Maverick froze at once, but he quickly found what to say in his defense. “What’s wrong, Arie? Maverick absolved himself of the situation entirely. “You’re the one who asked me to stay. Did you forget that? Is this not what you meant?”
“What did I mean?” Ariel sat up with an icy expression. ‘I’ve been wide awake the whole time ever since we left the restaurant and I don’t remember inviting you into my house.”
Maverick was shocked. “Weren’t you…
“Wasn’t I what? Unconscious? I should’ve been even more soundly asleep so that you can do whatever you want with me, right?” Ariel fired back. “It’s been ten years. Do you think I’m still the gullible girl I once was?”
“Arie, you’ve misunderstood me.” Maverick. refused to give up. Ariel didn’t want to hold back any longer. “What did I misunderstand? Did you not drug me, or did you not plan on giving me to the property developer back then so that you could achieve your dream of climbing up the social circles?”
Maverick became serious as well at the mention of the incident back then. “You were there too. You saw what happened. You know that I didn’t agree with their request.”
“You didn’t agree verbally, but what did you do behind my back? I was lucky enough to run into a young doctor. That’s how I found out that what you made me drink was Millennivre, an alcohol that would make me drunk at once, and once I finally woke up from my drunken stupor, I would lose most of my memories of what happened. You went to such great lengths, didn’t you, Mr. Taylor?”
To Ariel, this incident not only represented the depravity of Maverick, but it was also a lesson she learned. She didn’t want to recall this dark past of hers and her pitiful past self whose pure heart had been stomped on that badly. Thus, she never attempted to bring this incident back to light.
However, as Maverick kept pushing her too far time and time again, she had no choice but to expose him for what he truly was. Otherwise, this would never end.
“So, you knew everything.” Now that the truth was out, Maverick stopped pretending. Instead, he began commenting in a snarky manner, “Here I was thinking that you were just upset that I neglected you and didn’t drink the alcohol on your behalf, so you ran off in a huff. The truth is, my wonderful Arie has always been so intelligent and cool-headed.”
His tone darkened toward the end of his last sentence and his aura became a lot more menacing. It was as if he had suddenly become an entirely different person. Maverick eyed Ariel as if he was a predator locking in on his prey.
Before Ariel could react, he threw himself at her and grabbed her hands before pinning her beneath him. Ariel smirked. “Are you going to force yourself onto me?”
“I’ll be gentler if you’re cooperative.”
Maverick dropped all pretense of being a gentleman. His eyes were now scheming and sinister. As soon as he finished speaking, he moved to bite down on her neck.
At the very next second, Maverick howled in pain before stumbling to the floor as he clutched his manhood. Ariel sat upright and adjusted her clothes before admiring the results of her decisive victory.
She scored a bullseye with her kick, and by now, Maverick was experiencing what was said to be the most painful thing a man could experience.
“Didn’t I tell you that I’m not the same girl I once was anymore? I’ve been doing Taekwondo for ten years now. I’ve also taken up boxing and karate. What gives you the guts to try and force yourself onto me, huh?”
Maverick was paying the price for not listening. Furious, he climbed up from the floor and grabbed her. “I’m the one who made you the accomplished woman you are now, so what’s the big deal if I want to get you in bed?”
Although he was ferocious and domineering, his strength was mere child’s play in Ariel’s eyes. She went along with it and struggled for a bit. Just as she was about to unleash her full power and shove him away, the door was suddenly flung open.
Bang!
The moment Danny rushed into the house, he saw Maverick grabbing Ariel and trying to force himself onto her. He saw red and immediately stormed over before pummeling Maverick with all his strength.
As a result, he hit Maverick in just the right spot and knocked him out at once.
“Get up! Don’t play dead!”
Danny was still clouded with rage. He grabbed Maverick off the floor and punched him at couple more times before realizing that Maverick had truly fainted..
Thus, he threw Maverick back down and yelled, “What a useless b*stard! What kind of a man are you if you can’t take a beating, huh?”
“Why are you here?”
Ariel’s voice rang out from behind, and it finally occurred to Danny that she was also in the house. He hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and making the difficult decision of telling the truth.
“Actually, I’ve been tailing you guys this whole time. I ran into Clara at noon today, but don’t take it the wrong way. I didn’t meet her on purpose! I only ran into her by chance, I swear! She told me that Rylantha and Maverick were teaming up to act against you, so I started following you. You can choose not to forgive me, Ariel, but I can’t stand by and watch you get hurt.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot lately. I love you so much. I can’t lose you. If you can’t look past. what happened, then go ahead and find someone new. You can love someone else if you want to. Once you’ve done that, and if you realize that no one else is good enough, you can come back at any time. I’ll always be here waiting for you.”
Ariel was overcome with emotion. The silly Danny that she fell in love with was back again.
“If you love me so much to the point where you’re willing to accept me sleeping with someone else, then why didn’t you show up later on? You’d become the hero if you came to my aid once Maverick got his way with me, wouldn’t you?”
“That’s too despicable. I wouldn’t be able to respect myself.” Danny shook his head. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Ariel teared up. What she loved was this silly, uncalculating side of him. Danny was afraid of pressuring her, so he grabbed Maverick and began dragging the limp body toward the door. “I’ll deal with this. You can sleep in peace. No one will disturb you, I promise.”
He had only taken two steps before Ariel stopped him with a hug from behind. “How am I supposed to fall asleep if you’re not with me, you silly goose?”
Danny’s eyes lit up with hope. He flung away Maverick’s leg and turned around. Then, he held Ariel’s arms tightly as he asked, “Have you forgiven me, hon?”
Ariel held her tears back as she nodded in all seriousness.
“I’m so happy! You’ve forgiven me, Ariel!”
Danny pulled her into a hug and spun around excitedly. When he stopped, he asked gingerly, “Hon… can I… kiss you?”
He was afraid that she was still unable to accept physical contact with him.
“Don’t say such unnecessary things!”
Ariel grabbed his collar and pulled him in for a kiss. Absence made the heart grow fonder, and the passion ignited between the two.
Three hours later, Danny reluctantly let go of Ariel. He tucked her in under the covers and put on his clothes before going back downstairs. At last, he grabbed Maverick by the leg again and dragged him out of the house.
The next day.
Maverick woke up abruptly with a shiver. He could barely open his eyes under the glaring sunlight, and the noisy bustle around him was giving him a headache.
After taking a moment to adjust, he was finally wide awake. That was when he realized that he was stark naked and a couple of people among the onlooking crowd had their phones out with the camera lenses all pointed at the lower half of his body.
