Chapter Forty

Brielle saw Stephen and that woman locked in an embrace and immediately lost her composure. She turned around so she wouldn't see them. Her cold face became even paler if that were possible.

She deliberated whether she should stick around. She took a deep breath and signed it. 'You've outdone yourself this time, Brielle.' she thought. 'You're dreaming! This noble and handsome man can't be true to you.' Brielle said to herself, to her heart.

"Mommy, what's up?" Ariel followed Brielle out of the car. He looked at Brielle's pale face, followed her gaze, and then knew why she was pale. Tears formed in his eyes. He thought, 'Mr. Stephen, you hurt my mom again. I was stupid to trust you.'

'Nothing, let's go." Brielle replied. She held his tender little hand and left without hesitation. her hair and dress flowed behind her, billowing with the speed of there steps. She was done. There was nothing left here for her to hold on to.

Stephen was totally unaware of what Brielle was doing. He called Thomas. Chloe freed herself, standing between him and the car. "Thomas, it's all good. Chloe's with me. You'll see her soon." Stephen looked at Chloe. She leaned towards him and laughed. he felt helpless.

"What? Did you found her? Where is she? I'll be right there!" Thomas couldn't stand waiting any longer. he was very angry and eager to teach a lesson to Chloe, the little runaway. "Nah Thomas. We're getting fed. I'll give you the address of the restaurant. You can meet us there." Stephen read off the address and then immediately hung up before Thomas could object.

"Was that Cold very angry with me?" Chloe asked, concern in her voice. 'Mr. Cold' was her nickname for Thomas, because he was always cold. Thomas was such a cold person that even his sister Chloe couldn't stand him.

"Probably. You know how much he loves you, and you made him worry. You're gonna get it when he gets here." Stephen had been on the receiving end of Thomas's anger. He didn't want to do that again.

"Stephen, you can't leave me alone with Thomas. I'll go crazy from his nagging." Ha! If Thomas knew how she had spent last night, sleeping with a stranger, it might even go worse for her. "Chloe, are you afraid of Thomas? Not only did you sneak off, but you also walked around along on the streets? What id you ran into trouble?" Stephen poked her forehead. His words were harsh, but he said them in a caring manner.

"Huh! I'm not scared. I just don't want to be annoyed by him." But, in fact, she already met a bad guy. She seduced him, true, but he took her virginity. "Okay, but I'm not defending you when Thomas gets here. Let's go! We'll hit a restaurant and you can meet my wife." When he said her name, Stephen's mood lifted. he smiled and thought that Brielle might also like this lovely lady.

"Wow! When did you get married? You didn't even tell me!" Chloe followed Stephen. 'So I missed their wedding ceremony. Did he not invite me on purpose?' Chloe thought. "Aren't I telling you right now?" Stephen mocked. He really never thought about being married until recently. SO it was impossible for Chloe to have known.

"Huh! You're so mean. you didn't invite me to your wedding ceremony." Chloe complained and pouted. "Okay, we'll make up for that tonight. You can drink as much as you want." Stephen opened the car door, and his smile faded. He shot a look to the back seat but didn't see anyone there. He was seized by sudden panic and looked around. but he didn't see Brielle and Ariel anywhere.

Stephen ran here and there to look for them but still found nothing. he dialed Brielle's number, but she had left it here, vibrating and glowing as brightly as ever. It was as if the cellphone were mocking him. Look how embarrassed he was now. he suddenly couldn't think of anything, and his face was very pale.

"Stephen, what's going on?" Chloe was surprised at his actions. Wasn't he going to introduce his wife to her? Stephen realized that Chloe had been with him the whole time. His blood went cold. He pounded the car in regret. 'Shit! Brielle must have seen me and Chloe holding each other. She must have misunderstood, otherwise, she'd still be here. I didn't even get a chance to explain.' Stephen thought.

"I'm okay, Chloe. Change of plans, sorry. Your brother can pick you up here." Stephen regained his calmness. He knew he should be able to clear this up with Brielle if he didn't lose his head. He dialed up Fan. "Hello, Fan. I found Chloe. Find Miss Brielle and Ariel. Tell Alex too." Stephen finally regained his shrewd business acumen.

"Okay, Mr. Stephen, but isn't Miss Brielle with you now? What happened?" Fan was a little confused. He wondered why Brielle would suddenly disappear. "Well ... It's difficult to explain. Just do as I ask." Stephen's eyes flashed, he felt a little embarrassed. So he would be blamed for Brielle's disappearance.

"Gotcha. Will do." Fan was helpless. He couldn't think of any other place Brielle could go besides the military base. he could go there and wait for her. Stephen was no mood to ask Fan about it. he called Thomas and requested he picks up Chloe. he was eager to go home to see whether Brielle and Ariel were already there. Or so he hoped. He wasn't sure what to do if they weren't. This was not his day.

