I Am An Illegitimate Child With A Legitimate Reason For Revenge-Chapter 77: Don’t push Ariel any further

Serena watched them as they left and her smile turned into a creepy smirk. She looked like a demoness and turned to enter the room. Seeing the twins, she shook her head while still smirking like a lunatic.

"My dear younger brothers still have a lot to learn." She said and stepped on Theo’s leg. "Tell me, how did it feel, when your play thing got stolen and also getting beat up by someone ’bigger’ than you?"

Her question was filled with rhetorics and she cackled, snickering at their failure, while they glared at the sister who did nothing even while she knew they were being beaten up.

"Don’t look at me like that. You will never grow if you don’t get a beating once in a while." She said, playing with the locks of her hair with her index finger. She dropped her dark gaze on them and said, "Next time, leave it to me. Don’t start what you can’t finish."

Her dark eyes filled with disgust, turned to bright eyes and she turned to leave.

Getting a warning like that, the twins felt even more obligated to get Ariel. Even if Serena had just warned that they should leave Ariel to her, they found it such a waste and were determined to break that little play thing even more.

What they needed now was a plan.

Raymond took Ariel out and glared at Philip as well as all guests whose eyes were glued on them. They were all equal monsters and he had no time to waste on them.

Without wasting time, they immediately went to Steve’s and as soon as Steve saw the condition Ariel was in, he got the hint.

The last time Ariel looked this badly hurt was when she came to him for the first time, bruised and stabbed by a man she promised her whole life to. Now this time...

Raymond waited anxiously in the ward, holding Ariel’s hand while Steve treated her. He took off her wig to help her feel comfortable and let Steve proceed with the treatment.

Ariel was unconscious the whole time.

"How is she?" Raymond asked, once seeing Steve take off his gloves.

"It’s not something she can’t handle." He said and smiled. "Don’t worry, she’s handled worse. This is nothing."

Raymond bowed his head. Even when knowing she had handled much worse torture than this, he couldn’t help but feel pained by the fact. Was it because he had accepted his feelings for her? It was too hard to bear.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?" Steve asked and Raymond looked up at him. "Outside. Let’s talk outside."

Raymond took one good look at Ariel before standing to his feet. They left the ward and outside, Steve began,

"After this, do you still plan to use Miss Ariel for your ’plans’?"

They both fell into a short silence with Raymond’s expression twisting in displeasure. To avoid a misunderstanding in his words, Steve decided to explain further.

"I’m not asking because I feel anything for her or any of that. I’m actually worried for you." Steve said but Raymond couldn’t understand. "Look, you’ve never really opened your heart to anyone, so knowing that you like Ariel, I can’t let you hurt yourself with your own mistake."

"I still don’t understand."

"Don’t push Ariel any further. It’s only going to hurt you." He said in a slow pace but Raymond stayed silent like he couldn’t understand his words. "Christ, it’s so frustrating how dense you are."

"Steve." Raymond called. "I understand what you’re trying to say." He said and glanced inside Ariel’s ward through the glass on the door. "I already get the concept of, ’When she gets hurt, it feels like a hole being dug in your heart’." He said. "Seeing her so hurt and because of me, I can’t help but feel a fierce blade ripping me apart from within." His face contorted in pain.."I don’t want to see her get hurt. Not because of me or anyone else."

Steve was stunned. To think there would be a day when he would hear such words come from Raymond. He looked inside the ward... Ariel... she was a good influence on Raymond and if she could get him to open his heart this much, he was certain they would be happy together. That is... If they excluded all the crises around them.

"Also," Raymond said, bringing his gaze back to him. "I discovered Ariel’s identity today."

"What do you mean? Isn’t she the illegitimate child of the Albert family?" He asked and he nodded.

"Yes." He placed his hand on the door edge and rested there. "Her mother, she was the daughter of Winston’s."

Steve’s eyes widened.

"What?" He looked over at Ariel in the ward and then back to Raymond. "How’s that possible? No, how did you come about this?"

"The grandchildren, Paige and Skylar were at the banquet today." Raymond said. "They said they came because they wanted to see Ariel and they told us everything. Ariel’s mother was their Aunt."

"Why now?" Steve asked, his fist clenching tight. "After how much that girl suffered, they only thought to look for her now?"

"That’s the same thing Ariel asked." Raymond said. "They had the mindset that she, as well as their Aunt, died during labor. They only got to know about her existence through her recent appearance on the news outlets and the internet." He went silent. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

"So they just want her back?" Raymond was silent to this question. "Raymond."

"I was able to save Ariel thanks to them." Was Raymond’s short response. "And I realized that with me alone, I cannot protect her. If she had a family like that to back her every move, then I can be sure that she will be safe for life."

"Nothing is set in stone, Raymond. Having a big family backing her doesn’t mean her life would immediately transform to a bed of roses." Steve stated. "What if she ends up entering another hell hole of a family? The mistreatment and torture would continue and she would only end up crying every day, every time and everything moment. Each time she remembers you, she will cry."

Raymond bit down on his lips. That was true. But wasn’t it better to try?

As much as he didn’t want Ariel to experience such a family for the second time, he wanted her to smile in the midst of people who could protect her and people who would love her. What if this was her only chance at true happiness?

He couldn’t give her happiness. His life was a fucking battlefield and everyone had to be a soldier to be a part of it. If she stayed with him, she would continue being a soldier to die at any moment in time.

"Raymond." Steve called and Raymond looked up at him with his pained expression. "Ask her. Let her tell you what she wants."