(Not) The Billionaire’s Replacement Bride

“Ariana!” that morning was greeted by Amber’s loud shout echoing through the empty apartment room. Amber half ran, approaching the bed where Ariana was curled up like a fetus, her body trembling violently. “Ariana?” she called again on the bedside. Her faint voice couldn’t hide her panic. Amber knew what was happening; this was not unfamiliar to her, although it rarely occurred. Ariana slowly opened her eyes, gazing at her friend and then smiled gently.

“Calm down,” she whispered softly, clearly in pain. Amber gently wiped Ariana’s forehead. Cold sweat flooded her friend’s forehead.

“Where is the medicine?” she asked in a whisper. Her eyes searched the room corners. Instead of answering, Ariana shook her head. “Ariana, it’s not the time to be stubborn!” Amber said in frustration.

“I’m… fine…” Ariana replied, gasping for breath. Nevertheless, her hands clutched the blanket tightly, her fingertips turning white.

“We’re going to the hospital now!” Amber said firmly. She moved away from the bed, opened Ariana’s wardrobe, and grabbed her friend’s jacket. Returning to the bed, Amber helped Ariana sit up and lie back on the pillows. But when Amber was about to put the jacket on Ariana, Ariana stopped her. “What now?!” the girl asked, irritated and worried.

“Find… suitable… clothes…” Ariana requested weakly, still gasping for breath.

“We are going to the hospital, not to a party!” scolded Amber. Frustrated that Ariana was more concerned about her appearance than going to the hospital immediately.

Ariana shook her head. “Later,” she said again. With trembling hands, Ariana pointed to her phone on the nightstand. Amber reached for it, though her face still showed irritation. Ariana took the phone and unlocked it with her fingerprint, then handed it to Amber.

Amber took the phone and read the message inside, then snorted in annoyance. The message was from Ariana’s husband’s assistant, saying that the Department of Social Services would be visiting Zeroun’s residence today. Ariana was expected to come so that the adoption process could proceed faster. The condition was that Ariana had to wear appropriate clothes to impress the department.

“Damn it! Who is this Vivan?!” Amber cursed angrily. “Your health comes first, family matters come second, Ariana!” she said again. However, Ariana shook her head again, disagreeing with her statement.

“I… asked for everything to be resolved quickly,” she whispered. Amber looked at her anxiously. She knew Ariana was not okay. Her friend was clearly in pain. But why was she prioritizing others over herself?

“Can’t it be rescheduled?” she asked, forcing her tone. “At least let’s go to the hospital first, get first aid, and then go to Zeroun’s residence.” Amber pleaded again. However, Ariana shook her head. Eventually, Amber got angry at her friend’s behavior.

“Jody…” she said. Amber frowned but then nodded in understanding. She walked out of Ariana’s room and searched for her own phone, dialing the name Ariana mentioned earlier.

“Where are you?” Amber asked without preamble.

“Restaurant. Why haven’t you come yet?” Jody asked back.

“Ariana relapsed,” she said, glancing at Ariana’s room door that she had purposely left open. “But she doesn’t want to go to the hospital.” She continued quickly. “You know what you have to do. Come here right now!” Amber ordered. And she hung up the phone. Amber walked back to Ariana’s room. She saw her friend trying to stand up again. “What are you doing?” she said in annoyance. Ariana sat back on the edge of the bed.

“Take me there,” she requested softly.

Amber looked at her angrily but proceeded to the wardrobe and found clothes that she thought would be comfortable for Ariana to wear at the moment. “What do you think Gerald will say when he sees you like this? You clearly look like a walking corpse, Ai,” she commented, putting a long-sleeved dress on the bed.

“Am I that bad?” Ariana asked, chuckling.

Amber just snorted. She helped Ariana change out of her short-sleeved cotton nightdress into a knee-length dress. “Worse than that,” Amber replied sternly. Then she helped Ariana put on new underwear since her friend’s current underwear was soaked with sweat. “Are you sure you can handle this?” Amber asked again after finishing putting on the new clothes.

Ariana just smiled and nodded faintly. “Hair,” she said, pointing to the comb on the vanity table. “Don’t tie it,” she requested when Amber started combing it. Amber complied. She combed Ariana’s hair gently, caressing the beautiful and dense black hair softly. After a moment, she left Ariana and came back with several items in her hands.

Amber placed a fabric headband on Ariana’s head, hoping it would beautify her appearance and hide the sweat still trickling down from her forehead. Then she also tried to apply makeup on Ariana to make her face not look too pale.

Right after Amber finished applying makeup on Ariana, the apartment door was heard opening. Jody walked in with a bag in his hand. Ariana looked up and smiled at her friend. “Later… In the car,” she said softly. Jody didn’t say much. He handed the bag he was carrying to Amber and walked toward Ariana.

Jody crouched in front of Ariana, indicating that he wanted her to get on his back. Ariana didn’t protest much. She approached Jody’s back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Then Jody effortlessly lifted Ariana and walked out of the apartment with Amber following behind.

Amber overtook Jody and pressed the elevator button. Once Jody got in, she entered and pressed the basement button where Ariana’s car was parked. Amber walked in first and opened the door for Jody. Carefully, Jody seated Ariana in the back left seat. He closed the door and then grabbed the bag from Amber and walked around to enter the car from the other door. Amber did the same. She walked around from the front and got into the car, then sat behind the steering wheel. With practiced movements, Jody took out the complete infusion equipment with the needle from the bag. He carefully set it up on Ariana’s left hand before hanging it on the car door, which had previously been fitted with a hook. “Are you sure?” he asked Ariana after her infusion was perfectly set up.

Ariana just smiled and nodded. “Enough,” Ariana replied softly. Both Jody and Amber could only look at Ariana in silence. Their disagreement with Ariana’s actions would clearly end in vain.

Amber then started her car. She pulled the handbrake lever and started driving the car slowly to a place she had never known existed. But as if knowing about it, Ariana then mentioned the location of the Zeroun family’s residence.

It took quite some time to get there. Amber had to drive as smoothly as possible so as not to disturb Ariana’s infusion process. And Jody was the one who always made sure the infusion

went in perfectly. Occasionally, he wiped Ariana’s forehead, still cold and sweaty, and also held Ariana’s clenched fist every time his friend felt pain.

“Ariana…” Jody whispered. His eyes were fixed on Ariana’s pale appearance under the makeup. “Let’s just go ourselves,” he asked Ariana softly. Both Amber and Jody understood the meaning behind that sentence.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.