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“Hello?” came a faint voice. Ariana’s voice sounded slurred, and it seemed like she had been drinking
for quite a while.
“..Are you drinking again?” Holden furrowed his brows and shot a question. It was already late at night,
and Ariana was drinking, which made him worried.
“N-no. I’m not drinking,” Ariana replied. Although she denied it, her voice clearly showed that she had
consumed more than just a little bit of alcohol. Her words were slightly slurred, and she sounded
somewhat inebriated. She continued, “Who are you?”
Holden scoffed.
“You don’t even recognize my voice anymore, and you’re saying you haven’t been drinking?”
“So, who are you then?” Ariana persistently inquired in her inebriated state.
“Well… Holden began to speak but then stopped himself.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHe realized that for Ariana, he didn’t have a_ straightforward identity to claim. Holden was uncertain
about how to present himself.
After a moment of silence, he finally said, “I’m your online follower and Melon’s fake dad.”
“I don’t know who that is,” replied Ariana. Her words were still slurring from the effects of alcohol.
Holden sighed and asked, “Where are you?”
On the other end of the phone, Ariana mumbled something about a riverbank and then mentioned a
nearby building before abruptly hanging up.
Holden didn’t even have the time to confirm the location she had mentioned. Feeling helpless, he let
out a long sigh again. In the end, he decided to rely on himself and used the location hints she had
given. He finally found a bar, grabbed his car keys, and drove there immediately.
When he arrived at the bar, he looked around to find Ariana. His eyes then landed on a small figure
slouching over a table that had more than five empty bottles.
Seeing Ariana unprotected in the middle of the bar, Holden couldn’t help but feel a hint of anger. It was
strange for him because he didn’t understand why he felt that way. He looked at Ariana, who was too
intoxicated to recognize anyone, and he couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed. Did this woman have
absolutely no sense of danger?
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She dared to drink so heavily when she was out alone, and this wasn’t the first time.
As he approached Ariana, Holden’s anger dissipated. He gently tapped her forehead and said, “Stop
drinking. Let’s go home.”
The bartender approached and asked, “You must be Theodore, this lady’s husband, right?”
Holden found himself frozen, a whirlwind of intricate emotions swirling within as the server fixed a
quizzical gaze upon him. After a moment of hesitation, he gave a subtle nod.
With a sigh of relief, the server exclaimed, “Thank the stars you’ve arrived. This poor lady has been
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmsipping her sorrows away solo for quite a spell now. Be gentle in your disagreements — life’s no walk in
the park for the fairer sex. It’s risky letting your spouse stew in solitude too, nursing her wounds with
drinks like this.”
Holden gave an awkward nod and turned to assist Ariana, feeling a tad embarrassed by the server’s
assumptions. As he looked at her slouched across the table, her cheeks flushed and her hair awry, he
couldn’t help but let out a sigh.
In her inebriated state, Ariana said, “Theodore, you scoundrel. Why haven’t you looked for me?
Hearing her long for her late husband kindled a stifling sensation in Holden’s chest. Though he knew
he had no claim on her, an irrational pang of jealousy flickered through him.
With care, Holden slipped his arms beneath Ariana’s limp body, taking care to avoid the knife wound on
her arm. But as he hoisted her up, she weakly resisted.
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