Chapter 8 Three Against One

Ariana was just about to get short with Jasper when Glenda came to the door.

"Aria, you are back! You will get drenched in the rain. Come on in!" Glenda held Ariana's hand and warmly ushered her into the living room. She behaved like a doting mother who was just seeing her precious daughter after a long time.

Ariana put up her guard immediately. It was unlike Glenda to be this nice. It appeared that she was up to something.

Just as Glenda gestured for her to sit on the sofa, Brielle walked out of her bedroom. She flashed a smirk. "Hey, Ariana! To what do we owe this surprise?"

Ariana frowned and shook off Glenda's hand. "I came-" She was just about to declare her intention when Brielle cut her off.

"First things first, let me introduce you. This is my fiance, Jasper."

Brielle locked arms with Jasper as she spoke proudly.

It was no surprise that Brielle was behaving like this now. Ever since they were children, she liked to steal things from Ariana and even dared to show them off.

Ariana already knew about the betrayal, so those words didn't hurt her like before. In contrast, she found her half-sister to be bad and stupid.

Jasper was just like trash in Ariana's eyes now. She didn't want him, so she found it funny that Brielle was bragging about him now.

"We are getting married soon. Jasper's father is already thinking of a good wedding date. You have to attend." Brielle covered her mouth and smiled, pretending to be shy.

Her acting made Ariana feel sick in the stomach.

"By the way, where is Theodore? Why didn't he come with you? Is he busy?"

Brielle asked as she looked at the door. The arrogant look on her face gave her away even though she was trying to sound like a concerned sister.

At this time, Jasper went to sit on the sofa and crossed his legs majestically. He then said, "Don't rub it in, honey. You know, my brother detests your sister. As soon as he regained consciousness, he asked for a divorce. Tsk, tsk!"

Jasper held a grudge against Ariana since she went back on their initial plan. He was seizing the opportunity to ridicule her in front of her relatives. Every word that came out of his mouth was filled with bile. "My brother has always been picky. He fancies beautiful and hot women. The sight of Ariana's ugly face threw him off guard. He almost lost consciousness again when he saw her. Gosh! I can only imagine how he felt."

These words made Glenda's heart sing. She clasped her hands and sneered, "Ariana, you should have listened to me when I told you to marry Johnny Prescott. Although Johnny is over fifty years old, he's known to be a nice man. He would have taken good care of you. See what you have landed yourself into now."

Ariana replied sarcastically, "You don't say! I heard that he was so nice that his ex-wife threw herself off a building. Since I missed out on such a good man, how about you marry Brielle off to him instead? It would be nice to have him as your son-in-law, wouldn't it?"

"Oh, his ex-wife was too vulnerable. It's normal for married men to have an affair. Her suicide wasn't Johnny's fault. That said, Johnny liked you very much. He was ready to give you the life that you have always dreamed of if you had agreed to marry him. But I don't think that would still be possible since a divorced woman usually has minimal options like becoming a mistress," Glenda said matter-of-factly.

"What's so bad about being a mistress?" Ariana asked with exaggerated astonishment. "After all, Brielle seems happy being a mistress."

"What!" Glenda's and Brielle's faces darkened at her words.

"Watch your mouth, Ariana! You have no right to speak about me. You will soon become a divorcee. I'm far better than you!" Brielle yelled angrily.

Ariana felt better now that her half-sister no longer pretended to be nice. The reason Brielle only scolded her was that Jasper was here. If he wasn't, she would have pounced on Ariana and fought like an uncultured woman.

"Anyway, we will see about that later on." Ariana killed the subject, not wanting to waste time anymore. She cut to the chase and said, "I came here to get my mother's stuff. I will leave once they are handed over to me."

Sure enough, Glenda started to play dumb. "What stuff? Didn't you take all that belonged to you and your mother away?"

"Oh, drop the act, Glenda! I saw my mother's necklace on the latest auction news. You put it up for sale, didn't you? Anyway, I'm willing to let that slide as long as you hand over the rest of the items. Be quick with it!" Ariana was fed up with her hypocrisy. When she saw that Glenda didn't make a move, she began to make her way to the master bedroom, intending to ransack it.

Glenda rushed over and blocked her way, staring daggers at her. "Your father was in debt before he passed away. I sold some stuff to pay off part of his debts. Now that you are married into the Anderson family, aren't you supposed to give us a hand in clearing off the remaining debts?"

Ariana didn't believe a word that Glenda said. She could tell that it was all a lie just by looking at the expensive clothes and jewelry her stepmother had on. Moreover, if her father truly ran up huge debts, her stepmother and half-sister would have fled long ago. They would never have stayed to clear off the debts. These two never wanted to spend a second suffering or giving out money.

The only thing on Ariana's mind now was taking back her late mother's belongings. She shoved Glenda away and headed toward the stairs.

Glenda grabbed her hand and pulled her back. "What the hell is wrong with you? I have sold them all. You can't find them here!"

Ariana had never seen anyone as shameless as Glenda.

"What do you mean by you sold them all? The earrings you currently have on are my mother's!" Ariana sneered in her face.

In horror, Glenda quickly covered her ears. But she soon put down her hands again in anger. "And so what? I raised you for so many years. I deserve them as payment. You know what? I won't let you take them back just like that. The only way you can have them is if your mother comes back to life and asks for them!"

"Aargh! Keep my mother's name out of your fucking mouth!" Ariana flipped out. The next second, she yanked off the earring on Glenda's right ear.

"Ouch!" Glenda screamed in pain. Blood seeped out immediately. She held her right ear and cursed, "Bitch, how dare you!"

Brielle rushed over to slap Ariana, but the latter caught her hand.

Jasper had been watching the whole drama leisurely. As it unfolded, he became stunned. He was shocked that the weak Ariana was standing up for herself against these two women.

Jasper just couldn't sit by any longer, so he walked up to them. He acted as if he wanted to break up the fight. On the contrary, he was there to support Brielle and Glenda to beat Ariana up.

In no time, Ariana was overpowered. Brielle sat on her as she lay helplessly on the floor. Brielle gripped a chunk of Ariana's hair and raised her free hand up high. Just then, a cold male voice rang out in the living room.

"Hey! What is going on here? What are you doing to my wife?"