263: THE LOVE FROM VENGEANCE ARIEL’S POV My eyes widened at Laura, giving her a surprised look. Oh sh*t, she just said, which meant she was fully aware that I had been with Luke the entire time. Yet she pretended like she knew nothing. Unknowingly, this was extremely messed up, and I believe I was beginning to grow annoyed with this woman. “Why are you looking at me like that? You know I’m telling the truth, right? You spent the night with Luke, and Janice is still at his house. “You knew all this time? But why did you? How did you?” “There’s no need for you to worry about that. I have my own ways of doing things. But tell me, why were you lying to me?” “Lying to you?” “Yes, Ariel. You told me that you were at your friend’s house.” “Well, technically, that wasn’t actually a lie.” “Oh really?” “Yeah,” I responded. “Since when did you and Luke become friends?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. She had a fake smile on her face. “Is this the reason why you called me? We should discuss something more important, like finding Harriet and getting her back here.” “Isn’t this important?” “Look, Laura, I don’t want to argue.” “Neither do I. But come on, Ariel, this was not what we agreed to in the first place. “I know, and at that time, I thought Luke was the one who killed my son. But it turns out he’s not, so we can’t follow through with that.” “I’m still not convinced.” “How are you not convinced? Okay, let’s do it this way. I’m the one who told you that Luke killed Lukel, right? Cool. So now, I’m also telling you that he isn’t the one responsible for my son’s death.” “Hmm, I don’t know; I just don’t like that man. “He’s actually a nice person.” Laura gave me a disbelieving look. “You’re saying that now because?” 263: THE LOVE FROM VENGEANCE “He saved me; he saved my daughter. He almost got killed for our sake. Of course, I’m going to be grateful for that.” “So now you’re telling me you’re ending the vengeance thing with Luke.” “Yes, that’s it.” “Wow, Ariel. I can’t actually believe this.” “You see, I wanted revenge so bad since I returned from Canada and when I also came back. But I guess things changed. The hate disappeared, and there was love from vengeance,” Laura stared at me for a few seconds, not saying anything. “Your choice, Arici. Decide to kill Luke or not; that’s none of my business. But I hope you don’t regret this decision later.” “Don’t worry, I won’t regret anything.” “How sure are you?” “I’m a hundred percent sure. Luke won’t turn his back on me. We might face some challenges and obstacles, but I believe he’s going to stand by my side in all situations.” “I love your belief. You’re being so confident in the same man who made your life hell for three good years, the same man who wished for bad things to happen to you.” “That’s the past. I have to focus on the present right now and trust me, Luke has changed. He has changed so much that I start wondering if he’s the same man that I used to live with all those years.” “I can’t argue with you,” Laura said, and she walked away promptly. Yes, I knew this was going to happen. But I wasn’t going to hide anything. I wasn’t going to be afraid. Let whatever you want happen; I didn’t really care. I could only hope for the better in the future. ↑ I made my way to the dark room where I had placed Harriet. I scanned everywhere, looking at the loose chains, and there were blood stains on the floor. As I squatted to get a closer look, I could vividly recall the insanity that Harriet must have committed to force her to flee. I stood up, and I suddenly heard the sounds of rats. But the creatures were gone. Looking in that direction, my eyes went straight to a paper. I moved forward to take a closer look at it. What was on the paper was a big X, and it was written with blood. Obviously, Harriet was responsible for this. But how were we going to find her now? I tore the paper into pieces and threw it away. It had no use, but I knew that was a warning. Harriet tried telling me things wouldn’t be great for me. However, who the hell did she believe herself to be that I ought to be terrified of her? Her threats meant nothing to me. Even if she were to place the human head in a box and deliver it to me, I would not be frightened of her. Never had been and never would be. She had just been a pest since the beginning of their whole story, trying to cause trouble but being terrible at it. And always unsuccessful, trying to be successful. Crazy, wild, and fucked up. Slowly, I traipsed out of the room, thinking about the things that were likely to happen. If I could clearly remember, Mason was not dead. Luke didn’t kill him, obviously. So, the idiot must be plotting a new scheme to make my life terrible. Things were going to be difficult with that man around. Then there was Laura, who so despised Luke as she knew him from somewhere before. She didn’t want to believe that he was innocent, but she easily accepted him killing Lukel when that detail was wrong. And as for Harriet, let’s not talk about her. But thinking too much wouldn’t change anything, nor would it solve the problems. So, visiting Andre at the hospital right now was the next thing I decided to carry out. He is somewhat irate with me, but I intend to apologize. I mean, it wasn’t my fault. I was searching for my daughter, and I was… Okay, I have no explanation for this. It was totally my fault. I got into my car and drove to the hospital. When I was done with this, I would just get dressed so I could go see my daughter and her father, Luke. I went to Andre’s room, and Elizabeth was right there, sitting next to him. And still holding Andre’s hand, she gave me a surprised look. “Ariel, you’re finally back,” she said softly, letting go of Andre and walking towards me. Andre’s eyes were closed. He was probably sleeping or just decided to have his eyes shut. Elizabeth hugged me. “I miss you so much, sweetheart.” After our embrace, she held my cheeks. “Tell me, where have you been this whole time? Everyone has been searching for you. But you just disappeared into thin air.” “It’s kind of a long story. But you don’t have to worry about anything. You should just be glad that I’m right here, and I’m also glad to see you here. You’ve always been like a mother to me, and I really appreciate that.” “Ariel?” I heard my name, with the tone being soft. ”