The Heiress

Cunning

Ariellia was in the middle of a meeting when Damian called, so she didn't pick it up because it bothered her. If only she had no debt of gratitude, she wouldn't need to reconnect with him. Something inside her was wary, before letting someone else into her life. Of course, she should not be too careless and so trusting.

She crossed her arms in her chest as she looked at her cell phone who kept ringing on the table in her office — hesitating whether to pick up the phone or not. Damian called her during work hours and it bothered her. Her hand raised to bring her smartphone closer to her face, she pressed the red button on the screen and immediately turned off the phone. She was annoyed, that's annoying — she threw her phone on the table, making a loud thud.

Liam — her secretary, stood frozen in front of her with a lazy face "Should I eliminate him?"

"No need" she pinched her temples "Have you got what I asked for?"

"Yes, My Lady" he said as he put the file on the table which immediately passed to Arielle's hands "Damian Lorcan, he is an orphan. Has a brother named Carleton Lorcan, but they are not siblings." Liam explain to her

"So they are stepbrothers?"

"I don't know much, the information about them is very secret. I'm sorry" said Liam

"He's the owner of the pastry shop, are you sure?" she covered his mouth with her palm, her jaw dropped — even so, her eyes didn't move from Damian's private file.

"Yes. He is the owner of a famous pastry shop called Cielo Pastry.”

Ariellia looked deep in thought, her brows furrowed "Is the money from the cake shop enough to buy dozens of luxury cars and limited edition cars?"

Because while she was at Lorcan's residence she accidentally saw a large collection of his luxury cars

"Even though Cielo Pastry is very famous and has branches in many countries, it looks a little suspicious." Liam replied — agreeing with Ariellia's thoughts.

 "Do you think there's a chance he has other businesses?"

“On a scale of ten to one hundred — at seventy, he has other businesses. Judging from the fact that he covered it up, it's possible that the other business he was in was an illegal business.”

"Your explanation makes sense, Pierre said Damian is a dangerous man and the one I never wanted to know" Ariellia put the file back on the table "Thanks Liam, you're great as usual"

“Thank you very much, My Lady” Liam smiled with satisfaction “Is there anything else I need to do?”

“Check the bank accounts of Damian Lorcan and Carleton Lorcan. take everything you can get — I want that information as soon as possible” she ordered

"Understood, My Lady," he said and quickly get out of her office — leaving Ariellia alone with her head throbbing in pain.

She leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. Everything that had happened in her life in the last few years had exhausted her but she couldn't lean on her older brothers — they were all far away from her.

Thinking of that drained all of her energy, she felt her eyelids getting heavy and dark. She felt at peace until — the phone on her desk rang.

“f**k” she cursed, she was just about to fall asleep “damn phone call”

“Lady Ariellia, Damian Lorcan asked to see you but he has no appointments. Should I let him in?”

Fuck Damian, he can't be patient

"Take him to my office, Amelie," she grunted harshly and quickly hung up the phone.

She got up from her seat and walked to the kitchen in her office to make tea. No matter how upset he is with him, she still has to treat guests well. Five minutes later there was a knock on the door and Damian when he had been given permission

“Sorry to bother you, but I don't think visiting you at lunch time is a bad thing?” he asked innocently and it made her a little sick "I brought cheesecake too"

"Oh god, you don't have to bother " Ariellia said as she put the tea in front of Damian

“No, it's not troublesome. After all this is from Cielo, my pastry shop.”

"Oh really? I've always heard about Cielo which is famous for having a very delicious and unique taste, but never tried it until now” she lied, she'd never heard those names

“Then you're lucky that I brought it to you for free, darling” Damian said with a wink

"Thank you very much"

Damian looked at her intensely and it made her uncomfortable, even so she smiled faintly "Is there something wrong with me?" ask Ariellia

“No, you – um it's just, you're so beautiful. The rumors are true, that you are very beautiful like a goddess.”

"You're praising too much" she said blushing shyly

"Eat that cheesecake, it will taste better if you eat it while it's warm, Ariellia" the way Damian said her name made her flutter. No one ever said her name like Damian.

"Alright" she opened rectangular package on her desk and took a slice of cheesecake. Without hesitation she ate it “Ah, this tastes so good, the cheese melts in my mouth — oh, is there a blueberry in this cake?” Arielle is so happy just for eating it

"Yeah, it's blueberry jam. Do you like it?”

“Very, this is my taste”

"Is that so?" Damian asked doubtfully and Ariellia replied with a confused look "Why?"

"I'm afraid the taste of this cake is not to your taste" he said

Ariellia smiled broadly “This is according to my taste, really. thank you very much” she said sincerely “I understand why the cheesecake in Cielo is always sold out every day”

Damian just chuckled shyly, she was praising him too much.

He cleared his throat "I think I already know what I want in return" he said slowly

"What is that? Just say it"

“I heard from the rumors going around, that If you're very cold, hard to approach and don't have many em no friends — you're hard to make friends. You know, they talk badly about you a lot and I really don't like it” he explained “so can I give it a try – I mean, be your friend?”

Ariellia was a little surprised at Damian's request, but she kept her expression — she had a stoic face.

"I think you've also heard the rumors that I'm not do a friends — I don't need them" she said sharply "You must have heard the rumors about the person I'm destroying on too—“

“I know” he cut in “that's why, I asked you to be friends with you”

Ariellia was silent, wondering whether the decision she was about to take was the right one and would not harm her. If he heard this, he would be furious and worst of all — lock her up.

