Aria’s POV
"Admit on social dia that Lucian abused you or watch him rot."
Lucian was in a cell right now.Cuffed and alone because he’d protected .
I opened my phone.Twitter was a war zone.
#VossArrested was trending number one in London.
#AriaCurse was climbing fast.
s of kneeling outside Voss Enterprises weeks ago had resurfaced with new captions:
"From begging for rcy to sending her husband to jail "
"She ruined two billionaires in one year—queen of destruction"
"Gold-digger finally took down the big one. Karma."
I scrolled faster, tears blurring the screen.
More photos.
More videos.
The hotel hallway clip of Lucian storming in, beating up Ethan and dragging out resurfaced.
Comnts split in half.
"Husband goals .Protect her at all costs"
"Lucian Voss is terrifying but I’m here for it"
"Ethan deserved every punch"
"Aria still looks like she’s in shock. Hope she’s okay."
Then the hate.
"She’s toxic."
"She set him up."
"Poor Voss—married a curse."
"That reaper is nothing but bad luck."
I dropped the phone, stood up, paced around and picked up the phone again.
I called the first person that ca to my mind.Andre.
He answered on the first ring.
"Aria? Jesus Christ, are you okay? The dia is having a field day with what happened. I’m on my way to your place—"
"No," I cut in, voice shaking. "Don’t co here. I’m fine."
"You’re not fine. I can hear it. You’re shaking. Let co Aria"
"I said no, Andre." My voice cracked. "I’m going to fix this."
Silence.
"What does that an?" he asked slowly.
"Ethan called. He wants to post online that Lucian abused . If I do, he drops the charges. If I don’t..."
Andre swore under his breath. "Don’t do it. He’s bluffing. I heard there might be proof to win him in court. But if you post that, Lucian’s reputation is ruined forever. The board will turn on him and you know the dia will definitely bury him."
"And if I don’t post," I whispered, "he stays in jail. They could keep him for weeks or even months."
Andre was quiet for a long mont. "Then let help. I’m outside, please open the door."
I walked to the front door. Looked through the peephole.
Andre stood there, I didn’t even hear his car drive in .He was holding two cups of coffee,a weak smile settling on his face.
I opened the door.
He stepped inside, pulled into a hug.
"You look like hell," he said softly.
"I feel like hell."
He pulled back, eyes serious. "Show what Ethan sent."
I replayed the call recording.
Andre listened, face darkening.
"He’s desperate," he said when it ended. "He knows the charges won’t stick long-term. He’s trying to force your hand before Lucian’s lawyers move."
"What do I do?" I whispered.
Andre handed a USB. "I had a tech guy hack into his cloud last night.I haven’t gone through it. I wanted you to do so yourself.There must be sothing there that could help us or even Lucian.."
I stared at the drive.
"If I do that Ethan will release whatever he has. He’ll twist it and make it look like I set Lucian up."
Andre nodded. "He might. But if you accuse Lucian of abuse you’ll be in more trouble than whatever Ethan is planning.Don’t forget the millions you still owe him."
"I’m going live," I said.
Andre’s eyes widened. "Now?"
"Now."
I walked to the living room. Set up my phone on the coffee table. Hit record.
The red light blinked.
I took a breath.
"Hi. This is Aria Thorne... Voss." My voice shook. "I know what everyone’s saying. I heard the rumors and saw the hashtags. You all probably think I’m a curse, a gold-digger and a liar. But I’m going to tell you the truth."
I looked straight into the cara.
"Lucian Voss did not abuse . He never hit nor hurt . The only person who ever hurt was Ethan Caldwell. He stole my company, cheated on and left with debt and loan sharks. The video circulating online was a video of him trying to force himself on in a hotel room."
I paused. Tears slipped down my cheeks.
"Lucian ca to stop him. He protected and fought for . And now he’s in jail because he wouldn’t let Ethan touch ."
I held up the USB Andre had given .
"I’ll have proof soon,you all should just be patient with and show your support for Lucian."
I ended the live.
Within seconds, notifications exploded.
Likes. Shares. Comnts.
"Queen Aria fighting back!"
"Finally the truth!"
"She’s lying to protect her abuser."
"Ethan’s done for."
"Voss is innocent. Protect them both."
I dropped the phone. Hands shaking.
Andre hugged . "You did the right thing." he reassured but I wasn’t sure I did the right thing.
My phone rang. It was Ethan’s number.
"You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Aria."
The line went dead.
Then my phone lit up with breaking news.
**"Ethan Caldwell releases ergency statent: ’Aria Thorne is lying. I have video proof she planned the attack on with Voss. There’ll be a live stream in 5 minutes.’"**
I looked at Andre.His face was pale.
When the life stream Ethan appeared bandaged and bruised, sitting in a hospital bed while looking straight into the cara.
"Aria," he said, voice calm, almost sad. "You think you can destroy with fake evidence? You think the world will believe you?"
He held up his phone.
The video played.
Grainy footage. entering the hotel room alone. looking back down the hallway almost like I was waiting for soone. Then Ethan stepping in.
The video cut.
Ethan looked back at the cara.
"She lured there. She wanted Voss to catch us to make him look like the hero. She wanted him to beat so she could play victim again."
My blood ran cold.
"That’s not what happened," I whispered.
Andre grabbed my phone. "He edited it. The tistamps are off. Just calm down for a mont"
But the comnts were already flooding.
"She’s a liar."
"Voss is going down."
"Poor Ethan. She set him up."
I dropped to my knees.
My phone rang again.
Ethan’s voice spoke over the phone when I answered.
"You should have taken the deal, Aria."he said as he disconnected the line
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