ARIA’S POV
Aria stood outside the gates of the Blackwood estate at 1:55 PM, her hands shaking so badly she could barely press the intercom button.
One month. One month since she’d been escorted off this property. One month since she’d seen his face. One month of suffering that had hollowed her out from the inside.
And now she was back.
She’d barely slept last night. Had tried on six different outfits before settling on the erald dress....the one he’d loved, the one she’d worn that last devastating night. If this was goodbye, she wanted him to rember what they’d been. Before she’d destroyed it.
She’d lost weight. Could see it in the way the dress hung looser on her fra, in the hollows of her cheeks when she’d checked her reflection this morning. Her mother had noticed too, had held her hands and said, "Whatever happens today, you survive it. You hear ? You survive."
Aria wasn’t sure she could. Not if he confird what she already knew....that it was over. That he’d moved on. That a month had given him the clarity to see she wasn’t worth the pain.
The intercom crackled. "Na and purpose."
"Aria Chen. Mr. Blackwood is expecting ."
A pause. Then the gates swung open.
She walked up the long driveway on trembling legs, every step bringing back mories. Her first day here as "Serah Mitchell." The lies she’d told. The mission she’d been so determined to complete. The way everything had changed when she’d fallen in love with the man she was supposed to betray.
The front door opened before she reached it. Mrs. Chen stood there, her expression carefully neutral.
"Miss Chen. Mr. Blackwood is waiting in his study. I’ll show you up."
"I rember the way."
"Nevertheless." Mrs. Chen’s voice was kind but firm. "Follow , please."
They walked through the mansion in silence. Aria tried not to look at anything....not the library where they’d talked for hours, not the dining room where they’d shared intimate dinners, not the hallway that led to his bedroom where he’d claid her virginity.
Every corner held a mory. Every room whispered of what she’d lost.
They reached the study. Mrs. Chen knocked once.
"Co in."
That voice. God, that voice. Aria’s knees nearly gave out.
Mrs. Chen opened the door. "Miss Chen, sir."
"Thank you, Mrs. Chen. That will be all."
Mrs. Chen left, closing the door behind her with a soft click.
And then it was just them.
DAMIEN’S POV
Damien had been preparing himself all morning. Had rehearsed what he’d say. How he’d act. The cold, professional deanor he’d maintain to protect himself.
But the mont Aria walked through that door, every carefully constructed plan shattered.
She looked.....devastated. That was the only word for it. She’d lost weight, the erald dress hanging on her fra in a way that made his chest tight. Her face was pale, dark circles under her eyes so pronounced they looked like bruises. Her hands were shaking.
She looked like soone who’d been through hell. Like soone who’d been destroyed and was barely holding the pieces together.
And god help him, even looking like that....even broken and thin and clearly suffering....she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
"Aria." His voice ca out rougher than intended.
"Damien." Hers was barely a whisper. "Thank you for.....thank you for seeing . I didn’t think you’d...."
"Sit down."
She moved to the chair across from his desk, her movents careful, like she was afraid of taking up too much space. Like she didn’t think she had the right to be here.
She probably didn’t.
But he’d called her anyway. Because a month of suffering had proven that staying away from her was impossible.
"You’ve lost weight," he said, the words coming out before he could stop them.
"So have you."
It was true. He’d dropped at least ten pounds in the past month. Couldn’t eat, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t do anything except work and think about her and work so more.
Silence stretched between them, heavy with everything unsaid.
Finally, Aria spoke. "I don’t....I don’t know where to start. What to say. How to...." Her voice broke. "I’m sorry. I know I’ve said it before. I know it’s not enough. But I’m so sorry, Damien. For everything."
"Which part?" His voice was cold, a defense chanism. "For infiltrating my ho under a false identity? For lying to every day for weeks? For planning to steal from ? For letting fall in love with you while knowing you were going to betray ? Which part are you sorry for, Aria?"
She flinched like he’d struck her. "All of it. Every choice I made. Every lie I told. Every mont I chose fear over trust. I’m sorry for all of it."
"Why?" He leaned forward. "Why did you do it? And don’t tell it was because your mother was dying. I know that. What I don’t understand is why, even after everything we shared, you still couldn’t trust enough to ask for help."
Tears were streaming down her face now.
"Because I didn’t think I deserved help. Because every person I’ve ever trusted has let down. Because I was so convinced that if you knew the truth....the real truth about why I was there....you’d hate . You’d throw out. You’d let my mother die just to punish ."
"And you really thought that little of ? After everything?"
"I thought that little of myself!" The words burst out of her, raw and devastating. "I thought....I thought I was nothing. Just a liar and a fraud and soone who didn’t deserve love or kindness or help. And when you gave all those things anyway, when you were patient and generous and perfect, I couldn’t....I couldn’t believe it was real. Couldn’t believe I deserved it. So I kept lying because lying was what I knew. Lying felt safer than risking the truth."
She was sobbing now, her whole body shaking. "And I destroyed us. I destroyed the best thing that ever happened to because I was too broken and too scared to believe I deserved it. And I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I know it doesn’t change anything. I know you can’t forgive . I know I don’t deserve forgiveness. But I needed you to know....I needed you to understand....I love you. I’ve loved you from the mont you saw through my lies. And I’ll love you for the rest of my life even though I know you hate now."
Reviews
All reviews (0)