CHAPTER 108
Early the next morning, Arianna woke up from a rare dreamless night. She had slept deeply and peacefully, only waking with the dawn light.
She sighed in satisfaction, preparing to stretch, but as soon as she moved her hand, it brushed against something firm.
A frown appeared on her face, and she subconsciously touched it again. Realization struck her, and she opened her eyes abruptly.
Before her was Xander’s chest, her hands resting on his abdominal muscles.
Arianna pulled her hands back as if she had touched something scalding, hiding them behind her immediately. Despite that, her earlobes flushed a deep red.
At that moment, Arianna realized she had been using Xander as a large pillow. Her head was on his arm, and she was hugging him tightly, taking full advantage of his presence.
Her cheeks reddened.
She remembered going to sleep in a decent posture, fully aware of maintaining her space. How had she ended up wrapped around Xander?
She had worried that Xander might take advantage of her during the night, but the opposite had happened—she had become the one clinging to him.
If Xander woke up and saw her like this, he would surely make fun of her again.
Arianna's pupils trembled as she looked up. Seeing that Xander was still asleep, she held her breath and gently freed herself from his arms.
The moment her feet touched the ground, guilt washed over her, and she couldn't bear to stay in the master bedroom any longer. Grabbing her coat, she immediately crept out of the room.
Once the door closed, the man on the bed rolled over without opening his eyes, but a slight smile played on his lips.
…
Arianna could only suppress her guilt after washing her face and brushing her teeth in the guest bedroom's bathroom.
All of a sudden, she felt that she was shooting herself in the foot by promising to take care of Xander while simultaneously wanting to punish him.
Her actions were just too naive.
That would not do! She had to calm herself first and figure out some countermeasures before dealing with him again!
It just so happened that it was time for her to go to the hospital and visit Charlie. After changing her clothes and picking up her bag, she exited the guest room and left the villa without looking back.
Upon getting into the car, Arianna first went to a supermarket to buy some fruits and daily necessities. She then took out her cell phone and sent Charlie a message to ask him if he needed anything.
Charlie did not reply, probably because he was busy.
With bags of various sizes in her hands, Arianna went back to the car and headed to the hospital.
Upon arriving, she took the elevator as usual and walked to the door of the ward. When there was no response after she knocked, she decided to push it open.
"Charlie, I—" Arianna called out softly, but the scene inside left her reeling in shock!
The room was completely empty. The blanket and pillows on the hospital bed were arranged neatly, as if no one had ever slept there.
Arianna frowned, a bad feeling surfacing in her heart. She walked in, placed everything she had bought on the sofa, then turned and headed toward the nurse’s station.
She visited so often that the nurses knew her well. As soon as they saw her, they greeted her enthusiastically, "Ms. Johnson, here to visit your brother again?"
One nurse then realized something was amiss and said, "Wait a sec, your brother was discharged the day before yesterday. Why are you here again?"
“Discharged the day before yesterday?”
Arianna's expression changed drastically. “Who handled the discharge procedure for him?”
The nurse noticed Arianna's puzzled expression but didn't dare to ask anything further. She immediately checked the records and replied,
“Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were the ones who went through the formalities for his discharge. They were the ones who brought him back too. Weren’t you aware of that?”
Mr. and Mrs. Johnson …were none other than Arianna's parents.
Although Charlie's
health was gradually improving, he had not yet met the appropriate standards to be discharged and his body was still very delicate. He might as well stay within the safe environment of a hospital if there was difficulty in taking good care of him back home.
Moreover, she knew first-hand how her parents treated her and Charlie.
She did not believe that they really were so eager to bring Charlie home!
Arianna clenched her hands suddenly, and her eyes darkened completely.
The nurse saw Arianna's expression and could not help but exclaim, “Are you alright, Ms. Johnson? Charlie will be fine, won’t he?”
Charlie had been living in the hospital for several years already. As a handsome young man with a mild disposition, his ailing heart drew increased sympathy from the nurses who had been with him and took care of him. They were all just as concerned for him.
“Thanks for your concern. Charlie will be fine, and I… I’ll make sure nothing will happen to him. Don’t worry,” Arianna said slowly, comforting both herself and the nurse.
She ran out of the hospital at once and hailed a taxi. After getting in, she provided the driver with the address to the Johnson residence.
On the way, Arianna took out her cell phone and dialed her father Simon’s number. No one picked up, and the same happened when she called her mother Margaret. She then called the home number, but it went unanswered as well.
She sneered, recognizing her parents' way of asserting control over her.
After she had been married off and the Johnson's obtained her dowry money, they acted as if she was the daughter that never existed. Despite being stigmatized and slandered in the headlines, they remained indifferent and never even sent her a text to comfort her, let alone give her a call.
It was not until later that they started calling her and sending her texts to ask for money, probably because they had squandered all the money from earlier. She ignored them completely.
To worsen matters, they didn't spend a single penny of that dowry on Charlie!
Why should she care about them when they were so heartless?
She couldn't keep being their cash cow and tied to them for the rest of her life. They weren't fit to be parents, and therefore didn't deserve her support.
Arianna gripped her phone tightly and closed her eyes.
About an hour later, the car pulled up to the gate of the Johnson residence. She settled the fare and stepped out of the vehicle.