Brielle had shut her emotions down and become cold again. She was used to it. For years she was in love with a man who would never love her back. His affair meant nothing to her. she would just carry on quietly as she always had. She would paint a picture of him when she missed him so much she couldn't sleep and bury herself in training during the day so she wouldn't miss him then. She would endure.

"Where are we going, Mommy?" Ariel looked at Brielle, suddenly worried. "Oh! Sorry, Ariel, mommy was thinking about something. Are you hungry?" Brielle sighed. her hair was a little messy in the wind. She combed it with her fingers and looked around, only to find that there wasn't a restaurant among the stores nearby.

"Me neither. Let's go back to the base! Mommy will cook some noodles for you." Brielle said and tried to take her phone out of her pocket, only to find that she was wearing a dress with no pockets. She had left the phone in Stephen's car and had no money on her now.

"I need to borrow your phone, Ariel. Let's call UncleOliver. He'll come and drive us back." Brielle chastised herself. 'That was careless, Brielle you keep doing stupid things.' "Okay, mommy." His phone started ringing loudly as he reached into his bag. Ariel took it out and saw it was Stephen. He looked at Brielle not knowing what to do.

"What? who is it?" Brielle looked at him, wondering why he didn't answer it. "It's daddy, mommy. Do you want me to answer it?" Ariel asked haltingly. He stared at Brielle, waiting for her response. "Go ahead! tell him we're going back to the base." Brielle was a rational woman. she was disappointed in Stephen, but Ariel didn't need to uninvolved. She never badmouthed Stephen in front of their son, nor did she deny that Stephen was his father.

Stephen drove fast, wheels squealing at every turn, and kept calling Ariel anxiously. He pressed redial on the car phone again and again. He did neglect Brielle and Ariel just now; he had forgotten that Brielle was a girl who tended to think too much. "Hello! Daddy." Ariel took a breath and answered. he was so angry with Stephen. he wouldn't have called him daddy if Brielle weren't there.

"where are you, Ariel? I'm coming." Ariel finally answered the phone. Stephen was so excited and wanted to know where they were now. "No, daddy. We're going back to the base. You can go back and enjoy yourself with that chick!" Ariel couldn't help saying that, as he was really disappointed in Stephen. He knew that Brielle would get angry about what he had said, and he was prepared to take the punishment.

Brielle was shocked at the way Ariel talked to his father. She didn't know he would say that! Despite never badmouthing Stephen for fear that Ariel would hate him, Ariel had already gotten to that point. 'It's not what you think, Ariel. Can I speak with your mommy? I can explain it." Stephen spun the car around and punched it. He headed to the base.

Ariel looked at Brielle and pointed at the phone. Brielle shook her head to give a silent no. what could she say to Stephen? She had nothing to say. besides, she had nothing to say. besides, she was afraid that Stephen would tell her something terrible, so she had to keep away from him.

"Mommy won't speak with you. I have to go." Ariel knew what was waiting for him, but he was ready to face it. "Ariel, hold on. Please, Ariel..." Ariel hung up the phone. Stephen was very upset. he floored the accelerator and the car started racing down the road at lightning speed.

After hanging up the phone, Ariel pouted and looked at Brielle. "Mommy, I'm sorry. You can punish me when we get home."

"Ariel, Mommy told you to be a good boy. Do you think a good boy would say that to his father?" Brielle said gently, with a cool look on her face. "No! I'll never do it again." Ariel hung his head in shame, tears welling up in his eyes.

"All right, mommy won't punish you this time, but you need to keep your word." Brielle knew that Ariel was feeling bad for her, so she didn't have the heart to scold him. "Mommy, let's call Uncle Adam." Ariel tried to distract Brielle so that she could stop talking about what he had done.

"Mrs. Brielle! Ariel! Wha are you doing here? Adam was surprised to see them while driving. He pulled up to say hello. "Uncle Adam, I miss you so much!" Ariel jumped into Adam's arms as soon as he saw the man. He looked relieved, thinking Adam would help them.

"What do you need, Ariel?" Adam knew what Ariel was like. He didn't think the boy would have said that for nothing. "What are you doing here, Mr. Adam?" Brielle asked, looking at him. Adam had been acting weird recently. She was afraid that he would say something she didn't understand.

"Nothing really. I was just out for a drive and here you are. Where are you headed? Maybe I can give you a lift?" In fact, Adam just came back from the bar where he had slept with Chloe last night. He had left in a hurry this morning before she woke up, so he went back to see her as soon as his work was finished. As an officer, he felt that he should be responsible and do something for what he had done to her. But when he reached the bar, he found that the girl had gone. It looked like she wanted nothing from him, which didn't make him feel any better about his behavior.