Chapter 369 Whether You Live or Die, It Has Nothing to Do with Me!
Ariana shook her head. "I'm good, Sharon. Just didn't sleep well. What's up?"
Could her eyes really be that puffy from just a bad night's sleep? Sharon knew Ariana wasn't being straight with her, but she decided to let it slide. After all, everyone had things they preferred not to share with others; pushing would just be rude.
"I want to switch up the catalyst for the experiment. Can you check if we can test these this afternoon?" Sharon said, handing Ariana a list of catalysts.
Ariana glanced at it and picked out two. "These two should work. The others I've tried before, and they’re pretty useless; the reaction time is way too long."
Sharon nodded. "Cool, let's go with your picks."
After they hashed out the catalyst stuff, Sharon was about to head back to her station but then whispered, "If you're dealing with something, you can talk to me. Don't let it mess with your work."
Ariana's eyes flickered, and her fingers twisted nervously. "Got it, Sharon."
Maybe Sharon's words at lunch hit home because Ariana was way more focused in the afternoon, not as spaced out as she was earlier. After switching the catalyst, the experiment went a lot smoother, and they wrapped up that step before the day ended.
After finishing the experiment report, Sharon and Ariana left work together. On the way to the elevator, Ariana's phone kept buzzing. She declined call after call until she finally turned it off.
Ariana tossed her now silent phone into her bag and looked up to find Sharon watching her.
Ariana's face tightened, and she tried to play it cool. "I have no idea who leaked my number, but I've been getting spammed all day."
Sharon suggested, "Just block them."
"Yeah, I'll do that. Oh, Sharon, I just remembered I forgot something. You go ahead," Ariana said.
Sharon lowered her eyes, a mix of emotions flashing in them. She wanted to help Ariana, but if Ariana wasn't ready to talk, there wasn't much she could do.
Sharon took the elevator to the basement, where Seb's car was already waiting. As soon as Sharon got in, Seb put down his documents and looked at her. "Something up? You seem off."
Surprised he noticed, Sharon was momentarily stunned, then shook her head. "It's nothing."
"Demetrius wants crab tonight, so I booked a table at a restaurant. We'll head there directly," Seb said.
"Sounds good," Sharon replied.
Meanwhile, Ariana went back to the now empty office. As soon as she turned her phone back on, the calls started flooding in again. After taking a deep breath, Ariana finally answered one.
"I've told you, stop calling me," Ariana said, her voice tense.
Blanca's voice came through, dripping with resentment. "Ariana, are you really that heartless? You won't even save your own brother's life? Do you want to drive me and your father to our graves?"
Blanca couldn't believe that Ariana only had forty thousand dollars in savings after all these years. Ariana had worked part-time jobs during college and received scholarships every year. How could she not have money? She just didn't want to save Orval.
Ariana found it laughable. Orval was the one who gambled and owed over a hundred thousand dollars, yet Blanca was accusing her of trying to drive them to their graves.
"I've already told you I have no money. What more do you want from me?" Ariana asked.
"If you have no money, you can sell a kidney. You’ve got two, so losing one won’t kill you. If you don’t want to do that, I’ve arranged a marriage for you back in the village. Just come back and get married," Blanca said, like it was the most normal thing in the world, not even considering Ariana's feelings.
To Blanca, saving Orval was worth any cost, even if it meant sacrificing Ariana.
After all, Orval was the Stout family's son.
Without Orval, Blanca and her husband Garth wouldn't be able to go on living.
A short laugh escaped Ariana's throat, quickly turning into loud laughter.
"What are you laughing at? Have you gone mad?" Blanca snapped, her voice full of anger.
After laughing enough, Ariana spoke in a low voice, "Do you know why I answered your call?"
"Why?" Blanca asked.
"Because I wanted to see just how disgusting your words could get. You didn’t disappoint me," Ariana said, her voice now hoarse from laughing too hard.
Her calm tone gave Blanca a bad feeling. "Ariana, what are you going to do?"
Ariana smiled slightly and said slowly, "Mom, this is the last time I'll call you that. The money I've given you over the years, plus the forty thousand dollars you took from me for Orval, let's call it even. From now on, we're done. Whether you live or die, it has nothing to do with me!"
The more Blanca listened, the more panicked she became. In the past, when she tricked Ariana out of money, Ariana would get angry but never mentioned cutting ties.
Blanca's voice, distorted by tension and anger, came through. "Ariana, have you lost your mind? I gave birth to you; your life is mine. How dare you talk about cutting ties? I don't agree!"
"Whether you agree or not doesn't matter to me. If I remember correctly, you're only forty-five. When you reach the legal age for support, I'll send you the required amount each month. Until then, I won't care about your life or death," Ariana said.
With that, Ariana hung up, removed her SIM card, broke it, and threw it in the trash, cutting off any chance for Blanca to harass her again. Blanca's words earlier made her realize that Blanca had never seen her as a daughter, but as a sacrificial lamb for Orval. Since Blanca cared so much about Orval, let her slowly pay off his gambling debt of hundreds of thousands of dollars!
After saying those words, Ariana felt a weight lift off her chest, feeling much lighter. From now on, she would no longer be bound by familial guilt. She should be happy. But for some reason, tears kept streaming down her face, no matter how much she wiped them away. From now on, she was truly alone, with no family.
Suddenly, a tissue appeared in front of her. Ariana turned in shock, her tear-filled eyes meeting Kirk's sympathetic gaze.
She took a step back, creating distance between them, and didn't take the tissue he offered. Kirk wasn't angry and smiled as he retracted the tissue.
Kirk didn't get angry but said, "No matter how difficult things are, they will pass."
Ariana didn't want to have too much interaction with him. She forced her tears back and said expressionlessly, "Thank you for your comfort, Mr. Marshall. I'll be leaving now."
"You're in such a bad state; I don't feel comfortable letting you go alone. Let me take you home," Kirk offered.
"There's no need. I'll be fine," Ariana insisted.
With that, Ariana grabbed her bag and left. However, Kirk didn't seem to take her refusal to heart and followed her at a distance, seemingly determined to see her home.
Ariana bit her lip and couldn't help but turn to him. "Mr. Marshall, I really don't need you to take me home. You're causing me trouble."
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