Nobela ni Ebima2707

DARIAN The door shut behind me with a quiet click, but the sound echoed in my head like a shot fired too late.I stood outside her room, with my fists tight and chest stiff. The sterile hallway buzzed around me, white lights, quiet nurses, cold tile and nothing about it felt real.My pulse hadn’t calmed since we brought her in.She was still unconscious. Pale and hooked to monitors that blinked too slow for my comfort. I’d seen men bleed out in minutes and watched stronger people collapse from less. But none of it shook me like seeing her fold in my arms like she weighed nothing at all, the image of her collapsing into my arms wouldn’t leave me.Zaria.The woman I bought to destroy.Now lying behind that door like a glass cracked beyond repair.I heard footsteps and turned. Felix was approaching, casual as ever with a clipboard in hand, like this was just another name on his rotation.“Talk,” I said.We slipped into an empty consultation room with no windows. Just two chairs, a small

ZARIA Darkness wrapped itself around me, it felt heavy and humming.I floated somewhere between sleep and pain, and honestly neither felt like safety.I couldn’t open my eyes, couldn’t speak.But I felt everything.The ache in my stomach. The icy cold of the IV drip in my arm. The burn in my throat from earlier when I’d vomited blood. My limbs were too heavy to move and too weak to fight.I wasn’t dead. But I wasn’t entirely here either.Somewhere in the haze, with swirled voices that sounded low and muffled. Doors opening and a beeping machine.Fingers brushed my wrist. A soft press on my arm and check of my pulse, at least that's what I thought..I wanted to scream.I didn’t know where I was. The last thing I remembered was the bathroom, the way the sink spun around me, the taste of blood and then… falling. Falling fast and hard.Then everything turned to static.Is he safe?The thought hit me like ice water, slicing through the fog. My mind flinched and latched onto it. Leo.My

DARIANShe’s bleeding.The words echoed in my head, refusing to settle.I moved before I could think. Fast and silent. Every step down the marble hallway was filled with dread I refused to name. Not fear. Not concern. Just... tension. That’s all.The scent of blood was the first thing I noticed.It clung to the air, harsh, metallic and wrong.My heart slammed once, tqqhen again.I pushed open the door.She was there.Zaria.Slumped against the bathroom sink, her wedding dress streaked with crimson, the fabric clinging to her as if it, too, was begging her to stay upright. Her head was bowed, strands of hair stuck to her damp forehead, her fingers trembling as she tried to hold herself steady.But she couldn’t.Her head jerked up when she heard me, her eyes unfocused and glassy.“I’m fine,” she said, voice barely a whisper. “It’s just…”And in the next second….she collapsed.I was at her side before she hit the tiles.“Hey Zaria…Zaria, look at me.”Her eyes fluttered, unfocused. Her l

DARIANThe applause was deafening. Cameras flashed like strobe lights, capturing the performance I’d perfected down to the last breath. I held her hand, Zaria’s delicate, her trembling fingers curled into mine and forced the smile I’d practiced in the mirror a hundred times.My bride.The world’s most beautiful lie.“Smile,” I muttered under my breath, teeth clenched. “They’re eating it up.”She whispered something back, all breath and nerves. I didn’t care to listen, not really. Not after what she’d done. Still, I kept my gaze soft and my hand firm. Everything had to look perfect.It was always about appearances.Her vows stumbled. Of course they did. She choked on them like they were thorns. Part of me took pleasure in that. The part of me that hadn’t yet forgiven her for what she took from me.I leaned in, brushing my mouth near her ear, so no one else would hear. “Don’t mess this up.”She replied with the same forced grace she wore on her face.The kiss came next. She was soft, st

ZARIAThe day arrived like a sharp blade, it was all too fast, bright and loud. Just a few days ago I was at an auction to be sold for a price and today I stood in front of the mirror, my reflection a lie wrapped in satin and lace…. getting married to a man who now sees me as the devil herself. The wedding dress was custom, hand-stitched by some famous designer, a gown fit for royalty. I barely felt like a person, let alone a bride. My hands trembled as the stylists adjusted the hem, one of them gasping softly as she took a step back."You look... breathtaking," she whispered.“Like a dream,” another cooed, circling me with a spray of perfume….a choking one at that."Better than the other one," another said under her breath.My ears perked."The other one?" I asked quietly.She stiffened, eyes wide. “Nothing. I didn’t mean…”"Darian’s finally with the one he should’ve been with all along," a third added, thinking I couldn’t hear.A thin and hollow one, because none of this was real…no

DARIANThe door shut behind me with a soft click, but it echoed like thunder in my head. I stood there for a long second, leaning against it with my eyes closed. Breathing slow, measured, and tight. The hallway stretched ahead, all glass and steel and silence, but I didn’t move. My grip on the contract folder was so tight the edges dug into my skin.She signed it.Zaria fucking Mendez signed the contract.I told myself it was a victory. That this was justice. The plan was working, the lies she sowed were turning back on her like poisoned roots. But why the hell did it feel like I was the one bleeding?Her voice still clung to the air, with that soft tremble."You really believe I killed Roman?"And worse…"What if the evidence lies?"My chest tightened. There was no rage in her voice. No manipulative tilt, just someone broken or something bruised.I pushed off the door.No.She’s playing a game. She always was. That’s what she does. She gets close, slips beneath your skin, and strikes