Guilt washed over her. If she hadn't agreed to let him drive her home that night, none of these would have happened and he would've still been strong and healthy, using his legs.
But now, he lay alone in a lonely hospital room, his life coming to a pause for as long as he had to recover, and who knew if he'd ever recover fully?
"Quit standing there already and come in here," Mike's voice suddenly sounded from inside the room.
Ariel was surprised to hear his voice, she had thought he was fast asleep.
She gently closed the door as she entered the room and walked over to stand beside his bed.
"Hey," Ariel said quietly, slowly looking Mike from his leg to his face, but not daring to look him in the eyes, guilt was eating her up.
"Hey," Mike gently held Ariel's hand.
"How are you?" Ariel asked.
"Well," Mike pointed to his legs.
"Oh gosh, I shouldn't have asked that..." Ariel rushed to apologize, looking all forlorn.
"Hey, don't look that way, it wasn't your fault, if we're taking the blame then it'll definitely be my fault, because I was speeding and wasn't looking," Mike sighed but still managed to smile at Ariel.
"I still feel guilty, after all, It was me who caused you to drive that late," Ariel sounded genuinely guilty from her words.
Mike knew she wouldn't let it be until she made herself drown with guilt.
"If you want to make it up to me, then visit me here as often as you can. That'll really make me glad," Mike suggested.
"I promise, I'll come see you with gifts as much as I can, Mike, I promise," Ariel held his hand, gently patting it.
Mike smiled broadly, happy he'd get to see Ariel more often from now on.
***
Ariel walked down the street that cool evening, at least it was still early and the hospital wasn't located in an isolated area like the restaurant she worked in. She could still see cars driving by and people either heading somewhere or casually taking an evening stroll.
She was in a dilemma, she couldn't believe she was the one walking the earth again, why didn't she die? Who was that mysterious person that saved her? And who was the person who cleared her medical bills?
She could swear on her life that it wasn't anyone from her family, they'd rather unplug her life support if they had the chance to.
She sighed. The hospital didn't look like one of the roadside ones, it looked like something a Billionaire's daughter or wife would go, and that made her wonder how much money that person paid.
"Move! You wanna die!" A bike man honked loudly behind Ariel.
That's when Ariel realized that she had left the pedestrian and was now almost in the middle of the road.
She quickly moved away, getting back to the pedestrian, after apologizing to the bike man.
She looked around and discovered that she was still far from home, and she had no money on her and couldn't even hail a cab.
Maybe she could just get a ride by flashing a sweet smile or telling her sob story. She shook the delusional thought out of her head.
Her legs were almost giving out from tiredness and hunger but she was determined to walk home.
Home...
She stood in front of the yellow two-story building that was supposed to be her home, but as she stared at it, she felt like a stranger to it.
All her years in that house had been spent living like a ghost of herself, there was no beautiful or fond memory attached to it.
It was a beautiful house, no doubt, her father and stepmother made sure to always renovate it to new tech every year, they wanted to feel proud whenever they brought their business partners home for dinner and subtly show off their beautiful home.
She pulled her thoughts together and walked towards the house, the front lawn looked clean and well-kept as always. It seemed like they had visitors because on reaching the door, she could already hear her stepmother's voice laughing a bit too loudly at what someone said.
She clenched her fist at the sound of the laughter, so fake, like the owner. She would have chosen to go through the pantry but her stepmother has locked it up since she noticed it was were Ariel came in through when she returned from work to escape her.
She quietly pushed the door open and walked inside.
"Oh dear, who's that, Caroline? Strangers come into your house now?" The lady beside Caroline said in disgust, looking Ariel up and down.
Caroline who was facing away from the door quickly turned towards the door, and the moment she set her eyes on Ariel, the smile fell from her face, replacing it with hatred.
Ariel didn't stand there to wait for them to criticize her, she moved on and climbed the stairs to her room.
"Oh, no, Stella, ignore her, she's just our housemaid," Caroline said, shrugging.
"Makes sense now dear, I thought you were turning your house into a charity organization where the homeless came to get fed," Stella chuckled, covering her hand over her mouth.
"Ewe, never," Caroline rolled her eyes.
She stood from the sofa and walked toward the stairs.
"Do you want some expensive champagne?" Caroline asked with a bright smile.
"Ah, sure! You're the best," Stella relaxed on the sofa, smiling proudly.
Ariel was staring at herself in her half-broken standing mirror, her green towel wrapped around her body. She raised her hand to her head and gently touched her bandaged hair, wincing as she felt pain from the contact.
She sighed and brought down her hand, she had brought out her change of clothes and placed them on her shabby single bed that looked like it had seen better days.
She was walking into her tiny bathroom when her door was flung open by no one else other than her stepmother.
"You little bitch!" Caroline said maliciously, as she angrily walked toward Ariel.
SLAP!
"Ahh!" Areil palmed her cheeks, her head starting to ache from the impact of the slap.
