Chapter 4

She quickly looked around; the room was white with blue curtains and drapes, a drip stand was beside her bed, and an elderly lady with bright grey hair was sitting at the far corner of the room in a wheelchair, her bright yellow suit complimenting her bright skin.

Six security men were standing around the corners of the room, pretending like they didn't even exist.

Ariel was beyond scared.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Ariel asked, her heart beating rapidly in fear.

Who could these people be? Why have they suddenly kidnapped her?

"Oh, where are my manners? Sorry about that, let's fix that," The lady replied.

She went over to the elderly woman and pushed her closer to Ariel's bed.

Ariel noticed that despite the aging, the old lady was still a beauty to behold, an aura of sophistication surrounding her as she neared Ariel's bed.

"This is my Grandma, Grandma Nari, and I'm Lin, the owner of this hospital," Lin said, pointing at Grandma Nari.

"What is your name?" Grandma Nari asked.

Ariel hesitated; this wasn't what she wanted at that moment. She needed an explanation as to why they'd kidnap her, or, better still, she wanted to leave; she wasn't interested in whatever they had to say.

"I asked a question, young lady. What is your name?" Grandma Nari asked again, her eyes narrowing at Ariel's weak figure.

"Ariel," Ariel replied, sighing.

"Ariel Hudson," Grandma Nari completed, slowly shaking her head.

Ariel's eyes widened. How did she know her father's name? Suddenly, it dawned on her that she'd just been kidnapped by one of her father's enemies.

How unlucky was she? She even had to pay for her useless father's sins too.

"You're going to do me a favor, Ariel," Grandma Nari said.

"I'll do no such thing! If Mr. Hudson owes you a favor, then I suggest you score it out with him. I'm never putting myself up for that evil man," Ariel said angrily.

She knew it was a risk to challenge her captors, but she couldn't just accept the fact that they wanted her to atone for her father's sins, and they looked so classy like all those higher-up billionaires in the country.

What did that old fool get himself into now?

"Dear, show her this," Grandma Nari raised her hand behind her, giving her phone to Lin.

"Yes, Grandma," Lin took it and walked around the wheelchair.

Ariel watched the screen as Lin slid through two slides of pictures, each was a picture of a house.

The first one was a picture of their current house, and the second one was a picture of her mother's white cottage. Even though both houses belonged to her mother, the white cottage was more precious to her. It was where she had spent most of her time as a child with her mother. It was the same cottage they were heading to when the unfortunate event happened.

But she didn't understand why they were showing her pictures of these buildings, what was their point?

"Uh, what does this mean?" Ariel asked cautiously.

She was scared, but she tried her best to look and sound confident.

"Your father owes us a lot of money, and when it's time to pay, he obviously doesn't have the money," Grandma Nari said seriously, stretching her hand out to Lin and Lin put her phone back into her hand.

Ariel's eyes widened in shock. Her idiot of a father owed such powerful people and he had the mind to still live lavishly with that witch of a wife.

"What does this have to do with me? Or the houses?" Ariel asked, squeezing the ear of the hospital pillow in anger.

"Everything, dear Ariel..." Grandma Nari replied with a little nod.

"You see, I know these houses originally belonged to your deceased mother, and I know about your unfavorable living conditions," Grandma Nari tapped her thigh slowly.

Ariel was too shocked to speak, but what did she expect? Rich people were dangerous, they'd find out everything about you in a matter of seconds if they wanted to.

"Now, your father has offered us those houses as collateral, and, my husband has happily accepted. Now these buildings belong to us; my husband was just looking for new sites to build a new orphanage and a hotel. Looking at those pictures, their locations are not bad at all," Grandma Nari said in a quiet but certain tone.

"No!" Ariel suddenly brought her legs down from the bed, placing her free hand on the bed beside her to support her weak body.

"Of course, child...no. I'm a woman, too, that's why I understand how you must feel learning that your father had given away your memories and assets just to pay off his dubious debts, and I know she willed these houses to you," Grandma Nari motioned for Lin to push her forward, closer to Ariel.

"You want to keep your mother's house?" Grandma Nari asked, placing her hands on Ariel's thigh.

"Yes," Ariel replied without hesitation.

This time, she was ready to do whatever it took to make sure those evil couples didn't get what they wanted. She will get those houses back by all means.

Had he lost it? Selling her mother's property?

She was sure it was that crazy Catherine's idea.

"Good, that's the spirit," Grandma Nari waved one guard over and he instantly walked over with a file.

"What's your condition, Mrs. Nari?" Ariel asked.

Grandma Nari shared a meaningful look with Lin before looking up at Ariel's face and saying, "Marry my Grandson."