A new start

Ari remained silent, but she agreed with Danny, she couldn't understand what kind of sin she had committed to suffer like this. For her husband to not love her and for her sister to stomp on her head again and again, that too with the support of their parents. 

In the race for their comfort and desires, these people didn't even glance at the scars that they had left on her heart. 

When Danny saw that Ari was not saying anything, he wiped the wounds on the back of her other foot with a cotton ball soaked in disinfectant and questioned, "What is your plan for now?" 

"For now, I need to lie low," Ari sighed. Her shoulders dropped, wondering how long she would have to hide from her husband. 

Noah could have easily sorted out this mess by giving her a divorce, but for some reason, he was complicating everything. Ari had no idea what was going on in his head, but she was done being his puppet. 

Danny, who had been wrapping a bandage around Ari's feet, noticed that his friend looked worried. He knew that she was concerned about Noah and his sudden psychopathic tendencies that seemed to have been born out of nowhere. 

Dropping the roll of bandage in the first aid box, he wiped his hands with a clean rag before saying, "You can stay with me and Jace, you know that the two of us will always welcome you, right?" 

Of course, she knew. Danny had always been willing to help her, but Ari didn't want to become the third wheel between him and his boyfriend. She shook her head and said, "I know. But I don't watch to trouble you more than I have already done, Danny."

This was her trouble, and she shouldn't drag Danny along with her. If Noah came to know that Danny had helped her, who knows what he might do to Danny and Jace? 

Danny rolled his eyes. He closed the lid of the first aid box and stood up with the box in his hands. 

"Stubborn b*tch," he cursed as he walked over to the cabinet and then placed the box inside the cabinet. He straightened up before leaning on the cabinet and crossed his arms, he was suddenly reminded of something when he saw the old cabinet. "How about the apartment where I and Jace lived before we bought this house?" 

"You didn't sell it?" Ari questioned Danny who shook his head and then stated, "No we didn't. I wanted to sell it, but Jace stopped me and said something about how many memories that apartment holds for us. He is romantic and sh*to like that." 

Now it was Ari's turn to roll her eyes. 

"Watch it, or I will take back the offer," Danny caught her rolling her eyes and mock threatened her. Ari made a face at him as she knew that Danny was all bark and no bite. 

Danny mirrored her actions before he said, "The apartment is old, but it is in decent condition as Jace takes care of it, the two of us were looking for someone whom we can rent that apartment to, if you want——"

"I will take it," Ari did not wait for Danny to finish speaking as she accepted his offer. She needed a place for herself, buying a house was out of the question for now, but that didn't mean that she couldn't rent. At least that way, she would have her place without worrying about disturbing anyone.

Her face turned determined as she repeated more firmly, "I will take the apartment."

*********

On the other side, Noah had been busily looking for Ari. For the first time in his life, he was upset over the fact that he hadn't paid attention to Ari. He had no idea who her friends were or where she could have gone. 

Ariel called him earlier and told him that Ari hadn't come back home, and he was already done checking up on Leila, the café owner where Ari worked for the past couple of months. 

Now he had run out of options and could only wait for one of his bodyguards to trace Ari down. 

"Where can she even go?" Mrs. Nelson fretted worriedly. She had always thought that Ari was in the palm of her hands and she could squeeze her in any way and at any moment. Now that Ari had gone missing and was out of her control, Mrs. Nelson felt anxious. 

Sooner or later, that man would find out about Ari's disappearance and her family would be the one to suffer. 

'Why didn't she sit still? Now because of her, my family is in trouble,' Mrs. Nelson scolded Ari as she didn't believe that her son did anything wrong.

"I have no idea," Noah rubbed his forehead as he took the cup of americano from the butler. He took a sip from the bitter drink and then heaved a sigh, after searching for his wife for an entire day, Noah realized how little he knew about Ari. 

Maybe if he had paid attention to her a little more——-

"And where do you think you are going?" Noah's thoughts came to a sudden halt as he turned to look at his sister. 

Glynn was dressed in a bling black dress that reached up to her thighs. Her chocolaty brown hair was tied in a bun with a few locks falling on her forehead and her metal grey eyes were filled with annoyance when their mother stopped her. 

"Carl arranged for a party at Shadow Knight Bar. He invited me, so of course I am going," Glynn rolled her eyes as she replied. She couldn't believe that at the age of twenty-one, she had to tell her mother where she was going and what she was doing. 

Unlike her friends who could go anywhere they liked without their parents nosing in their business. 

"Shadow Knight Bar? That bar is under the control of the De Lucas' What do you think you are doing by going to the bar of your brother's rival?" Mrs. Nelson questioned her daughter, feeling annoyed and exasperated. "What's more, your sister-in-law is missing! If someone finds out——-"

"AHHHH!!"