If Mrs Nelson cared to pay attention to Ari’s emotions, then she would have noticed that Ari was calling Noah as ‘your son’ and not as ‘my husband’, but Mrs Nelson was too arrogant and conceited to think that there was anything wrong with Ari.

Instead, she thought that she had taught a good lesson to Ari and the latter had been suppressed by her. Mrs. Nelson was very satisfied with Ari lowering her head in front of her, as she was very dissatisfied with her, it was only by putting Ari down did she feel relaxed.

“It’s a good thing that you understand,” she sneered arrogantly, her brown eyes filled with contempt for Ari. “Remember to apologise to my son when he comes back and stay home tomorrow, we need to go and apologise to Ryan as well, after all, you have insulted and wounded him, it’s only right for you to apologise to him.”

Ari did not agree nor did she refuse, she simply looked at Mrs. Nelson who was ordering her around before limping past her. It did not matter what Mrs. Nelson wanted her to do, now that she had decided to leave, there was no need for her to lower her head and continue listening to her mother-in-law.

She limped past Mrs. Nelson without saying anything, when Mrs. Nelson saw that Ari did not say anything she frowned and shouted, “What is the meaning of this? Who are you showing that long face to? If not for you, my son’s life would not have been ruined.”

Ari did not say anything, instead, she increased her pace and climbed the stairs as fast as she could with her limp foot.

“This woman! I must have committed plenty of sins to have her in my life,” Mrs Nelson spat with a twisted expression, showing her dissatisfaction towards Ari.

Glynn noticed how upset her mother was with Ari and asked, “Why don’t you let her divorce my brother, mom? I would rather like it if Ariel was my sister-in-law.”

When Mrs. Nelson heard her daughter’s words, her eyes flashed before she calmed her emotions and said, “What do you know? She was chosen by your grandfather, and your grandpa likes her more than Ariel. If she divorces your brother, then you can wait and watch your grandpa breaking Noah’s legs.”

She shook her head as she sighed with discontentment, “I don’t know what kind of magic this woman had done on your grandfather. He cannot see the goodness in Ariel, but instead, he is hung on supporting this witch.”

Glynn snorted and rolled her eyes while lying on the couch. She said, “Grandpa is getting old, and he cannot see through her. Sooner or later, he will regret suppressing Noah and getting him married to that woman.”

“Hush now, don’t blame your grandpa. It’s all because of that woman.”

Inside her room, which she shared with Noah, Ari walked with a lost expression. She dropped the bag that she was holding in her hand on the ground before slumping on the rug. Even though she climbed the stairs as fast as she could, she heard everything that Mrs Nelson and Glynn said to one another.

Ari had thought that the medicinal meals, massages and all the things that she had done for the two women would have warmed their hearts but ——

“Turns out I am a witch in their eyes,” Ari laughed, but as she dropped her head, she found drops of tears on the back of her hand. What did she do for the three years? Ari could not help but question once again.

Her hands itched wanting to reach the bottom drawer of the cabinet, but Ari did not give in to her instincts this time. Not only because she knew that it was a waste of time, but also because she needed her sanity intact for the moment.

Though she thought that, her thoughts got the best of her.

Her inhales and exhales got faster in an unstable rhythm, and her hand reached her hair before she pulled it hard. The noise in her head was so loud that she wanted to bang her head on the floor and shatter her head before ending everything for once and all.

“Shut up!” She screamed at the voices in her head before reaching for her purse. Though the voices in her head did not quieten, Ari did not let them rule her, or more like she suppressed them. “I am fine, I am fine… I am f*cking fine.”

Her hands shook as she dialled the number of her lawyer friend, Danny. The two of them studied in the same college, but he selected law while she chose the medical line.

Though the two of them had talked only a couple of times in the past three years, she knew that Danny would help her, as he was not a fan of Noah either.

The call was connected and picked up after three rings.

“Hello stranger,” Danny’s cheerful voice came from the other side. It was as if they had never stopped talking, this was the one thing that she liked about Danny. He stood by his friends no matter what.

Ari gulped a few gulps of air as she calmed her thundering heart.

She did not want Danny to hear her stutter or panic. Don’t get him wrong, he was the kind of friend who would fly from Brord which was ten hours away from Lonest if his friend was in a problem, it was her problem. She did not want anyone to see her like this —— a crying, blubbering mess.

Maybe it was because she grew up catering to everyone’s needs, Ari forgot that she had her own needs and stopped reaching out to others. As she grew up, it became a habit of hers to hide everything.

Or perhaps it was her inability to form close connections with others, as she was detached from everyone and their source of happiness.

“Dan… I want a divorce,” she told her friend, hoping that he would hear the silent plea in her voice that she could not say out loud.