"All right, friend?" Ariellia stretched out her hand and was greeted by Damian who smiled broadly, reaching for Ariellia's hand "Friend"

She walks around the outskirts of town with Damian. He said, this place sells a variety of a very good food even if it's just food on the street. Ariellia, who was curious because she had never been to such a place, immediately agreed to his invitation.

They walked hand in hand in silence, neither of them speaking after getting out of the car. She didn't understand why Damian had brought her here, from what she could see he had great taste. She had thought that he would take her to a luxurious place. But no, and she was very grateful for that because she wanted a new atmosphere, a new adventure.

“Ariellia” Damian called “I wonder, why did Pierre introduce you without your last name?” he asked

“I don't know, maybe he's avoiding the fuss. I don't know, maybe you can ask him that when you get back to New York” Because Pierre spends more time there than in England

"I think you know the answer, could it be that you are afraid of being known as Ariellia Malis Cartier who is called an illegitimate child and has a mental disorder?" he said harshly, until Ariellia's eyebrows furrowed. She was surprised at Damian other side. He shamelessly asking her about this, maybe he  had to learn to keep his mouth shut.

"What do you think?"

“I don't know, you were very famous three years ago. Because of the attempted murder of Rory Cartier." He said quietly "You are being called an illegitimate child and they say you have to share or even give all that Cartier has to those who are more entitled"

He had just called someone who wasn't one of the Cartier. Gross.

Her face hardened with cold eyes, her hands clenched into fists. "Is this the reason you approached me?" she said with a small smile “You're just an outsider, you don't know anything about us. Back off and mind your own business” she said sharply and immediately turned around, walking in the opposite direction — away from Damian.

She stopped and immediately turned around again, facing Damian who was now looking at her in disbelief “I also don't need to explain myself to you, to anyone or to the world. I let myself be labeled a villain in this story. Because I am a the villain” she said with a cold smile and quickly walked away, leaving Damian nailed where he was standing.

The UK was shocked by the Headline of the Morning Newspaper.

Ariellia Cartier, Cartier's illegitimate child, dates a stranger on the edge of town.

She crumpled her morning newspaper. Her face didn’t show any emotion, her eyes gleamed coldly at the newspaper in her hand. How dare they call her an illegitimate child and sided with Cami's dirty family.

But she was too lazy to explain anything to anyone. The noble families who close to her knew that this was all bullshit. The Cami family is trying to restore its fame and influence within the elite circles. Because of that, they made trouble with the most influential families.

The servants in the Cartier residence looked at her worriedly, this was all too much. Ariellia Malis Cartier is a lady with honor. The daughter of Duke Cartier – Abraxas, and the heiress to the Mafia – Giuliana.

“Maybe I should make the Cami family a dessert for Leon” she said lazily. Honestly, she was getting tired of the game Cami was playing.

Her personal maid – Meta Aexon, chuckled because of at that. "Don't, My Lady. I'm sure you don't want Leon to be contaminated by the negative behavior of the Cami family," she said casually

What Meta said is true, Leon is her sweet and adorables snowleopard, if he eats the Cami family, the sweetness can disappear and be replaced by negative behavior.

Ariellia chuckled — amused to hear that. She was happy — at least there was something to cheer her up this morning.

"You're right, maybe I should throw them in a pond full of piranhas" and Meta laughed loudly

There weren't many servants in the Cartier residence, only ten of them and four of them were not an ordinary people — they were trained, and it was Ariellia who chose them directly. Moreover, she has a snowleopard and a black panther in her residence, automatically this residence is very safe.

The rumors about the amazing Cartier Manor were not a lie. Cartier Manor is indeed very beautiful, located in the middle of the city but has a genuine environment like in the middle of a forest. When viewed from the height of the area around it will look very green.

The land area of approximately one hectare is Cartier's property which has been owned by several generations. The rightful owner of all property, both land and property, currently belongs to her.

Ariellia Malis Cartier, a very good name for a beautiful but cursed girl. They said that she always had bad luck and there was always something that prevented her from being happy. It's as if she's not allowed to be happy — she totally agrees about that, though. Since the villain never deserve to be happy, the villain must be punished.

Even so, she never cared. She lets the media and everyone talk bad things about her, yet she will always be on top. Moreover, with their talk and ridicule, she became more and more famous. The stock price of her company was flying high — she was quite content with it, at least everything she experienced was worth what she got. But she still wanted more than this.

Besides lust, humans are also made of greed.

Yes, it is true.

And Ariellia will never deny it.

Because even though she already got whatever she wanted, she still wanted to get more and more. She is not an innocent and naive girl, she is a beautiful girl with a smart and cunning brain that she will always use to get whatever she wants. It's okay to call her cunning – because it's true. She will use any means to achieve what she wants.

Slowly a sinister smile tugged at her luscious lips.

She had to play her chess pieces well.

She didn't know for sure who Damian Lorcan was, whether he was on her side or not. There are only two choices, to be on her side or on the side of the other side, with  her haters — there’s no in between. But until then — until she knew where he was standing, she would play. She could use him to her advantage — any tool she would need in the future.

Having a little fun isn't a bad thing, right?

Damian Lorcan was her prized chess piece now.

—However, humans can only plan, don't you think?