Chapter 2: Some things money can't buy
"I'LL LIKE TO BE YOUR FRIEND"
These words shocked Michael as he stared at her blankly before he pointed at himself as he said "you mean me? You want to be my friend?" To this Arianna nodded. A sigh escaped his mouth upon seeing her nod; he then placed his hand on his head before he shouted
"THEN WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU SAY SO EARLIER DAMN IT!? You fucking scared me to dead and made me dirty my clothes damn." His foul mood was obvious to Arianna, as she lowered her head before apologizing "sorry…"
Seeing her apologize, Michael sighed and began taking deep breaths so as to calm himself down before he asked her again "anyway, why me? You're a pretty rich girl so it should be easy for you to make friends" hearing this, Arianna blushed slightly before she said
"Well I don't really have that many friends. My dad is quite the overprotective guy and people rarely ever approach because of my status and you're a very interesting guy" Michael understood most parts of it but he didn't clearly understand what she meant by him being interesting. Was he interesting? This one thing about Michael, he never cared to notice what others thought about him, he was always oblivious to what others thought about him as he focused mostly on his studies and games. So curious he asked "what do you mean by that?" To this, Arianna answered
"Well you've many achievements to your name. Like the first guy to ever speak to me rudely without caring, you're the first to ever show me the way to a place rather than escorting me there, you're the first to ignore me so blatantly and you're the first beg for his life and actually be spared, ha-ha" Arianna laughed as she said the last part but Michael's face grew pale upon hearing that.
'Huh…? Did she just say I'm the only one who begged for his life and was spared? Then what happens to the rest? Are they dead? Wait that's a useless question rather I should be wondering why am I still alive? Is it because she's interested in me, then what happens if she's not?' Michael turned his attention to her and immediately his view on her changed rather than seeing her as the daughter of a billionaire, now she looked like a demon to him' but he was soon brought out of his stupor by Arianna's voice "so what do you say?" Hearing this, Michael recalled her request and a sigh escaped his mouth as he looked at her and said
"Yeah… no" hearing his response a shocked look appeared on her face as she said out loud "why?" to this Michael answered
"Well that's a stupid question. We met today and I don't know anything about you, also why should I waste my time taking care of a spoiled time, I don't have that much time to waste. And also there's nothing for me to gain, so yeah I'm gonna pass" Arianna tried refuting him but no words could come out from her mouth, as she realized everything he said made complete sense but she didn't give up hope as she said
"Wait everything you said is true except the last part, you have something to gain from it. Anything you want I can give you, I have a lot of money and almost everything"
Immediately, Michael stopped in his tracks before a sigh escaped his mouth yet again as he turned to face her, his eyes meeting hers and when Arianna met his gaze, she noticed they were unprecedentedly cold and his next words completely baffled her
"Haaa… this is the problem with rich people they think because they have money they can get anything they want. Well I'm sorry to say princess but I can't be bought. So I'll gain money from being your friend? Well fuck it, I can work some cash, I don't need your father's money. Well let me tell you this, money can't buy everything, especially not a true friend princess. Anyway I'll be going now" hearing his words, Arianna was beyond shocked as she felt to her knees, her mind repeating what he said over and over again and before she knew it a tear dropped from her eye. Immediately this happened, five men appeared around Michael stopping him in tracks as they surrounded him. They all wore black business suit and a pair of black glasses
This development shocked both Michael and Arianna. Michael noticing the 5 men surrounding him wondered where they came from but then it hit him as he shifted his gaze to Arianna but she too had a surprised expression on her face but the way she looked, Michael could deduce that she wasn't the one that sent them but she was aware of their identity, so it meant one thing; this people were sent by her father. As he wondered why they suddenly appeared he noticed the tear drop on her face, it took him a while but he finally understood and as soon as he did he cursed 'fuck, she cried! But damn just how overprotective is her dad to send guards just because I made her cry?' But he didn't have time to think about this matter as he could the hostility oozing out of this 5 men, so he looked at all five of them until his eye landed on the man standing in front of him who a tall man standing at a height of 195m with a huge body, he was black and shaved a buzz cut. From the aura around him, Michael could guess he was the leader of this group of men so mustering his courage he said
"Please could you excuse me" he knew it was a waste of time but he still decided to ask and he was soon answered by the black man's rough and deep
"You made the young mistress cry so I'm sorry but you won't be able to leave" hearing this, Michael could only grit his teeth as he took a fighting stance, his thoughts being 'I ain't going down without a fight' the men seeing this, put their hands into their coats. The air was tense, once could feel the hostility from afar but just before anyone could do anything, she spoke
"STOP!!" And immediately the men took a step back, causing Michael to relax slightly but he never let his guard down while Arianna continued upon noticing they had stopped as she stared at the black giant
"Elijah, what's the meaning of this?"
