Chapter 3
Eric, looking flustered, gently held Ariana’s face and quickly said, “Mandy and I are just trying to complete the task as soon as we can! I swear, if I, Eric, ever betray you, Ariana, may I get hit by a car and die when I step outside.”
Ariana abruptly placed her hand over Eric’s mouth.
She thought to herself, just one more time, just one more time to trust. Eric.
Noticing that Ariana was no longer pressing the issue, Eric finally felt relieved and embraced her even more tightly.
“Sweetheart, I can’t live without you!”
As dawn neared, Eric was nowhere to be found.
Ariana quietly made her way downstairs and, just as she suspected, discovered Eric in the first–floor guest room.
Inside, Eric was kneeling and tenderly holding Mandy’s foot, a frown on his face
“You’re injured and didn’t say anything?”
Mandy’s knees were marked with bruises from their passionate encounter.
Feeling bashful, Mandy averted her gaze, her nightgown slipping off her shoulder without intention..
“Mr. Gibson, you were quite intense.”
Chapter 3
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Eric paused while applying the ointment, a look of desire flickering in hist
eyes.
He stood, gently lifting Mandy’s chin to meet her eyes.
“Don’t let Ariana see you again. She’s my boundary!”
In the following moment, Eric bent down to kiss her, his other hand expertly moving toward the edge of Mandy’s dress, his fingers playful.
Mandy’s breath caught abruptly, her cheeks reddening as she lifted her head to respond to his kiss.
“Mr. Gibson, Ms. Harlan is still upstairs.”
“She took sleeping pills. She won’t wake up.”
They fell onto the bed together.
Ariana froze in the doorway, her pupils constricting and her mind going blank.
Her body shook uncontrollably.
Eric had given her sleeping pills.
Yet he had just promised he would never betray her.
Ariana drifted back to the second–floor bedroom in a daze, sitting with her eyes wide open until dawn.
Early in the morning, Eric returned and spoke to a friend outside the door.
“Once Mandy confirms her pregnancy in a month, I’ll marry her.
“She stayed with me despite having no title or status, and now she’s
carrying my child. It’s only fair to give her a wedding as compensation, right?
“I’ve given you the title of Mrs. Gibson and all my love. Isn’t that enough?”
Ariana stood inside the door, biting her lip hard, her fingers clenching tighter and tighter.
She could taste blood spreading across her lips.
Just then, her phone rang.
“Ms. Harlan, Mr. Harlan has fully recovered. Are you certain you want to keep the child a secret from Mr. Gibson and erase all traces of you and
the child?”
“I’m certain.”
“Okay, the arrangements will be finalized in a month, and we will organize your and the child’s departure.”
A month was all she needed to set everything in order.
After that, Ariana and Oliver Harlan would cease to exist in this world.
She thought, “Eric, you always feared losing me. Now you truly have—for good!”
“You’ll never find out that you once had a child.”
Yet, Ariana never imagined that a month later, Mandy would become a persistent obstacle, lodged between her and Eric.
Now, she and Oliver were stuck here, unable to ever leave.
For the next two weeks, every night before bed, Eric ensured Ariana took
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sleeping pills.
Then he would vanish into the night.
Ariana was aware that he had gone to Mandy’s bedroom on the lower floor.
Several times, Ariana quietly made her way downstairs, barefoot in the dead of night, and stood outside the bedroom door, listening to the fervent sounds emanating from within.
