Chapter 85 - How To Comfort A Crying Woman

Arianna wanted to cry alone. She needed to let out the feelings of frustration and helplessness that had been plaguing her. In just two weeks, her life has been turned upside down in a way she never expected nor did she see it coming.

Why her? Was she the only girl out there and yet life decided to deal specifically with her. The persecution was too great on her. What did she do so wrong? All her life, she had tried to always be good and kind to people? Was this a punishment? Punishment for what? Why was she being punished?

Arianna wallowed in sorrow and didn't notice that Marcel was back to the spot where he had been standing previously. She laid on the ground, bringing her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around herself, looking so tiny and vulnerable.

Marcel's heart throbbed at the sight of Arianna lying in that fragile position. Wasn't she affected by the cold? She wasn't even putting on much clothing?

He stood there with no clue on what to do. The last time he tried to help her, he received a kick to the stomach, neither was he ready to go through such again. Well, Arianna had calmed down a bit anyway. 

Marcel scratched his brows with no clue what to do. This was why he enjoyed hooking up and only invited mature ladies into his bed. They knew what they were getting into and there was no hope for future relationships and emotional entanglement.

He doesn't do emotions hence the fact that Arianna was stirring him up drove him crazy. As the current Mafia lord of the Luciano clan, he was in a perilous position where he had nothing but enemies surrounding him - even his own father.

He had no friends, just sharks ready to gobble him up once he made a mistake. Even though Victor was on his side now, who knows about tomorrow? 

That was why he couldn't trust anybody. Even his dear cousin doesn't have all of his trust. In this line of work, he doesn't need anyone having his back, Marcel wants them at the front where he can see them before they stab him.

So he couldn't show anyone his vulnerable side. His subordinates would only follow a capable leader and that was the image he had to show them even if he was dying inside. His irrefutable authority and the ability to defend the clan.

There was no room for emotions; crying, murmuring or fainting. Any sign of weakness could be used against him by his enemies and that involves the choice of his partner.

He was never going to marry for love, not that he knows what that word means anyway. Any woman he would marry would be to build the strength of the Luciano clan that depreciated over the years.

Even at that, Clara was not his choice. He would have to look for another member of the upper class other than her - when he gets his sister back.

Hence Marcel was going against everything he believed in by accommodating Arianna's whims. The old Marcel would have already tossed her into one of the prisons and extracted the truth out of her mouth through extreme means - just like Macy did. But then, here he was being patient with her for reasons he doesn't understand.

Marcel sighed, perhaps tonight he would let his walls down a little. She would be gone tomorrow and he would go back to being the cold and scary Overlord people were used to. Tomorrow was not far away; it would be midnight soon. 

Thinking about it now, Marcel realized he had been all but hospitable to her. Arianna was just tossed into their world without any foreboding or anchor. She was all alone - just like she had always been since her father died. 

She was just like him, all alone.

When Marcel's mother died, it was just him and his father who were more interested in raising an heir than a son. Daniel had been all about preserving the spot, their rightful position from his brother's children. His cousins. 

Marcel's adopted sister Chloe was the reason he held on tight. She was the one who fueled his determination to remove Daniel from their lives which he succeeded by taking his father's spot even before it was time to abdicate.

His father might claim he was the one who put him there but Marcel knew very much he was the one that gave him no choice but to retire early.

So his father's vengeance was taking Chloe from him, knowing how much he loved and valued her. Marcel ended whatever plans his father had by taking over his position earlier than expected, and so the man came up with another plan to help him accomplish his dreams. 

His father Daniel was as stubborn as a bull and that was the same trait Marcel inherited from him. 

Two stubborn bulls. Who would surrender and bow, and who would win the fight? 

No one was watching, Marcel noticed as he decided to continue with his plan tonight. Be gentle to her - he prayed.

Marcel sat down on the floor beside the crying Arianna. Now what? He thought about the next step. The only thing he knew about comfort was through physical contact and Arianna was against it at the moment. A kick to the stomach was a good reminder.

Unable to come up with a solution after his minutes of thinking, Marcel decided to try other means. He picked up his phone and logged into the browser and typed, "How to comfort a crying woman?"

The result came up immediately thanks to his speedy internet and Marcel began to go through the results only for his face to scrunch up. 

Most of the results he got were, "How to cheer up your girlfriend and deep love messages for her,"

"What the fuck," He breathed out, going through results after results. And yes, he eventually got a few articles that hit the question he asked, Marcel was not elated by their answers. 

There was no way he was doing those things the forums suggested. 

One of them said, "Offer her your presence," 

Well, here he was.