"Sorry young mistress, I'm just following the master's orders" hearing this, Arianna's disposition turned cold, her once sad eyes turned cold as she said
"So father set you up to this and that too without my consent huh" hearing her chilly voice, a bead of sweat descended from Elijah's face as he gulped. He was all too familiar with this side of Arianna, one which only ever appeared when she was mad. Just remembering the people that suffered when she got angry caused a shiver to run down his spine but he was soon brought out of his thoughts by what Arianna said next
"Elijah, I'm the only child of the Phillip Neumann, the man called the world's richest right?
"Yes ma'am"
"And is true that my father said all that belongs to him belongs to me too right?"
"Y-yes… ma'am"
"Therefore I have the same authority as my father right"
"Young mistress, that's a little-"
"ANSWER ME, ELIJAH! Do I have the same authority as my father?" Arianna ordered. At this point, Elijah was sweating buckets, as he began considering what she said. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place if he said yes, then he'll be forced to release the boy and face punishment from the lord but if he says no, then Arianna will report to her father and he won't get off with a simple punishment, he and family might be put in danger after all saying no will be the same as insulting lord's daughter and knowing the type of person, his lord Elijah knew full well the consequences. It was a very hard decision thus he looked at Arianna hoping she'll show him mercy but her eyes remained indifferent as she stared. Seeing this, Elijah could only sigh as he had made his choice
"Yes young mistress" at least now he'll only be punished it was better than losing his life. Hearing his response, Arianna smirked as she ordered
"Then I order, excuse him so he can get home" hearing her words, the 5 men immediately stepped backwards completely freeing Michael from the encirclement. He sighed in relief before he walked away but he soon stopped as he heard a voice, he didn't like very much
"Michael!" A long sigh escaped Michael's mouth as he looked to the sky before he calmed down and turned to Arianna, he then said in a slightly annoyed tone
"What do you want now?" Hearing his annoyed tone, Arianna was sure Michael was angry so she said what she came to say
"I'm sorry about that, I never knew my dad will give me hidden bodyguards and that they'll attack you upon seeing me cry, I'm really sorry" Michael sighed before he said
"Uh yeah though I understand what happened here doesn't mean you aren't responsible, if you just used to rejection then you wouldn't have cried and I wouldn't have had to waste my time like this and though your dad is overprotective you should set some boundaries, you should make him understand that you're grown up" hearing his words, Arianna lowered her head unable to speak back, Michael was about to end the conversation here but then he noticed Elijah glaring at him, a sigh escaped his mouth as he scratched his head before saying
"Ah sorry about that, I didn't mean to hurt you or insult your father. I can kind of understand where your dad's coming from, you're his only child so it's quite normal that he'll be overprotective and I also understand you, you didn't wish for any of this to happen. So sorry for being so insensitive" after saying this he looked forward expecting to see her smiling but all he was met with was her lowered head, a surprised look appeared on his face as he wondered why
'Huh why isn't she raising her head? Was I too harsh, but I didn't say anything too bad and I was surrounded by 5 men, I have the right to say that much but still I apologized? Does she even know how hard it was to-' but he soon came out of his musing as he heard a loud shout before feeling something soft against his chest 'huh'
"AHHHH… Thanks for forgiving me, thank you so much" Arianna said as she hugged Michael. This development shocked everyone, especially Michael whose mind just went blank unable process anything except of course the soft sensation he felt on his chest as he thought
'Soft…'
But this sensation soon vanished as Arianna separated herself from him after she realized her blunder, her face was currently beet red and she was avoiding eye contact but Michael wasn't better as he avoided eye contact and his cheeks were slightly red but he soon regained his composure as he said
"Well now that that's out of the way I'll be heading home and" he paused as he stared at Arianna "I'll think about your friend request but don't expect too much. Well then, see ya" he said before walking away. It took Arianna a while to process what he said but as soon as she did, a big smile appeared on her face as she said
"Okay Michael, see you tomorrow"
As Michael kept walking, he soon arrived the stadium's exit and as soon as he did, he ran as fast as he could after all he never knew if the 'kidnappers' will come for him again but his fear was for naught as the 5 men had to take Arianna home, Elijah looked at Arianna who was still smiling and wondered 'is it love or just a fleeting crush' but he immediately stopped as he removed a camera from who knows where and began snapping Arianna's smiling figure, his reason being that it'll surely reduce his master's punishment.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone