Time Can Only Tell.....

Chapter 30

Arianna's POV

"Chase" my voice croaked out as my body fell numb. I just catch break for nothing! Everywhere I go drama follows.

The last time I saw Chase was outside of the clinic with Tristan which didn't end well and now he's standing in my house. Just my fucking luck!

"The one and only" he spoke with a smug look on his face, sliding his hands into the pants pockets of his slacks. He began to move closer to me and I felt a wave of anxiety hit me tenfold. It's just something about him that is off, something I didn't notice at first. He's always popping up somewhere unexpected and smiling or that smug look on his face as if he knows something I don't. Like he always has a hidden agenda. All of the subtle things Tristan has mentioned about him and how I saw first-hand how he reacts to his presence, it all has me shaken and thrown off a bit.

"You look nice my chérie" he approached me and reached for my hand. I simply avoided his gesture and folded my arms across my chest, leaving him startled causing his face to display his hurt from my rejection.

He cleared his throat "I don't think we've met before I'm Chase" he turned his attention to a dagger shooting Adrianna with his reach outstretched for a handshake.

"Adrianna, Arianna's big sister" she glared directly in his face blankly while shaking his hand knowing part of the story between Chase, Tristan, and I, well at least the parts I know of.

"Yes, I know. The two of you look just alike, but I hear you are also a soon to be married woman and a couple of days. I'll be sure to appreciate your beauty as you make you way down the aisle." He smiled; a hint of sarcasm masked in his tone that I knew wasn't so much for Adrianna but for me, trying to get a reaction out of me. If you weren't playing attention you would have missed it yet since my eyes haven't let up on the glare I placed on him since I spotted him.

"You coming to the wedding?" she asked taken back by his announcement raising an eyebrow in question.

"Yes, Dr. and Mrs. Harper along with their son here will be attending your wedding" a shrill voice I've come to dislike made its way from behind us.

I turned my attention to my mother for the first time taking my eyes off of Chase as she happily glided her way to us. I should've known she would pull something like this. She'd been too nice to me since I've been here when normally my presence would have been ignored until we have to look like one big happy family. This whole dinner was a setup, she wants me to play the good daughter to her good mother who wants to fix her daughter up with the child of one of her uppity stuck up friends and I use that term loosely.

"You look lovely, Mrs. Taylor" he spoke completely kissing her ass as if I cared how my parents felt about him or my dating life.

"Thank you, Chase. Shall we make our way to the dinner table?" She spoke ushering us towards the dining room.

"Girls" she called to us as we were yet to move while she and Chase were half way there.

This is going to be a long night.

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All throughout dinner my eyes stayed rolling because of my annoyance of being at a table full of people I weren't too fond of except for Adrianna and Eric of course.

"So, Chase. You and my lovely daughter Arianna happen to attend the same university. I assume you two are well acquainted with each other." My mother spoke in-between her taking abnormally small bites of her food into her mouth. "Possibly even interested in each other romantically, I know I would be pleased with that."

Here we go.

"We've had some run-ins with each other" he took a drink of wine from his glass "I think I consider us friends." He smiled from across the table at me. "Could be more, I'm genuinely interested in your daughter."