(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

“You… with Chris?” Ariana instantly furrowed her brows. Adel nodded weakly. Ariana herself felt weak just hearing it. “But why? Who arranged this for you?” Ariana asked again.

“Papa. He and Uncle Jason planned it all,” the girl replied. Jason was Chris’s father, a cousin of Ariana’s stepmother.Original from NôvelDrama.Org.

“But what about Daffin?” Ariana asked. Daffin was Chris’s younger brother, born from a different mother. He was the one Adel had liked all these years, her first love since she was fifteen. Everyone knew how much Adel liked Daffin, including Adel’s parents and Chris’s parents. So why were they suddenly pairing Adel with Chris and not Daffin?

“I know Daffin never liked me. He always saw me as a nuisance. But Chris? Am I really being forced to marry Chris? He’s so old-fashioned. Adel doesn’t like him,” the girl whined. Then, a name popped into Ariana’s head.

“What about Amber? Does she know about this?” Ariana looked at Adel with a furrowed brow. Adel’s sulking face nodded. Damn it. Amber must be devastated right now. Considering her cousin and best friend had liked Chris for so long. “Where’s Amber now?” Ariana asked.

Adel pointed her finger towards the kitchen. Ariana bit her lower lip, puzzled. How was she supposed to comfort Amber now? Although Ariana knew Chris could never like Adel because she knew Chris liked…

Ariana shook her head. Whoever Chris liked now was a secret between him and Ariana. Only the two of them knew. So Ariana couldn’t tell Amber about this fact. Ariana glanced back at Adel.

“What’s your dad’s reason for forcing you to marry Chris?” Ariana asked again.

Adel shrugged. “Dad said Chris won’t get his inheritance if he doesn’t marry. He’s old enough to get married and have children. But until now, Chris hasn’t brought any girl home. I mean, why should I marry a guy like him? If I hadn’t agreed, Uncle Jason might have proposed to me instead of Aunt Hestia,” the girl grumbled.

Ariana couldn’t believe it. What was wrong with this girl? Was Ariana the one who wanted to marry Gerald? If she hadn’t been forced, she would probably still be single. Even if she were single, she would have refused Chris’s proposal. Marrying Chris was never in her thoughts.

“Does Amber know about this? About the inheritance reason?” Adel shrugged her shoulders. Ariana then smiled meaningfully. She walked towards the kitchen, seeing Jody watching Amber with a grimace on his face. “What’s wrong?” Ariana whispered to the man.

“She’s acting like a crazy person. Crying, laughing, crying, laughing,” Jody said to Ariana. Amber, upon hearing Jody’s words, turned to look at him with a scornful expression. Ariana pushed Jody to leave the kitchen so she could talk to Amber alone. “Amber…” Ariana called her cousin’s name.

“What?!” Amber snapped.

“What are you crying for?” Ariana asked. She approached and crouched beside Amber, who had once again buried her face in her elbows, crying.

“You know what I’m crying about. Adel must have made the announcement to you too,” Amber replied, her voice muffled. Her shoulders shook from her sobs.

“Is it about being forced to marry Chris?” Ariana asked again. Amber looked up, her eyes narrowed at Ariana. “I hate you both. You and Adel!” she replied, wiping her tears and snot away. “Why do you hate me? What did I do?”

Amber glared at Ariana. “Chris has always been attentive to you. Everything for Ariana-this and that for Ariana. And now, when he doesn’t have to pay attention to you anymore, he’s willing to marry that girl. I regret hiding him in the apartment all this time,” Ariana continued, once again hiding her face in her arms.

“Why are you like this? So unwilling to accept Adel?” Ariana said again.

“Well, you’re all the same. Hurting me. You know, Chris has always been my crush, but you and Adel are the ones who get him. When will it be my turn? Do I have to cast a spell on Adel so Chris will like me?” Ariana bit her lip to hold back her laughter. Amber was quite funny when she was angry. If others heard her, they might think she was joking. “Amber, you know. It’s the same with me not liking Chris. Adel is the same. You know that Adel has always liked Daffin. You’ve always heard her whining about Daffin. She doesn’t want to be forced to marry Chris either,” Ariana explained, making sense.

Amber raised her red eyes and stared at Ariana. “How can you be so sure that Adel doesn’t like Chris? Who knows if she secretly has feelings for him too. After all, Chris and Daffin are like night and day. Chris is handsome, muscular, and he has a great body. Unlike Daffin, he looks like a kid, and his body is thin as a board,” Amber jeered.

Ariana was still trying to hold back her laughter. “Well, Adel is still at that age where she’s attracted to guys like Chris. Because what she sees isn’t how financially stable the guy is or how hot his body is, Amber,” Ariana replied. “If you really like Chris and don’t want him to be engaged to Adel, why don’t you make a move first? Approach Chris or his dad. From what I’ve heard from Adel, the reason they’re being forced into this engagement is that Chris has never brought a girl home,” she continued. Although in her heart, she wanted to apologize to Amber or Chris for the advice she had given to her cousin.

Amber looked at Ariana again. She had wiped her tear-stained face with the edge of her shirt. “Do you think it’s okay?” Amber asked.

Ariana shrugged. “If you’re not embarrassed to pursue Chris, then go ahead,” she answered ambiguously. “Although I’m not really encouraging it. Because I’m sure, at the moment, Chris must be looking for a way to make sure this engagement won’t happen,” Ariana replied confidently.

Amber furrowed her brow and stared at Ariana with her sharp gaze. “Why do you assume that?” she asked. Ariana shook her head. “Because I’m not convinced that Chris will ever get married someday or not.”

“Why? Because you’re married to Gerald, and he’s heartbroken and decides not to get married for the rest of his life?” Amber taunted. Ariana stared at her cousin wide-eyed.

“No, it’s not because of that, Amber. I’ve said it many times. Between Chris and me, there’s absolutely no romantic feeling,” Ariana insisted. “If that’s the case, why won’t you tell me who Chris has liked all this time?” Amber demanded.

“That’s because…”