Chapter 5: Like Adopting a Stray Cat

The more Robert observed the man before him, the more his heart sank with a growing sense of trepidation. He scrutinized the stranger's composure and realized that such an imposing aura could not have been cultivated in an ordinary household.

"Who exactly are you?" Robert asked, his voice tight.

Kingston arched an eyebrow with nonchalant grace. "Nobody of importance."

Robert felt a wave of relief wash over him. He figured that if the man held any real status or noble lineage, there would be no reason for him to hide it. Confidence restored, Robert let out a cold, mocking laugh.

"And just what kind of trash are you then? Watch your mouth in my presence. Don't tell me you're the lowlife she was sleeping with three years ago?"

The man was undeniably handsome, but Robert was certain that if he were a true gentleman of South Covand's elite circles, they would have met before. He concluded the stranger was likely nothing more than a pretty face with an empty bank account.

Kingston's brow furrowed in irritation, but before he could speak, Ariella stepped forward.

"That's enough! If you want to know who that man was three years ago, why don't you go ask your precious daughter, Esther? She knows better than anyone!" Her voice trembled, but her gaze was sharp. "As for how I met my husband, I don't owe you any explanation."

She looked at her parents, her eyes brimming with a painful, scarlet exhaustion. "Since you never treated me like a daughter, I no longer have parents like you! Get out! Get out right now!"

Ariella pointed toward the hospital room door, her voice rising to a frantic shout. They were her biological parents, so she had tolerated their abuse for years. But her new husband was innocent. She could not stand to see him insulted or dragged into the filth of her past because of her.

Just then, Robert's phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He suppressed his mounting rage and pointed a finger at her. "Ariella, let me tell you something. No matter what, Ellerker blood runs through your veins. You will never escape us."

He leaned in closer, his expression cruel. "I'll be waiting for the day you regret this—the day you come crawling back to beg for our forgiveness."

With a sharp nod to Katrina, the two of them turned and swept out of the ward. To Robert, the minor defiance of a disgraced daughter could never be as important as the corporate matters awaiting him at the office.

Once the door clicked shut, Ariella let out a heavy, shuddering breath. Beads of cold sweat had formed on her pale forehead.

"Quite a dramatic performance," Kingston said, his voice cold and detached. "Go back and lie down."

He had originally intended to pick a random woman and marry her—to get back at the old man, but it seemed he picked up a significant amount of trouble instead.

Ariella bit her lip. She wasn't foolish. She could hear the underlying disdain in his tone. She didn't blame him—her family was a laughingstock, and anyone would be repulsed by the scene they had just caused.

She glanced down at the back of her hand. The IV needle had been jostled during the confrontation, and blood was beginning to well up from the puncture site. She hurriedly wiped the crimson smear against her thin hospital gown.

"I don't need to stay in the hospital," she whispered, her voice fragile and small. "It costs too much money. I'm actually fine. Let's just go home."

She spoke with extreme caution, stealing glances at Kingston to gauge his reaction. She didn't realize that every flinch and nervous twitch was being observed by his sharp, calculating eyes.

"A perforated left eardrum, a fractured left wrist, and over a dozen freshly scarred wounds across your body," Kingston recited flatly. "And you call that 'nothing'?"

Ariella bit her lower lip so hard that it nearly bled. She looked at him with a look of pure desperation. "Are you... Are you disgusted by me now? Are you going to abandon me, too?"

The word "abandon" had defined the last decade of her life. Discarded by her family, betrayed by her lover—she had nothing left to lose and nowhere left to go.

The man looked down at her. She truly was a pitiable creature. He had chosen her to defy his father's arrangements, but there was another reason—something about her felt familiar, and for reasons he couldn't explain, he didn't find her presence repulsive.

"I suppose it's no different than adopting a stray cat," Kingston remarked. For the first time in his twenty-eight years, a flicker of genuine pity stirred within him. Yielding to a rare impulse, he decided to let this burden stay by his side.

To Ariella, those words felt like a single beam of light falling upon a weed that had been withered by a long drought.

"Thank you... Thank you so much!" she stammered, her voice thick with relief.

"Save it," he interrupted coldly. "I only married you to deal with my family. This marriage will not last forever. So, do not make the mistake of falling in love with me. Do you understand?"

Ariella looked at him, her expression hollow yet resolute. "Don't worry. I know my place."

Her heart had already died in the pouring rain three years ago. There was no longer any possibility of it coming back to life.