"Matthias? You have a family?" Ariel gasped, her eyes wide with shock. Her mother mirrored her surprise, clearly as unaware of this revelation as Ariel.
Matthias stammered, his tongue suddenly tied. He wanted to twist the truth, to spin a different story, but the desperate need for his job outweighed his desire to deceive them further. He shifted his attention back to Damian.
"Please... I never meant to take your wife, I mean..." Matthias pleaded. "She was the one forcing me. She never wanted you." His words were directed at Ariel, but they were laced with a desperate plea for his job.
Ariel stared at him, her mouth agape, her face a canvas of disbelief. He was begging for his job, but he was willing to throw her under the bus to do it. It was clear he was a man without morals, a man who cares only for himself, he's been snake all along, a man no woman would want to be with.
She can't even try to forgive himself that she left a man as good as Damian, a kind hearted soul who loved her for this man who haven't even been under half of the pressure Damian have been and he's already showing how wicked he is.
Despite the shock on their faces, Matthias continued, his voice laced with desperation. "They never liked you, they never wanted you by their side. They treated you badly, hoping you'd leave. But you're strong, you're brave, you're a good man. You endured everything they threw at you. They told me I was the last option, that if I agreed to do this with them, you'd finally leave. They... they bribed me!!"
Ariel couldn't take it anymore. "Matthias!! You're lying!!" she yelled, pushing him back with a surge of anger. The realization that she had been involved with such a man was a bitter pill to swallow. How can he even go as far as lying that they had paid him when he was the one that was desperately running after her even when she turned her down severally.
"Tell the truth!" Ariel yelled at him, her voice cracking with anger. Tears welled up in her eyes, threatening to spill over. Everything she had been happy about, everything she had believed in, was crumbling around her. Even the man she had loved, the man she had trusted, was a liar.
"What other truth? I'm telling the truth!" Matthias yelled back, his voice laced with defiance. Ariel's anger boiled over. She slapped him, hard, and pushed him away, then ran to Damian, falling to her knees before him, tears streaming down her face.
"Honey... My husband... please you know I have always loved you" she choked out, the words barely audible then she looked at him on his face.
"Please he's lying! he pressured me along with my mother! you know I have always loved you right from day one! You are my one and only! my love" She said with heart felt emotion but Damian chuckled, a low rumble of amusement. It was strange, this sudden shift in her affections. He couldn't remember the last time she had called him "honey," not ever since she started maltreating him because he doesn't have a job which was obviously her choice. If she had allowed him, he could have went out and start making money for the family no matter how little it is, although he was still going to be appreciated for that but at least that's better.
"Honey...?" Damian interrupted in a stunned surprise and a smile playing on his lips as he founded her cry and tears funny instead.
"I don't understand what happened to 'half man'...? You know I like that name, I really do. So I wish you'd continue calling me that! I think I've added it to my nickname, so yes, you're free to call me that." His words were laced with playful sarcasm, a smile playing on his lips. The chaos unfolding before him was nothing new. He had seen it all before. Whatever he's doing to them now is simply what they have done to him as well.
He had endured their cruelty, their scorn, and now it was time for them to taste their own medicine. He wouldn't offer them any sympathy, any mercy. They are going to get exactly what they deserved.
"Baby... I'm so sorry for what happened," Ariel sobbed, her hands clasped together. "You know I've always loved you. Please forgive me! I'm sure you know I'm your heart I am saying the truth! it was my mother, she kept pressuring me to leave you. She conspired with Matthias to take you away from me. I regret that they succeeded, but I'm so sorry."
Damian shrugged, a nonchalant gesture that belied the turmoil raging within him. "So now you regret because I'm rich? if I hadn't been in this condition now would you have regretted?" Damian asked and the reply hooked Ariel and she swallowed hard.
Then before she could manage to utter some words he interrupted her. "Well, I've forgiven you," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice. Ariel's face lit up with a relieved smile. She immediately wanted to go for a hug only for Damian's voice to come up again with chaos.
"I've forgiven you for forgetting to do a proper divorce," Damian said, his voice laced with a hint of bitterness. "Because, so far so good, I've come to give you a very special gift. That special gift I've come to give you is your wedding ring you bought for me." He slipped the ring off his finger and tossed it at her.
Oliveira stood by, watching the scene unfold. She couldn't bring herself to beg for forgiveness. She was the mastermind behind this mess, the one who had orchestrated the entire scheme. She couldn't even bear to be in his presence, her guilt a heavy weight on her conscience. Apologizing to him felt like a futile attempt to whitewash her actions, so she remained silent, a silent observer to the unfolding drama.
Tears streamed down Ariel's face. If only she had never listened to her mother, if only she had never been pressured into this scheme. Look now!! Damian was a wealthy man, and she had always felt a special connection with him, a love she had never felt for anyone else. She had loved him fiercely because she knew something is special about him, until her mother intervened, ruining everything.
Her heart ached with regret, her eyes fixed on Damian's face, hoping for a glimmer of pity, a sign of forgiveness. But his expression remained impassive, his gaze unyielding. The damage had been done, the trust broken. And it was a wound that might never heal.