"Look! Look here, you bastard!" Caroline held Ariel roughly behind her neck and forced her to look into her phone.
"Ah! Please, it hurts, let me go!" Ariel cried out painfully.
Her vision had turned blurry from her banging headache, she couldn't even make out the pictures on Caroline's phone, she could only manage to see the bold caption.
"An Unknown Lady With Her Boyfriend Tries to Kill Our Most Eligible Bachelor/Billionaire!!!"
"You're lucky no one could identify you, if not, it'd have been more than a slap you'll be getting from me, foolish girl," Caroline pushed Ariel down to the floor, eyeing her maliciously before walking away.
"Oh, and, be down there and make us lunch in five minutes," Caroline said before banging the door loudly as she left the room.
Ariel sat on the floor, crying, she sobbed as she thought about her mother. She wished her mother never died, and she wished they had never gone for that evening ride, but she knew this wasn't a fairytale where wishes came through, she knew this was her harsh reality, she could only be there for herself.
She stood up and wiped her tears, she just needed to work harder and complete the course she secretly bought online. Since her father refused to send her to college after she finished high school, she started working to support herself and when she got enough money, she purchased a course online, now, she just had to look for a way to get money and purchase the last part. It was the most important part that would fetch her the certificate she'd been vying for.
She slowly entered the bathroom and had a quick shower, then dressed herself in her loose-fitted shirt and pants.
She sighed heavily before she started walking downstairs.
She was quietly moving to the kitchen when she heard Stella's tipsy voice whispering something to Caroline.
"Wait a minute, I think this girl looks familiar... Don't you think she looks like-"
"Ah, here, have more champagne, dear friend, a toast to my baby's arrival!" Caroline said loudly.
Four days after her mother's death, she was shocked and heartbroken to see her father bring in a new woman and her daughter, only for her to find out that the girl was three years older than her, it went to confirm that her father was never loyal to her mother.
All those while they seemed like a happy family, he was sneaking behind her mother to go see his other family.
At the moment she set her eyes on her stepmother and stepsister, she hated her father, and her view of all men changed.
From then on, her life changed for the worse too. Her father became a stranger to her as he showered all his love and attention to her stepsister, while she was forgotten and turned into a housemaid.
Ariel was busy watching the dishes when she heard Stella greeting her father as she was leaving.
She rolled her eyes, her father was never home early when her mother was alive, but now, he's always home before the proper work closing hour.
Well, it was understandable, his real family was now with him, so he didn't need to sneak around going to see them.
"Oh, honey, you're back! I missed you so much," Ariel felt like puking when she heard Caroline's fake voice from the living room.
"Yes, my love, I couldn't wait to get back to you, hahaha!" She heard a kissing sound and quickly tuned her ear away from the disgusting couple.
Arielil was serving them dinner, she had just finished placing the food on the dining table when she heard Caroline's excited voice.
"Honey, we have to throw a party tomorrow for our princess, she'll be here in an hour," Caroline said excitedly.
"That's true, I've missed my darling baby, what's it been? Three years?" Jude asked.
"Yes, you see now, you've made me tear up," Caroline sniffed.
"I'm sorry, my love, I didn't intend it that way," Jude held Caroline's hand, petting her.
"What are you standing there doing? Get out!" Caroline barked at Ariel who was still standing behind them, listening to what they were saying.
Ariel startled and quickly walked into the kitchen, tears slipping down her cheeks.
Hearing them talking about her stepsister with such love and affection hurt her so much, she's tried getting over the feeling but each time they praise her her in front of her, it leaves her feeling worthless and inferior.
On many occasions, she's planned to run away from home, but each time she remembered she didn't have enough money, she stayed back and kept enduring the sufferings she faced at home.
Ariel stood behind the kitchen door, eavesdropping on his father's and stepmother's discussion.
"Jude, there's something we need to discuss," Caroline said quietly.
"What's that, my love?" Jude asked, worried by the change in Caroline's face.
"We can't let our daughter marry a good for nothing just because we owe that family a fortune," Caroline whispered.
"I know, Caroline, I'm thinking of a way out too," Her father replied, sighing.
Caroline scoffed, "Thinking, Jude? There's nothing to think about," Caroline said in a haughty tone.
"What do you mean?" Jude asked.
"It's time we put to use that good-for-nothing daughter of yours, she's the perfect match for a nobody like that man," Caroline said, hatred lacing every word she said.
Jude thought about it for a while before he slowly nodded.
"Good, I thought you were hesitant," Caroline scoffed.
"No, darling, just like you said; a useless person should be matched with her kind," Jude chuckled.
He didn't care, as long as it was Ariel, he wasn't losing anything giving her off to a nonentity.
He was saving his first daughter, hoping he could find a way to introduce her into the socialite world so that she would land herself a rich husband and bring more wealth into the family.
Ariel stood frozen in place as she heard what they were planning about her, the walls were closing in on her.