Sweet Hatred Chapter 28: "You smell different."

My phone buzzed as the car drove past HQ, heading toward my apartnt. I dug through my purse, pulling it out to find a flood of unread ssages—both from last night and new ones from Olivia, repeatedly asking if I was still at work.

Then my stomach clenched.

Olivia’s final ssage.

’Mom’s surgery is scheduled for today. A few hours from now.’ She was already there.

The exhaustion pressing into my bones didn’t matter anymore. I imdiately instructed the driver to change course, my heartbeat picking up as the city blurred past the window.

By the ti I reached the hospital, I was running on fus, but I pushed through, weaving past sterile hallways until I reached her room.

"Aria?"

Olivia’s shocked voice snapped out of my haze. She was seated across from Mom, folding sheets. Mom lay still, asleep, her frail body covered in tubes and wires.

Relief flickered across Olivia’s face as she shot up from her seat and scurried over to .

I barely exhaled before the interrogation began.

"Where the hell have you been?" she whispered harshly. "Why didn’t you co ho last night? Why didn’t you answer my calls? I was worried sick you were dead or sothing."

"It was work," I muttered, dragging a hand over my face as I stepped past her to Mom’s bedside.

Olivia, relentless as ever, followed.

Then—sniff, sniff.

I turned slowly, giving her a weirded-out look. "What the hell are you doing?"

She squinted at . "You sll different."

I blinked. "...Excuse ?"

She leaned in slightly. "Expensive."

I let out a bitter chuckle. That bastard. His scent must have rubbed off on after spending over twelve hours in his vicinity.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I muttered, hoping she’d drop it.

She didn’t.

"Of course, you’re going to play dumb," she sneered. "You always do when you’re hiding sothing." She took another subtle sniff. "This doesn’t sll like Sarah, either, so... what? A rich man? A sugar daddy, perhaps?"

I shot her a glare. "Yeah, I didn’t know I had Scooby-Doo—or better yet, Pluto—as a sister."

"You can’t pretend with , Aria," Olivia said, her tone sharpening, testing my already frayed patience. "If not, then explain how you suddenly had thousands for Mom’s surgery. The best surgeon, the best care—where did that money co from?"

I held her gaze, bored, but she wasn’t done.

"And sohow, you got your job back after being fired. If you were so good at it, why were you fired in the first place?"

My jaw tightened.

"Are you done?" I asked, my voice flat.

"Yes."

"Good. Then get out of my way."

I brushed past her, but her words clung to , burrowing under my skin.

"Oh, so you’re not going to tell your own sister anything?" she called after , voice laced with accusation.

I ignored her. I was too drained to deal with her that afternoon.

"I’m going ho to change into sothing more comfortable. I’ll be back in an hour." I didn’t wait for her response before shutting the door behind .

But out of all the things she had blabbed about, one thing stuck.

Why was I fired in the first place?

It had been over a stupid mistake—one I knew I hadn’t made. But the error had co from my end, Kael had said. From my signature. My information.

Except I had prepared those docunts myself. I had checked every detail. The numbers, the totals—everything had been right.

So what went wrong?

Or rather—who?

The thought gnawed at as I headed ho.

Only soone with access to my desktop and passwords could have made look like a fool in front of Kael and the investors.

But who?

I never shared my passwords with anyone. Not even Sarah.

And yet—soone knew every important detail and how to screw over.

After changing into lighter clothes, I headed back to the hospital. This ti, Mom was awake. I watched in silent fear as the nurses prepped her for surgery, but I kept a calm, collected deanor.

It’s what I had to do.

Olivia, on the other hand, sobbed like a child. I couldn’t bla her—Mom had spoiled her silly since we were kids. And even though we had gone through this before, watching her being wheeled into the ICU never got easier. The fear that anything could go wrong, that this might be the last ti we saw her alive, was always there. But we hoped. Olivia prayed, and I...

Well, sotis I prayed too. Not because I believed in God—I never did. Because if he truly existed, he was as twisted as the humans he created. But in monts like these, when the weight in my chest made it hard to breathe, I found myself kneeling, clasping my hands together, whispering desperate words to whoever or whatever cared to listen.

Because I could endure a lot of things—stress, anger, frustration, deadlines, traffic. But losing the one woman I loved more than anything? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. At least, that’s what I stubbornly believed. And stubbornness had pushed this far. It was why I never backed away from Kael’s offer.

Then—

A buzz from my phone.

My breath shuddered. Only then did I realize I had been trembling slightly, my thoughts spiraling too far. I exhaled and checked my screen. And, of course—the devil himself.

KAEL: If you need soone to distract you, I can send over a clown.

Ah. So that’s why he—

A small chuckle slipped past my lips before I caught myself. I wasn’t going to laugh at that bastard’s jokes. He was a terrible person. He had fired from a job I valued, dangled it back in my face—with his dick attached. It didn’t matter that he was considerate enough to let off while my mom was in surgery. That didn’t erase everything else.

I exhaled again, trying to push out the weight pressing against my ribs. It didn’t work.

Olivia, still sniffling, collapsed into my arms without a word. I let her. Before the cunning yet dumb little rat she was, she was still my sister, and I loved her. With one hand patting her back, I texted Kael back with my free hand.

: How noble of you to volunteer yourself, but I’m good.

Then I shut off my phone.

Tonight was going to be a long night.