For some reason, hearing Ariana Evans’s complaints on the phone, Titus Zane felt a pang of guilt.
After some perfunctory conversation, he hastily hung up the call.
"Mom! Why do you keep nagging her with these things!"
No sooner had Ariana Evans put away her phone than Olivia Zane rushed over, standing behind her, complaining discontentedly.
Ariana Evans turned around, a sneer escaping her lips as she observed her daughter’s anxious and indignant demeanor.
"I repeat these things for a reason."
"Whether you have a reason or not, if she finds out about Nathan’s current attitude towards me, who knows how much she’ll gloat."
Whenever Olivia mentioned Nathan Moore, her heart was filled with grievances. He didn’t have time to accompany her because of rehabilitation, and even when she took the initiative to visit him at the office, he claimed to be busy. He didn’t come to see her at home, didn’t talk about taking her back, and even hung up quickly after a few brief words over the phone, citing work as the reason...
"What do you know?" Ariana Evans cast a cold glance over, clearly disapproving, then walked past her towards the bed, opened the bedside drawer, and took out a pack of cigarettes, along with a lighter and an ashtray, a full set of smoking paraphernalia.
She pulled out a cigarette, placed it between her lips, and just as she lit the lighter, Ariana Evans squinted into the distance. "I tell her because I want her to know about Nathan’s attitude toward you!"
After taking a puff and exhaling, Ariana Evans wrapped one hand around her chest, resting the other on top, her squinted gaze fixed in a specific direction, clearly calculating.
"Can’t you see, Nathan Moore’s way of treating her, isn’t it different from before? The way he looks at her is obviously cautious, and he also appears restrained," Ariana Evans remarked, casting a sideways glance at Olivia Zane who, feeling unsatisfied, pouted and walked up beside her, only to hear Ariana Evans continue.
"And that time Jon came over to the house, Nathan Moore was clearly jealous!"
"Mom, what should I do?" Olivia Zane grabbed her mother’s blouse, gently shaking it, her light pink dress matching the helpless and resentful expression on her face at the moment.
"What to do?" Ariana Evans took another drag of her cigarette, looked down at Olivia as she exhaled, "It’s your man, you haven’t secured him firmly and now you’re asking me what to do!"
Olivia Zane sat down on the bed, grumbling unhappily, "You’re my mom, if I don’t ask you, who will I ask!"
"You, child!" Ariana Evans sighed, sitting beside Olivia Zane, raising a hand to rest on her daughter’s head, gently stroking her long hair with her hand accustomed to holding a scalpel.
"Where has all your little smarts from before gone?"
"Back then Nathan loathed Titus Zane, that’s why he cared about me!"
"You," another sigh escaped Ariana Evans as she stubbed out most of her cigarette in the ashtray, "Why don’t you ever think for yourself? Always relying on your mother to scheme for you."
Having turned back around, Ariana Evans took her daughter’s hands in hers, her expression turning serious along with a sense of resignation, and when she spoke, the fierce determination in her eyes was clear.
"Since Nathan Moore has taken a fancy to her, we simply can’t leave her be! Facing a corpse, let’s see how many years Nathan Moore can stay devoted!"
Upon saying this, Ariana Evans scoffed coldly, her facial expression and the curve of her lips revealing obvious mockery.
"Just like your father, initially deeply devoted to that Nicole Zane, and later wasn’t he just turning a blind eye!" Ariana Evans’s gaze that landed somewhere tightened, turning sharp when she looked up, mingling mockery with ferocity.
Nicole Zane, back then I was able to kill you without anyone noticing, and now, I still have the capability to make your daughter disappear from this world!