants and led her out of the Inn. She was in a state of panic but she had to keep her composure. She dropped her ponytail a few doors away from their room. Her heart sank, she realized she was never going to see him again.
A black limo was parked right outside the Inn. Arturo didn’t give her the chance to take any of her stuff, she was half dragged out of the place and shoved into the limo in a hurry. Her chest was throbbing, who was in the limo? What will she say to him? What will he do to her?
“Well … you changed your hair?” Pasquale was sitting with his legs crossed in his broken white suite and a fedora in the same color.
She was in shock, she was breathing fast, her eyes wide and scared.
“I think this game of cat and mouse had gone far enough, Ari, it’s time to go home,” he added.
She didn’t reply. She was caught. She didn’t want to say anything that might jeopardize her own safety. Diego was in her mind.
Pasquale rolled down the window to talk to Arturo, “You know what to do.”
Her breaths were heavier, “What are you going to do? Why is Arturo not coming with us?”
He studied her face and smiled, “We need to do something about your friend.”
“What? What friend?”
“You don’t have to play the fool with me, Ari, I know everything … I can’t say much about Armand, but I know.”
Pasquale was the most trusted person in the family. He handled the family affairs of both the Lombardos and the Monteneros. He knew everything that’s going on in their business and private lives. He traced Alonzo’s private account and found out about Ariana’s secret account which she used to pay for her grandiose plan.
“Where did you think you were going? You’ll never make it far, you know? Armand is going out of his mind looking for you,” he said.
She didn’t answer, the car was moving and she looked over her shoulder, Arturo had disappeared into the Inn. Diego.
“He doesn’t know about your friend … let’s keep it that way, as far as Armand knows, I’m rescuing you from your kidnapper, you’re going to go home to Lancaster and play the role of the last Montenero standing … the wife of Armand Lombardo … and you will be by his side to carry on your family’s legacy, produce the next generation to further expand your dynasty,” he was calmed and collected.
Ari turned to him with a snarl, “He killed my parents.”
Pasquale paused, he inhaled deeply, “He didn’t.”
“Don’t cover it up … you know he’s a monster … he’s killed everyone that meant something to me, being married to him is the same as surrendering myself to the devil.”
He pursed his lips, “Look … you can’t deny who you really are, Ari, you were born into this family, you were fated to be married to a Lombardo heir, and just like everyone else in the world, you have to play your role as best as you can … like your mother, her mother before her, like Armand’s mother and her mother before her, God bless their souls … they were all married to these monsters … but you have to know, you certainly have better odds to stand by their sides than against them … you can’t turn away from your destiny.”
She didn’t want to hear it. She curled up in her seat and looked outside the window. She didn’t want to accept that there is no other life for her than to be Armand’s wife.
“He’s got everything now, all the money, the power, he’s on top of the food chain and no one can take him down … he doesn’t need me,” she mumbled.
Pasquale scoffed, “That’s where you’re wrong … these powerful men … they can put on a façade, show off their strength as if they’re Gods in their own world, but they need someone to keep them grounded, keep their heads cool, someone to hold on to even though they will never admit it … and for Armand, that person is you.”
She covered her face, she was in tears, “I don’t want to be that person, I don’t want to … please, I can’t go back and be that person anymore …”
He put his hand on her shoulder, “Ari, you’re like a daughter to me too … your father was pained to know this was your fate, he supported your plan because he loved you very much … but this is the way of the family, you cannot escape it, either you play the game or you’ll die … there is too much at stake, Armand had taken up a responsibility too big for him to handle and he is reckless … he’s not ready yet, he cannot do this without you, and he will drive this family down to the ground with the way he’s been handling the situation.”
“Then let him … I don’t care anymore, I don’t want to be part of the family anymore, I don’t want to have his children and teach them how to be a monster … I want out.”
He scratched his forehead, “The only way out is death, if you give up now, your parents’ deaths will be in vain, and remember … all that power and money he now owns, half of it is yours … ”
They fell silent for a moment. Ari had never thought of it that way.
He rubbed her back, “If you think he’s the most powerful man in the business now, remember, you are half of that person … you have to play the game, Ari, if you go against him … the odds will not be in your favor.”