Gerald rose from his seat, pushing the table aside that had been separating them and moving it to the farthest corner. He then slid his chair closer to Ariana.

"I'm not someone who has to be served all the time, Ariana," Gerald began. "But I can't deny that gradually, I have become accustomed to all of this," he confessed.

"Once, I was an independent man, just like you. I lived abroad relying on my own body and mind. Although I don't deny that financially I depended on my father, but when I was ...