Chapter 171

Ariana had been in her room ever since Lisa left. She fixed the room but soon got bored when she had nothing left to do. She picked up her phone and saw that she had messages from Calhoun.

"Hey my heartbeat, how are you?"

"I am already packing up... I'll see you in a few days."

"Are you there?"

"I hope you are smiling..."

Ariana was certainly smiling. She started replying to each of the messages. Her eyes were buried deep into her phone even as she left the comfort of her room to head to the garden. For some reason, she felt closer to Calhoun in that small tree house than in this large room.

But as she typed away her replies she didn't realise that Lily was right in front of her waiting for her to patiently make a mistake so she could attack her. Ariana took another step towards the exit of the corridors and that's when she felt her body collide with another body. The shock made her drop her phone at once and she raised her eyes in a panic to see who she had walked into.

"Argh!"

A nerve-wracking scream that shook the entire house. Ariana didn't have to be told that of all the people in that mansion she had to run into Lily. She raised her eyes to hers in fear and shock. Lily was extremely angry. Her eyeballs looked red and with flying sparks as she glared back at Ariana.

"Are you blind and stupid, or both?" Lily yelled.

"I am really sorry aunt. I wasn't looking. It is entirely my fault. Please forgive me!" Ariana pleaded.

Lily looked about ready to swallow Ariana whole. She turned her gaze down for a split second and she caught sight of Ariana's phone. Still acting very pissed she intentionally stepped on Ariana's phone, hoping it cracked under the weight of her heels.

"Who is your aunt? You uncultured animal!" Lily yelled still applying pressure on the phone.

Ariana was so concentrated on begging her that she didn't realize the massacre her phone was going through under Lily's cruel shoes.

"Please forgive me, I didn't see you coming. Please it won't happen," she pleaded all over again.

"You should go get cultured! Animal!" She hissed before walking away from the scene.

As she left, Ariana heaved a sigh of relief. For a moment she thought Lily was going to call on everybody in the entire house to settle the problem. Thankfully, she didn't.

But as her eyes fell back to her phone on the carpeted floor, her heart sank. "No!"

Ariana went to her knees and picked up the phone with both of her hands and examined it. It was cracked up like a Web of spiders. She turned it over wondering how carpet could crack it up like that.

"It shouldn't have—" as she thought about it, the image of what had actually happened, suddenly came back into her head.

It was Lily's doing.

All the while she was speaking harshly to Ariana, she was destroying the poor phone. Ariana felt a prick deep in her heart. Why would Lily be mean even to an ordinary phone? What did her phone do to anger her?

"Hey, are you okay?"

Ariana snapped out of her thoughts and raised her head towards the voice. It was none other than Lily's boy, Matt Lawson.

"Here," he said, handing her a handkerchief. "Use it this to wipe your tears and don't worry about the phone. I can get you another one before the end of today."

Ariana blinked multiple times trying to understand what Matt was saying. He was offering to help her?

"I know it is hard to believe but I mean every word I just said..." Matt stated and helped Ariana to her feet. When he was done, he turned around and walked back into his room.

Ariana was flabbergasted. She didn't know what to say to his kind gestures. Or was it a trap? She had to be very careful with Lily and her family.

She stood there longer than necessary as she didn't know what to do or think about the whole situation. Surely he must have heard his mother speaking to her so harshly, yet he seemed to be kind to her. Ariana shook her head and tried to get back to her chats. But the phone had gone off.

"Shit!" She hissed. Calhoun would be so worried about her. She had to find a way to bring it back up. She traced her steps back to her room where she sat down and tried powering it back up yet nothing happened. She was almost giving up when it came up and the door to her room opened wide. It was Elsie.

"Calhoun has been calling like the sky is falling. What happened between you two?" Elsie asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said out loud. "I broke my phone that's why I disappeared. But I will turn it on as soon as it gains enough battery life."

"Oh there is no need for that, he is calling again. Here take the phone," Elsie said as she handed Ariana her phone.

"Ariana, what happened? Why did you end the call so suddenly?" Calhoun asked, she could pick out the worry in his voice.

"I am sorry dear. I was walking and chatting, so I wasn't paying attention to the road. The phone fell into the mud and cracked badly."

"Ah, I see. Are you right though?" Calhoun insisted and Ariana felt her heart quit beating. "You sound a bit stressed out. Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?" Calhoun added.

"Yes, sure. I am good. Just tired." She quickly put in.

Elsie remained by the door, watching Ariana. Even she could tell that something was wrong with Ariana but she didn't want to tell her brother about it. Besides, Elsie didn't see Ariana heading to the garden. So how did her phone fall?

The two lovers ended their conversation and Ariana found Elsie narrowing her eyes at her.

"You lied Ariana... what I want to know is why?"