Getting into Azaiah's car, Ariana could hear her heart beating rapidly. She knew kissing Azaiah might not be enough to convince Rodrigo, but she had to do something.
She turned to Azaiah to see he had an unfathomable expression and she wondered what was going through his mind.
He had kissed her like he had been waiting all his life for the chance to do so. But Ariana didn't want to think much about it and decided to believe Azaiah was just very good at acting.
"Azaiah" she called out, snapping him back to reality.
He turned to her and said "One kiss might not be enough to get him off you".
"I know" Ariana responded, looking down at her hands.
"That's why we need to step up. He's smart but definitely not as smart as he thinks he is" Azaiah added and Ariana gave him a certain look.
Azaiah spoke like he knew Rodrigo and she wondered if he actually did.
"He'd definitely tell my parents about this and honestly, their reaction won't nice" she paused.
"But I have something to ask you" She continued.
"Do you know him? Apart from knowing him as my ex..." She raised her eye brows waiting for his reply.
"I do. He bought shares from one of my companies a while ago. We didn't see eye to eye but after finding out he bought shares, I did a background check on him but before then, I already knew he was engaged to you" Azaiah explained but he wasn't exactly the truth.
It was true Rodrigo bought some shares in one of his companies, but before then, the exact time he knew about Rodrigo was when the man started dating Ariana in college.
After highschool, Azaiah didn't get the chance to see Ariana as much and it was then he started keeping track of her.
With the money his family had, he used it to employ several men who'd keep tabs on Ariana at certain times.
Though, they didn't watch her all the time. He did that to make sure she was safe and was still within his reach. But there were certain times he didn't do that, to avoid it messing with his mental health which wasn't in a perfect state.
After highschool, these men who still worked for Azaiah, reported major changes in Ariana's life back to Azaiah.
They also reported back to Azaiah the moment the Sterling's and the Sanchez's decided to bring their children together in a relationship when in fact the main purpose was for financial and business benefits.
After finding out, Azaiah was pissed but there was nothing he could do. He was sure Ariana hated him after his behavior in highschool so there was no way he could put a stop to the relationship.
He got intel of how their relationship got stronger through college and even after Ariana began to work in her father's company.
He had watched the woman he had interest in date and get engaged to another man and there was still nothing he could do about it.
Azaiah had a serious crush on Ariana since the moment he laid eyes on her in highschool. But unfortunately the only way he thought he could get her attention was by teasing her occasionally.
It was stupid and often made her avoid him but it was too late before he realized his mistakes.
He graduated highschool before her and barely saw her and it suddenly felt like what made him excited about life was gone.
He buried himself into work, building and establishing companies though he didn't actually need the money because he was born into affluence. He could live well without lifting a finger to work.
He was from a generation of royalty thus the reason the Hawthorne mansion was built like a castle. But the world was modernized now and the royal bloodline had decided to step back. Not only because countries were now mostly ruled by Presidents and not Kings but because the bloodline had a strange illness.
An illness that took Azaiah's father, Denzel Hawthorne's life.
During and after college, Azaiah tried overwhelming himself with work so he wouldn't think about Ariana but it never worked. Her innocent face which pulled the strings of his heart would still appear at the back of his mind everytime.
It was then he decided to keep an eye on her. At least if he could still see her at times, that would be enough to keep him sane.
But that didn't still satisfy.
To him, Ariana was everything he needed. For some reason, he felt completely hooked. Unwilling to let go of the feelings he had for her.
He met other women, some he did date but none seemed to get a hold of his attention as much as Ariana did.
Ariana was a nerd in highschool but he found himself being completely drawn to her cute and naive, nerdy behavior. To him, it seemed more alluring than some girls who did everything in their power including faking cute voices to get his attention. Whereas, Ariana hardly acknowledged his presence.
He decided to keep eyes on her but on a low. Painfully trying to accept the fact she was going to be married to someone else soon until now.
He had always waited for Rodrigo to slip up, to make a mistake and then he'd have his chance at her again because he knew Rodrigo wasn't right for her.
But this time, he wouldn't try to tease her to get her attention but to genuinely show interest in her and hope she'd accept him and it seemed Rodrigo did slip up. Giving his access.
His men informed him that Rodrigo had been cheating on Ariana for a while now with different women. But Rodrigo covered his tracks well. It was also hard for Ariana to find out because she had spent most of her time at the Sterling group.
Azaiah saw it as as opportunity to go for the woman he had always loved but he didn't act until Ariana found out Rodrigo's infidelity first.
Now with Ariana in his car and within his reach, he didn't want to hold back anymore. Not only because of his undeniable feelings but also because he knew he was running out of time and he'd rather spend his last days with the woman he loved.
But getting Ariana wasn't going to be easy, that was why he had made a strategic plan ahead of time.
"I can't make another mistake and lose you again". Azaiah thought to himself before looking at Ariana.
"You asked what I want in exchange for helping you...".
"Yeah" Ariana responded.
"Be my wife" he said with a serious expression and Ariana looked at him like he had gone crazy.