Daughter-in-law Strikes Harder

Ariana, who is still identifying as Aria, had returned to check on her sister in Italy, whose vitals were improving to stability already, and could move her body parts too according to signals.

She also met with the foreign investigator to whom she had paid lots of money days before, and presented evidence that she had against Eva to speed up investigations against her. He teamed up with some of his group back in California, who did most of the remaining research covertly.

Her health condition seemed to be deteriorating too with an increase in pain by the day, which put her in fear that her sister might not wake up soon enough to see her. And with all those burdens in her heart, she missed Dalton too even if she wouldn’t accept it.

The fear that she might never see him again also clung to her heart, and caused an ache that refused to go even if she tried to wade the thoughts away. It brought near tears to her face too because it was too sad for her to handle the turmoil her life was going through. She just had to be strong.

Back at the Millers mansion were extravagant and opulent preparations for the anniversary which was being supervised by Eleanor Miller, who was now officially working with Hamilton to get evidence against Ariana.

There was nothing more that pleased her heart so much than the thought that, she would end up humiliating and jailing the one person who had a thorn in their neck. Even if she was appalled and disgusted to know that Aria’s twin had succeeded in fooling everyone in the family, she had to work on it to make sure that Ariana never recovers from her truth to everyone.

She didn’t bother to tell her daughters because she knew that they were probably going to oppose, but carried Hailey along with the information, whom she was so sure would work with her.

And the perfect place that Eleanor thought would be the best way was at the Miller’s 60th anniversary where everyone would be present, where she would be able to paint the story perfectly as she liked and make sure to get Aria a long prison sentence.

Impersonation, physical and mental assault, theft, slush funds, and everything possible were all that Eleanor was planning to sue her for.

~°•°~

Collin was so surprised to see Dalton appear before him to ask about his wife’s whereabouts, without the usual forceful act or domineering demeanor that he usually puts on.

It was a normal man-to-man meeting that went smoothly, and Dalton understood when Collin told him genuinely that there was no way Aria would have told him, knowing well that he could still come to ask him. Dalton left shortly afterward together with Alex with a broken heart.

It slapped Collin hard in the face that he could never tell anyone his findings, even if he wanted to tell Dalton the real truth about who Aria really was. It was now clear and glaring to him that whom the family knew as Aria, was different from the person he had known as Ariana. They just shared the same face.

And the realization of that truth that Collin had learned, pained his heart so much. He was so sad to know that the lady he loved was suffering, because she was pretending to be the person that she wasn’t for reasons he had not yet found out.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

The burden increased greatly and weighed on him, the more he thought of the fact that she was now in love with her fake husband. That Dalton seemed to now care about her too much. That she was suffering and was refusing to acknowledge and tell anyone about it. And the fact she was carrying too much burden on her own and there was nothing he could do to help her.

Even with the news that Dalton had just told him, he was still helpless because there was probably nothing he could do if Dalton couldn’t find her so easily. He had never imagined that there would ever be a person in his life that would constantly put him in a spot, and shift him from his comfort zone.

The one person he would worry endlessly about and try to help but would still end up doing nothing to save the situation. The very one person that he couldn’t have even if he longed for her.

It was too sad for him. Too sad.

And before the night ended, he received an email from someone who was no one other than her. It was a Thank you and a Sorry message to him from her. Reading the message over and over again broke Collin even more and welled tears down his eyes.

‘How could her life be so sad?’

..•~•….•~•..

Ariana, who was shuffling between the intensive care home where her sister was recovering and the foreign investigators while trying not to get caught by anyone, had compiled a list of media companies that she was willing to air the exclusive news about Eva too. And she planned it for the big 60th event that was about celebrating Miller’s corporation.

She was sorry that she planned something like that against their family to bring them down, because of the only person that had worked so hard to build their empire to what it was.

The only person she most cared about in the family regardless of how part of their past had been. The one person she was madly in love with was driving her crazy.

‘Could she end their love story in such an abrupt manner?’

And she felt so much guilt for loving someone like that, when she just wanted to take revenge on her sister’s behalf. She felt so sad that the story seemed to finally be ending, with a different picture rather than the ones she had painted. She never knew that she could fall in love for the first time in her life, and that it would end up being the man she had always loathed.

That he would be her first everything, and that it was going to be so sad to get over him. That it was going to be so hard to stay away and not see him in her life again, and that she for the first time wanted to live for someone. That she now had the will to live and love. The will to hold on to something.

‘What would she ever do to redeem everything?’

Extremely confused and numbed by intense pain and toxic self-blame, Dalton sat in his office all day without leaving or doing anything. He didn’t reply to anyone, take care of any office affairs or even see Alex. He just remained in his office for two days straight lying on his couch without going home.

‘How could he?’

Every inch of his heart was filled with the thoughts of her, and every corner in his room and house lingered of her touch and appearance. Being home felt haunted to him because she wasn’t anywhere around him, and it made it worse for him to know that she was probably never coming back to him.

Never would he have thought that he could fall in love with her so much, that everything about her affected him physically, emotionally and mentally. So much so that he was greatly troubled about her and couldn’t do anything to help his situation.

She was dying and yet he couldn’t find her anywhere.

He could never forgive himself. He would bear the guilt-cross with him forever if anything happened to her.

Wallowing in his sadness and state of turbulence for days while Alex did the finding, Dalton tried to call Ariana’s phone number so many times in a day hoping that she would just switch it on once. So that he would know that she was alive.

It was the only way that he could keep himself together, rather than having to deal with the imaginations that had run wild in his head. He could bear them. The thought of living without her and not seeing her anymore in his life. He could not handle the thoughts because they were too saddening.

It was already a pity that it took long for him to realize that he loved her, and much more forlorn to him to just realize that their time together might be limited together. Especially for the fact that she hid almost everything about her from him. He had seen the signs but he couldn’t read them.

‘How selfish of you, Dalton. How stupid and foolish of you. So much for claiming to be an intelligent man. You lack wits. You lack human feelings. You are cruel,’ Dalton’s mind whispered to him continuously.

Alex couldn’t handle seeing his boss in that manner and tried to work twice as hard to find Ariana, and also with him handling every expense that needed to be sent to Eleanor for the anniversary which was days away. Everything was a mess. But of all things, he wanted his boss to be fine again.

And it happened. She called to meet him after the fourth day had passed.