CHAPTER 392
No...Arianna...thats not..."
"It feels like there are no boundaries between you two. I don’t like it. I don’t like that you drop everything and go running to her every time she calls. But when I call, I’m left waiting. I’m left wondering........”
Her breath caught as she fought to hold back the tears. She couldn’t break down. Not yet. Not until she had said everything she needed to say.
"Why did you help her get a job at my company?" Arianna’s voice cracked, her pain raw and unmistakable.
"You knew how she did everything she could to tear me down—how she publicly humiliated me, took credit for my work, made it all about herself. She’s done nothing but stab me in the back. And yet, you used your power to give her that job, your so-called 'friend,' without a single thought about how I would feel, having to see her every single day."
Xander’s eyes burned with the pain of her words, but he couldn’t look away. He deserved every ounce of the anguish she was giving him.
“You keep telling me, over and over, that it’s not what I think. But if it’s not... then what am I supposed to believe?” Arianna’s voice trembled, the raw emotion seeping through her words.
“You left me at the altar, Xander, two years ago. Was it because of her?”
Her question hung in the air, the silence that followed deafening. Xander’s chest tightened, his body frozen in place as he processed her words. His stomach churned with guilt, and his throat burned with regret.
Xander closed his eyes, the weight of the memory crashing down on him like a tidal wave. The image of Arianna at the altar, her face full of disbelief and heartbreak, was as vivid as if it had happened yesterday. He could still feel the sting of the words he hadn’t spoken, the cold distance he had put between them. He had promised himself he would never hurt her, but he had. And now, two years later, the guilt consumed him.
Taking a shaky breath, he opened his eyes, his gaze falling to the table. His fingers clenched the edge, desperate for something to ground him, to stop the whirlwind of emotions tearing him apart.
“Arianna,” he began, his voice thick with frustration,
“it wasn’t because of Harmony. She’s just my best friend. I swear, I never looked at her the way I looked at you.”
Arianna let out a bitter laugh, her disbelief cutting through him like a knife.
“Really?” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
Xander’s chest tightened, his frustration rising, but he had to make her understand. He had to make her see the truth, the whole truth.
“I walked away that day,” he continued, his voice shaky with emotion,
“because I thought you cheated on me. I thought you were betraying me with someone else. I saw you with him, Arianna, and I—” He stopped himself, his throat tightening, the words stuck inside.
".... But I was wrong. I was a coward. And I’ll regret that decision for the rest of my life.”
He looked at her then, his eyes raw and desperate.
“Please, Arianna, you have to understand. It wasn’t about Harmony. It was never about her. It was about me—my insecurities, my mistakes. And I need you to believe that I love you. I always have. But I messed it up. I need to fix it. Please.”
Arianna’s brow furrowed in confusion as she stared at Xander.
“What are you talking about? Betrayed you? And who’s him?”
Xander’s eyes darted away for a moment, his voice barely above a whisper.
“The night before the wedding… I saw you. You went inside a room with one of Simon’s business associates. And I thought… I thought…”
Arianna’s chest tightened at his words, her voice cutting through the tension.
“You thought I was sealing the deal for my father…using my body.”
Xander didn’t answer. His silence was all the confirmation she needed, his eyes filled with regret but offering no defence.
Arianna’s heart clenched, her anger rising.
“You never bothered confronting me about it? If you’d stayed just ten more minutes, you would’ve seen me walk back out that door. But no, you just left me there at the altar.”
Her breath hitched, a mix of pain and disbelief.
“How did you even know I’d be at that hotel? How did you know where to find me?”
A shadow crossed Xander’s face, shame creeping in.
“Harmony was in town,” Xander continued, his voice tinged with shame.
“She told me, that you’d be meeting with one of his business associates. It was just part of how you worked....”
Arianna let out a hollow laugh, her bitterness echoing in the quiet space between them.
“Harmony… of course. And you believed her? You came to ‘prove’ she was right?”
Xander flinched, the weight of her words hitting him harder than he expected. He had never fully understood the consequences of his blind trust in Harmony, but now, standing in front of Arianna, he could feel the full force of the damage it had caused.
Arianna’s voice was tight with frustration, each word cutting through the silence.
“Did you ever stop to ask yourself how Harmony knew about that? How did she know about that meeting? Did you even question where that information came from?”
Xander opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. His mind was racing, but the guilt weighed heavily on him, suffocating him. His anger, his hurt, had clouded his judgment, and now, in this moment, it was clear how wrong he had been.
“I—I didn’t,” he said quietly, his voice rough with regret.
“I was too angry, too upset, and I didn’t think. I just… I just believed her.”
Arianna’s eyes flashed with hurt, and she held his gaze, the weight of everything finally crashing down.
“The man you saw me with?” Her voice was steady, but it trembled with the force of the emotions she had kept hidden for so long.
“He called me, Xander. He said he had important news about Charlie… about a doctor who could help him. All I could think about was Charlie. That’s why I went there. But when I stepped into that room… he tried to assault me.”
Her breath hitched as she forced herself to continue, the memories clawing at her, but she needed to make him understand. She needed him to hear her.
“I had no choice. I used the injection I always carry with me. The same one I used on you on our wedding day.”
Xander’s eyes went wide, his throat closing up as the weight of her words slammed into him. He felt sick with guilt, but it wasn’t just guilt—it was the realization of how blind he had been, how wrong his assumptions had been.
Arianna, fighting back tears, steadied herself and continued.
“Yes, Simon always wanted me to use my body for his business deals, but I never did. I kept those injections with me to protect myself, to keep myself safe from men like him.” She paused, her breath shallow.
“I cried that night, Xander. I cried because if I hadn’t gotten away if I hadn’t run... how would I have ever faced you? I had promised my virginity to you.”
Her voice cracked, but she fought it.
“But I told myself it wasn’t my fault. You’d understand. You’d know what happened, and we’d be okay.” Arianna’s voice hardened, the bitterness lacing her words.
“But when I tried to call you that morning before the wedding… you kept disconnecting me. And then you left me at the altar. You walked away, Xander.”
Her voice trembled with the weight of her words, her heart breaking with every memory.
“Now I know. Tell me, Xander—was Harmony with you that morning? Was she there when you left me?”
Xander froze, his breath catching in his chest, the question hanging in the air. He didn’t answer. He couldn’t.
Arianna’s eyes flashed with anger, her hands clenched into fists.
“Of course, she was there. She was probably helping the love of her life deal with a traitor like me.” She leaned forward, her voice shaking with fury.
“But tell me, Xander,” Arianna’s voice was thick with accusation, her words slicing through the air.
“Why did she tell you I was with a man? Didn’t she know you would never marry me? And that the plan you two concocted to get me pregnant was doomed to fail?”
"Huh...What...?"
"You both thought you could control everything, didn't you? You thought you'd use me as part of some twisted scheme, but now look where we are."
Xander’s head snapped up at her words, his confusion written across his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, his phone rang. The ringtone shattered the tense silence between them.
Arianna’s gaze dropped to the table, where his phone sat, the caller ID flashing
“Bunny”. The name made her stomach turn, but she forced herself to look at it, feeling a mix of anger, betrayal, and disgust rising inside her.
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