Chapter 3

Ariana had just finished saying that when Brian's secretary, Emily Weston, suddenly came running to him.

Brian had always maintained his composure no matter what kind of issue he ran into. He did not react much even when Ariana asked to break off the engagement just now.

Yet, Brian's eyes bulged, and he had an anxious look on his face at the moment. Ariana could tell that the news of Evelyn committing self-harm had just reached him.

When she saw that he was about to leave, Ariana moved to block Brian's path.

"Mr. Lodge, we're not done talking yet."

"Get out of the way."

There was a hint of anger in Brian's cold voice.

He saw the woman before him as a mere tool to appease Belinda and other members of the Lodge family. Brian did not harbor any special feelings for her.

He could marry Ariana. However, he would not let her off if something bad were to happen to Evelyn today.

Ariana had no intention of stepping aside. She asked, "You seem to be in a hurry, Mr. Lodge. Are you leaving to see Ms. Granger?"

Brian did not even try to hide the scorn in his voice. "You think? Eve was driven to commit self-harm because of all of you. I'm warning you. I can offer you the position as the next Mrs. Lodge, but don't even think about gaining anything else!"

Ariana could not help finding it ridiculous as she listened to those words.

She had not done anything to harm Evelyn or anybody. Instead, it was Brian and Evelyn who had caused her a lot of hurt and pain. Ariana even ended up being sacrificed for their great love.

She raised her voice and said, "Brian Lodge, we're having our engagement party today. If you insist on leaving to see Evelyn, I'm calling off the engagement then."

Ariana's voice was not exactly that loud, but the guests around them could hear her clearly. There were bright flashes of light as the reporters pointed their cameras at the pair and snapped away.

Brian narrowed his eyes. "You're using that to threaten me? Ariana, you seem to think too highly of yourself."

He walked past Ariana right after saying that. Brian was certain Ariana would not have the courage to break off the engagement with him.

After Brian left, Ariana walked up to the stage calmly. She looked at the guests and smiled softly.

"Today, Mr. Lodge has shown his reluctance to proceed with our engagement because of Ms. Granger. I, Ariana Torrey, am willing to give my blessings to the couple. From now on, Brian Lodge and I will no longer be related in any way. The two of us are free to see or marry whomever we want."

Gwen, who was chatting away happily with the other ladies, was flabbergasted. She dropped her glass of champagne on the floor.

"What? They're calling off the engagement? Has Ariana gone mad?" Gwen screamed internally.

Meanwhile, in the car…

"Mr. Lodge, Ms. Torrey says she's calling off the engagement. If she's serious about it, how are we going to explain it to Mrs. Lodge Senior…"

"She's calling off the engagement?" Brian snickered inwardly.

The Torreys wanted nothing but to help Ariana marry into the Lodge family. Ariana would even copy and dress up in Evelyn's style just to please him.

Now that they had achieved their goal, Brian believed there was no way Ariana would want to break off the engagement. Moreover, the Torreys would not allow her to do such an absurd thing.

"Tell Mrs. Torrey to warn Ariana not to play these tricks with me. There are others who want the position as Mrs. Lodge if she's not interested in it."

Brian would not have been in such a rush to get engaged if it were not because Belinda wanted to see him get a wife as soon as possible.

"Mr. Lodge, in that case… Are you really not going to proceed with the engagement?"

Brian replied monotonously, "I still have use for the Torrey family. I'm going through with the engagement regardless."

"Then, just now…"

"I'm going through with the engagement, but I also need to make sure the Torreys know their place too."

"Should we send someone to explain to Ms. Torrey, then?"

"No."

There was a flash of contempt and annoyance in Brian's eyes when Ariana was brought up again. "Anyway, she's going to come to me to admit her mistakes within the day. I've already gotten tired of her using this trick."

For the past three months, Ariana had been doing everything she could to gain Brian's favor. Not only did she find out all of his likes and dislikes, but Ariana had also gotten detailed information about Brian's daily schedule.

Moreover, she would often visit Belinda and spend time with her to win her approval.

Brian found what Ariana did utterly revolting.

If it were not because of how Belinda had taken a liking to Ariana and the fact that the Torrey family could be useful to him, Brian would not have chosen to be engaged to a woman like her.

Ariana had tried to play hard to get during the engagement party this time, but Brian was not going to just tolerate it.

In the evening, Ariana had just gotten out of the car after arriving at the Torrey residence. The car Gwen was in pulled up behind hers almost simultaneously.

