Se connecterArielleDarius’s eyes widened. “That’s what it says, right?”Somehow, I nodded. What the fuck?“Why does she want to apologize?” I asked. He shrugged. My thoughts spiraled. Why would she?I mean—she had kidnapped me. She had mistreated me since the day I started working at her diner. She had nearly killed me and landed both of my friends in the hospital simply because she couldn’t let things go.There was no forgiveness in that.Besides, Sylvia was never the type to suddenly change. She was definitely manipulating us. She thought she was. “I’ll just cancel—““No,” I cut him off sharply. “Tell her we agree.”His brows furrowed. “You sure?”“Yes,” I handed the phone back to him. “Tell her we’ll see her at her diner at six tomorrow.”His eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure? This is Sylvia. We can obviously tell she’s lying.”I nodded. “I know. But I just want to hear what she has to say.”She might know something I needed. And if Ryder heard about this, he might just piss himself.I
Arielle Ryder smiled at me before leaning forward. I was so ready to finally hear the truth. “If you want to know the details,” he said slowly. “Set up a meeting with your mother. Tell her you want to speak with her.”My face remained. My mother. “How..how did you know that?” I asked, my eyes narrowing. He sighed heavily and turned toward the window, the sunlight catching the faint smile on his face. “I was there with you and Darius’s mother at Cedar’s kitchen.”My eyes widened. “You saw my mother?”He nodded. Knowing Leo’s name was definitely easy for him, so knowing Darius’s mother was way easier. His parents partnered with my father. “I also saw how you reacted when she tried to touch you.”My jaw tightened. “Go easy on her,” he added. “She’s doing her best.”I looked away. Why was he defending Vivienne? “She’s entirely different from your father.”I swallowed hard. The silence that followed felt heavier than before. Why did every answer I wanted somehow lead back to my
Arielle A laugh escaped me the moment he said it. Was he nuts? His twin? “You have a twin?” Darius asked. “Yes,” Ryder replied. “He drives an X3.” My mouth fell open. “He drives an X3?” Ryder nodded. “And it wasn’t black. It was blue.” He paused before adding. “We bought them at the same time on our twenty-ninth birthday. Last week.” My eyes slowly widened. “But you look exactly alike.” “That’s usually how twins work.” I stared at him. Whoa, what the fuck? I turned toward Darius. “Don't tell me you actually believe him.” Darius said nothing, but his eyes did. “It makes so much sense, though.” He believed him. I dragged a hand through my hair in frustration and faced the window. I couldn’t believe I was standing there trying to figure out whether the man I’d seen outside my house was Ryder or his twin. “What the fuck am I even doing here?” I muttered. Darius continued questioning him, but I barely listened. It was too much to process. “I’m done
Arielle “Do you—no. No way.” I shook my head, refusing to believe what my mind was already telling me.“No. There is no way. That can’t be possible—““It can be possible.”My eyes stayed on Ryder as he slowly rose from his chair and walked toward the bars. “It can actually be very possible,” Ryder continued. “You have so many enemies, Arielle Chelsea Hills.”My eyes widened. I stumbled backward and nearly lost my balance. Darius immediately rushed forward and caught me before I could hit the floor. “What the fuck…” I struggled to breathe. “How did you…what’s…”The words refused to come. I quickly pulled Darius by the ear and whispered. “My father sent him.”Darius looked at me, his expression turning serious. “Are you sure?”I nodded, still trembling. Ryder had said my name exactly the way my father always did. There was no way he could know it unless he had some connection to my family. Darius held me back onto my feet before turning toward Ryder. “So Leonard sent you?”Ryder me
Arielle “That’s impossible.” No. No way. “I saw that son of a bitch,” I explained. “I saw him standing beside a black car outside my house. He looked directly at me.” “Are you sure it was Ryder?” He pressed. That question pushed me over the edge. I jumped to my feet, throwing my hands in the air. “Why does no one believe me?” I asked, laughing through the frustration. “You of all people should believe me. You’re my boyfriend, you’re supposed to believe me.” “Babe,” he said calmly. “Sit down. Let’s try to understand this first.” I stared at him for a moment before reluctantly sitting. “Okay.” Darius closed the file on his desk and walked over to me. “I know I saw Ryder only once, but I’m very certain it was him. I wanted to have him locked up immediately in my house after I saw him. But he told me he’d come to discuss something I needed to hear. Then he said I could lock him up for all he cared for whenever he was done.” I frowned. “I still don’t understand.
Arielle When Ryder told me I was closer to him than I thought, my mind immediately began racing. That day, he had taken a picture of me. I still had no idea who the picture was for, but I was certain it wasn’t for Sylvia.He had looked at me differently the entire time. Like he knew me personally. Like he didn’t want me to get hurt. But at the time, I had been too angry to pay attention to the details. I mean, why had he chosen to save Tiffany? Why had he lied?Because he wanted Sylvia to believe he was following her orders.“Wait—hold on,” Tessa closed her eyes briefly. “You’re saying he’s here for you? Why?”My jaw tightened. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out.”I had to inform Darius. Before I could say anything else, Summer suddenly opened the door. “A car’s coming.”All three of us turned toward her. My heart immediately sped up. “Who is it?” Tiffany asked. I rushed to the kitchen window. “I don’t know.”We waited as the car slowly pulled into the driveway. Relief wa
Arielle Everyone turned to Joel. “Uhm…” he said nervously. “Is something wrong?” Tessa asked.“Are you going to be there with us?” I asked again. Was he leading us on? I thought he was on our side. “Joel?” Tiffany called. “Uhh…no,” he said quietly. “I can’t.”“Why?” I asked. “He…uhh…fired me
Arielle Blake. The same Blake who kidnapped her. The same Blake who tried to kill me. I wiped my eyes, seriously wishing I hadn’t seen that name. How could she still be in contact with him after everything he did? Oh dear. That must have been why she hid her phone two days ago. I wanted to c
Arielle I turned back when I heard the door open, signaling that someone had just walked in. Then I saw Joel. My eyes widened. He waved from afar as he walked toward the reception desk. I couldn’t believe it. Joel bailed me out. He was the last person I expected. “You’re free to go,” the offic
Arielle Tiffany turned back and went silent. “It’s me,” I tapped my chest. “Arielle”. “Oh”. She uttered flatly. “Yeah,” I sighed. “Tiffany, I swear I’m ready to tell you anything you want to know. I’m never hiding anything from–“ “Let’s not talk about that here.” She







