Ariella wonders if he is expressing the same thoughts she has. She smiled and mentioned, "I'm confident Scarlett can stay with other family members and relatives until her brother returns."
Asher appears surprised by her statement, but before he can respond, Scarlett acknowledges, "I guess you're correct." I am confident that I can book a hotel for the upcoming days until Thompson returns.
"A hotel? What for? Why?"
"I can't stay in that huge house all on my own right now. You know, I have never been close to any of my relatives, and Thompson just told me that my father passed away two years ago, and I really don't want to be close to a stranger right now. I'm just... I don't want to be around people I'm not really familiar with, especially right now," she says, meekly.
"You can stay here," Asher says. "There are a lot of rooms in this house that I never get used to anyway, and you... and you are like family to me. You should stay here. I'm going to take care of you until Thomas gets back. Don't worry,"
Ariella looks at Asher in surprise. How dare he invite someone into their house without her permission? It's their house, but she doesn't say that. She turns back and looks at Scarlett, who is trying to hide her smile.
"You are just friends. I'm sure she has other female friends she can stay with that can help her recover better. I mean, I'm sure not just her brother and father were family and close to her. She must have someone else close to her."
"Ariella, what is wrong with you? Scarlett has just been through a traumatic event just two days ago, and she trusts me, she needs my help right now, and I'm going to help her. Is that going to be a problem?"
Ariella looks down and says, "No, it's not going to be a problem."
"Thank you. Now, would you please tell Thomas to get her room prepared?"
Ariella approached the butler and requested that one of the maids set up a room for Scarlett, ensuring that it was located as far from their own room as could be. While on her way, she repeatedly reassured herself that Scarlett would only be gone for two weeks. It had only been a fortnight. She had the ability to accomplish this task. In a mere fortnight, Scarlett's presence in the house would be completely forgotten.
When Thomas announced that the room was ready, Asher took hold of Scarlett and helped her up the stairs as if he were assisting his grandmother towards the bedroom. Ariella sat down, giving herself a few minutes to catch her breath. She heard a noise upstairs, she stood up holding her stomach, went straight towards the stairs. What could be wrong? As she reached the top of the stairs, she met one of the maids leaving, and she asked about the situation. She found Thomas heading her way, and she inquired, "Is everything okay, Thomas?"
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Blackwell, but Mr. Blackwell did not like the location of the room we prepared for Miss Bennett," Thomas explained.
"What was wrong with it?" Ariella asked, surprised. "What could be wrong with the room?"
"Mr Blackwell prefers Scarlett's room to be closer to the master's suite so that he can be able to assist her if anything happens in the night,"
"What could happen in the night in this big house with all this security?" But Thomas, afraid to intervene in the couple's arguments, looked down and didn't answer Ariella's question. Ariella sighed and let Thomas go.
As she walked towards their master's suite, she reached Scarlett's bedroom door which was half-open and peeked inside, seeing Asher explaining things to Scarlett as if she were a child. She could have figured out these things by herself, but Ariella didn't say anything. She was glad that the two of them didn't see her and went to the master's suite, sat down, and decided to wait for Asher to join her. She would endure this, but Asher would come back to her. They would spend the night together and talk. Everything was going to be okay.
A few minutes later, Asher came into the bedroom. He looked at her and closed the door. Then he came towards her, looking at her with love and compassion in his eyes. "I am sorry about today. I know this is a lot for you," he says as he comes closer, takes Ariella's hand into his, and sits down. Ariella says nothing.
"I know that I should have talked to you before I invited her, but what did you expect me to do down there? I couldn't kick her out. We have a very long history, and I know she would have done the same for me if I were in her position. Please bear with me, it's only two weeks," he pleads.
Ariella nods and says slowly, "Okay, I knew you would understand. I know you're smart, and I know you have a big beautiful heart."
"Ariella, scarlet has been through a lot. She was kidnapped and kept in a dark room. They hurt her, and it's horrible. It's the thing that I shouldn't say. It's something we can't force her to say, she can share it with us when she wants. I don't want to think about it. When I imagine her going through all of this alone, it makes me so angry that I cannot control myself, moreover she's been through a lot. Please just try to be understanding, Will you? I want us to help her,"
Ariella felt bad that she had seen Scarlett as a competition while she had been through such a rough time. She nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. I'm sorry if I made it harder for you."
"It's okay. I knew that when we got to talk, you would understand." he takes a deep breath.
" Ooomp" and continues
"Okay, I'm going to go now and take a bath,then hopefully we can get some rest. I really need it,"
"Yeah, I need it too. I haven't been able to sleep these past two days because you weren't here," Ariella admits.
"Okay, baby, I'll be back in just a few minutes," Asher promises.
He kisses Ariella's forehead and heads to the bathroom. When he gets out of the bath, Asher finds Ariella wearing a sexy lingerie dressing gown with her just-popped belly, waiting for him sprawled on the bed. Asher, seeing the view, immediately gets excited, with blood rushing to his face. He grins and smiles mischievously.
"Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Blackwell?"
"I don't know, Is it working?" Ariella replies, smiling mischievously at him.
Asher drops the towel and starts heading towards Ariella on the bed. He immediately attacks her with kisses, his hands roaming everywhere all over her body, and Ariella moans in pleasure. But just as he goes back to kissing her mouth again, there is a sharp, piercing scream that is heard from next door.