Gwen started yelling the moment she got out of her car. "Ariana Torrey, have you lost your mind? You told everyone during such a public event that the engagement was called off? Have you gone nuts?"

Ariana ignored her. She headed into the house while taking off her accessories.

Martha Jenkins asked curiously when she saw that Ariana had returned home early. "Ms. Torrey? Aren't you and Mr. Lodge celebrating your engagement party tonight? How come you're back so soon?"

Ariana ignored her as well. She went straight into her dressing room. Ariana yanked the pearl necklace off her neck and took off the gown she was wearing.

Then, she threw all of the clothes in her closet that were purchased according to Evelyn's style into a cardboard box.

"Ms. Torrey! What are you doing…" Martha was flabbergasted.

Ariana glanced at the row of perfume bottles lined up on a rack in the dressing room. Those were all fragrances Evelyn once liked wearing.

With a loud crash, Ariana swept all of the perfume bottles onto the floor, shattering them to pieces instantly.

Martha was completely taken aback by Ariana's actions.

"Mrs. Jenkins, please let me through."

Ariana's cold voice rang in Martha's ears. Before she could even react, Ariana had carried the cardboard box and went downstairs.

At the Torrey residence's backyard, Ariana poured the contents of the cardboard box into a huge steel drum. A fire burned fiercely in the drum once Ariana had doused the items with gasoline and tossed a lighted lighter in.

There was an icy look in her eyes as she stared at the roaring fire.

The heavens gave her a chance to start all over again. This time, Ariana refused to be a substitute for Evelyn.

At the thought of that, Ariana took her phone out and dialed her close friend, Selena Lovegood's number.

"Selena, I'd like to request the newspaper agency owned by your family to help me with writing a news article. One that will go viral on the Internet within an hour. I'll pay for their services."

"Huh? Aren't you getting engaged to Brian Lodge tonight? You don't have to let the whole country know about your engagement just because you're so excited about it, right?"

"I'm regretting it now."

"Regretting what? You're regretting not having told everyone sooner that the two of you are getting engaged?"

"I mean I'm breaking off the engagement."

"You're breaking off the engagement? Stop pulling my leg! Anyone else might want to do that but not you! We're talking about the Brian Lodge you've been longing for and trying so hard to please for three months!"

Selena finally realized the severity of the situation when she did not get a response to her remarks. "You… You're being serious?"

The next day, the news of the lady of the Torrey family calling off her engagement on the day they were announcing it went viral on the Internet.

This hot topic sparked numerous discussions among the online community. Almost the entirety of Gleaston knew Ariana had fallen head over heels for Brian.

Yet, Ariana had suddenly changed her mind and decided to call it off on the day they were getting engaged. The engagement party hosted by the Lodge family and the Torrey family turned into an utter joke, especially with the Lodges being put in an awkward, embarrassing position.

"Ariana Torrey from the Torrey family, reveals that Brian Lodge, the CEO of Lodge Co., has sexual dysfunction!

"She's decided to break off the engagement since she's concerned about the potential issues and disagreement that may arise in their marital life. She feels sorry for the Lodges but hopes to have their understanding!"

Inside a private room of a club, Isaac Schofield stared at his phone and grinned broadly. "Is this for real, Brian? You have sexual dysfunction? How come I didn't know about that? Hurry and take off your pants so I can take a look!"

Isaac reached his hand toward Brian's pants, but Brian slapped his hand away. He had a dark look on his face. "Which newspaper agency released the article?"

"Which agency? It's the one owned by the Lovegood family. You have no idea how many platforms the Lovegoods have released this article on! Rumor has it that they've printed 100 thousand copies of newspapers with this article as the headline.

"The entire online community now knows that the CEO of Lodge Co. has issues in that regard. It's become the number one topic trending online. Do you want to check it out yourself?"

Isaac showed his phone screen to Brian mischievously. Brian's expression darkened even more. He gripped the glass in his hand tightly. His eyes reflected a menacing light. "Ariana Torrey did this?"

"Isn't that a given? Ariana and Selena Lovegood are best friends who grew up together. Have you done something to upset Ariana? Otherwise, why would she spread this rumor about you on the Internet when she's so obsessed with you?"

Just then, Emily entered the room and began a little hesitantly, "Mr. Lodge…"

With a grim look on his face, Brian asked, "Have you checked? Where's Ariana Torrey?"

"It seems… She's in the room next door."