31 NO FRIEND ZONE
ARIEL’S POV
When Luke and I arrived at the hospital, we didn’t utter a single word to each other while we were on the road. And look at me,
thinking of a way to convince him to marry me. This was going to be a tough one.
As I wanted to burst out of the car, Luke seized my hands. I turned to him right away. I wanted to yell at him, but for some
reason, I didn’t. His manly hand was simply nice on mine, along with his flawless grip. I didn’t want this, but I couldn’t tell him to
let go of me.
“Can I ask you a question?” Luke came out with a calm face. I couldn’t help but admire his looks; he was so cute with this
innocent cast of his. But drawing my mind back to the dark looks and hateful words he threw at me only caused me to terminate
this admiration that was going on at the moment.
I needed to kill the pride in me and cease the anger for the moment if I wanted this plan to work. As much as I hated Mason and
his silly ideas, I also kind of liked the fact that we both wanted one thing: revenge.
I wanted revenge for all the things Luke had done to me when we were still married. And as for Mason, I had no idea what Luke
did to him; he kept on refusing to tell me for some reason, and I couldn’t even imagine what it was.
“Hey, what are you thinking?” He snapped his fingers at my face, taking me away from my deep thoughts.
“Oh sorry.” I shook my head. “What were you saying?”
“I wanted to ask you a question.”
“Okay then, go ahead, sir.”
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?”
“Hmm, let’s see, I uttered, gently rubbing my chin. “Why are you asking me this?”
“My grandfather told me something yesterday, and the words keep on revolving in my head.”
“What’s that?”

“It’s none of your business.” His tone was kind of anti–septic.
“Okay, keep your thoughts to yourself then. It wasn’t like I was that curious anyway.” I shrugged.
“You haven’t given me an answer to my question.”
“You don’t need an answer,” I vocalized inaudibly. “Just know that I hate you. I hate you so much.”
Luke gazed at me for seconds with a disapproving look, and I didn’t care anyway. He burst out of the car, making a serious face.
I left as well.
We entered the hospital and made our way to the reception desk. I approached the nurse, trying to maintain a composed
demeanor. “Excuse me, could you please tell us where we can find Sir Reynold?” I asked politely.
“Sir Reynold?” The nurse gave me a confused expression. And I too was confused that she gave me a confused face. Like,
wasn’t this the hospital where his grandfather was admitted?
“You don’t have to ask where he is; I know the room goofball,” Luke told me.
I quickly turned around to look at him. “Who’re you calling a goofball?”
“There is no time for childish things. We can’t spend our entire day in the hospital.” He walked away with an annoyed expression.
But he wasn’t the only one who was annoyed here.
“Sorry,” I said, giving the nurse a fake smile before following Luke.
MOFRIEND ZONE

I was walking behind Luke, and believe me when I say this, he was too fast. I couldn’t even catch up with him. It was as if we
hadn’t come into the hospital together.
“Can you please slow down? You’re walking too fast!” I bawled a little, still following Luke’s
lead.
“Nope, I’m at my normal pace. You’re the one who’s slow.” An arctic tone right there, no glances directed at me. His hands were
in his pockets.
“I thought your grandfather wanted to speak with me.”
Luke didn’t give me a reply. He just ignored me, acting like he didn’t even hear what I said. I decided to shut it down for now.
After waking for quite some time, Luke halted, so I had to do the same. He glanced back at me.
“Get in,” was what he told me, and it sounded more like a command. I couldn’t believe this guy. It was as if I were begging to be
with him or something.
We both gazed at each other; the look of anger right within us showed no seriousness, and the looks were quite mutual. I
couldn’t help but think that someone was forcing him to do all these things.
Luke budged backwards, making way for me to enter the room. I took a deep breath and ploddingly stepped inside. Sir Reynold
was lying on the hospital bed. He looked so enervated, which made me feel kind of sorry for him.
I moved forward to Sir Reynold, still having that sorrowful feeling for him. At the time, I was still married to Luke; he was the only
one in the Reynolds who seemed to care for me. The rest were all mean and heartless toward me.

When I was adjacent to him, I held his warm hand. His eyes were closed, but he opened them the moment he felt my touch.
“Ariel, is that you?” He spoke in a soft tone, his eyes partly tone, his eyes partly
pened, and his gaze was directed
upwards.
RT NOTIPEND ZO
“Yes.” I spoke softly as well, closing my eyes and letting out little tears. But I swiftly wiped them away.
“I’m so glad you are here. You don’t know how I’ve missed you so much.” His words prompted me to laugh. “Where is Luke?” he
asked.
I turned around immediately, but Luke wasn’t in the room. He must probably be outside. “I think he’s outside; should I go and call
him?”
“No, there’s no need.” Sir Reynold let out a long sigh. “Ariel, I wanted to speak with you about something. This is really
important.” He coughed.
“What is that, sir?” I asked in a calm and gentle manner.
He coughed again. “Five years ago, you and Luke were separated; is that not correct?”
“Yes, we divorced.”
“Look, I know he did a lot of terrible things to you. But did you really hate him?”
I sighed after some time. “I did; I hated him.”
“No, you didn’t.” Sir Reynold disagreed, and I looked at him forthwith. “You were only allowing your anger to overshadow you.”
“Is that what you think?”
“That is what I know. Look, Ariel, do you know that Luke changed a little when you were absent in the past five years?”
I had a look of both surprise and confusion. “I don’t understand.”

“After you left him, he changed some of his ways. He doesn’t smoke again; you don’t see him partying in the club all night. He
missed you, but he didn’t realize it, and he still hasn’t. But I know that the three years spent with you had an impact on his life.”
Yeah, I did remember telling Luke to stop smoking. But he would just ignore me and blow smoke on my face, which was literally
annoying. I’m quite surprised to find out that he had put an end to his smoking habits.”
“Ariel, you don’t know how important you are to me, Luke, and to the rest of the people who have actually spent a lot of time with
you.”
Yeah, I could believe that, but me being important to Luke? That was so not true.
“Sir Reynold continued, “You’re so kind and lovely. Beautiful and wonderful. Anyone would be so lucky to have you in their lives.
That’s why I want you to marry Luke.”
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