The Betrayal

Aria checked the time on her phone.

11:30 p.m.

Perfect. She still had time.

Exhaustion pressed down on her after the double shift at the hospital. Two emergency surgeries. One near-fatal crash victim. She had managed to save him, but her body was paying the price. Her bones ached. Every muscle begged for rest.

Tonight was different, though. Tonight was special. It was her boyfriend’s birthday. She had told him she could not make it because of work. He had sounded disappointed, yet understanding.

A small smile touched her lips as she reached into her bag and pulled out a velvet box. Inside lay the ring she had chosen with care. She planned to give it to him tonight and tell him she was ready. Ready to marry him. Ready to stay by his side for the rest of her life.

“I cannot wait to see the joy in your eyes,” she whispered.

She stripped off her scrubs, slipped into the white dress she had bought for this night, and drove to the club where Julian was celebrating with his friends. The ring box stayed tight in her hand the entire way.

He will be surprised to see me.

At the club, she asked a staff member about the private room reserved under his name and hurried upstairs. Music pulsed through the floor. Laughter and chatter spilled from the slightly open door. Anticipation filled her chest as she stepped closer.

Then she heard her name.

“Aria?”

Her steps froze. It was Julian’s voice.

“That foolish woman,” he mocked.

Aria stiffened. She could not cross the threshold.

Laughter echoed inside the room.

“You are right. She is foolish. She still thinks you are in love with her,” one of his friends said.

The words did not cut as deep as Julian’s careless chuckle. That sound tore something open inside her.

“She believes whatever I tell her.”

Aria’s fingers tightened around the box.

“Why are you still with her?” another voice asked. “You clearly love Sofia. Why not break up with Aria and marry Sofia instead?”

Sofia?

Aria peered through the crack in the door. Her half-sister leaned intimately against Julian. The sight made her stomach turn.

He loves my half-sister, she thought, disbelief flooding her.

Julian’s fingers brushed Sofia’s shoulder. “There is no hurry.” His eyes stayed on the woman in his arms. “Once I make her surrender her shares, I will kick her out of my life. Then Sofia and I can go public.”

Shares?

Aria’s legs moved backward on their own. So it was all about those shares.

“Her mother left her thirty percent of Kane Biocorp,” Julian continued. “With that percentage, she can control the company in the future. That is why I approached her.”

Aria’s mind reeled. She had believed he loved her. He had only ever wanted the shares.

“She is sentimental. She will not sign them away easily until I win her trust completely.”

“Yes,” Sofia’s voice came next. “Julian is helping me get those shares. Once we have control of the company, she will have no claim left.”

Aria’s heart dropped further. At first she thought she was mishearing. Slowly the truth settled in. This was a calculated trap. No loyalty. No love.

“Once Aria signs the proxy rights, Sofia gets majority control,” Julian said. “It will happen soon.”

Someone laughed. “You are so ruthless.”

“But what if she refuses to sign?” another man asked.

“She will not dare,” Julian answered with confidence. “She loves me so much that she will do anything to make me happy.”

“Then I will congratulate you in advance.”

Glasses clinked. Laughter mixed with the sound.

The noise blurred. Aria did not realize she had stepped back until her heel hit the wall behind her.

Julian’s voice came low and clear. “I have loved Sofia since the beginning. Aria is just a tool. Every moment with her was boring. I felt disgusted pretending. Only Sofia could make me truly happy.”

The velvet box slipped from her fingers and hit the marble floor. Her world tilted. Memories crashed through her mind.

She remembered Julian stepping in when her stepmother scolded her, when her father hit her. “I will protect you,” he had promised. She had believed him.

He had been there when her father ignored her. He had been her support for years.

She had given him her heart. He had used her. He had never loved her at all.

Her chest burned, but no tears came. She refused to cry for a man like him.

Since you chose Sofia, you no longer exist to me. From now on, we are strangers.

She turned and walked away without looking back at the ring she had chosen with so much love.

Rain had started by the time she reached her car. It poured harder as she drove. Her hands trembled on the steering wheel. No matter how hard she tried to harden her heart, those words kept echoing, tormenting her.

Only her mother had ever truly loved her. After her death, her father remarried and brought home a half-sister. Only then did Aria learn he had been cheating on her mother for years. Sofia had existed long before her mother passed away.

Aria hated cheating more than anything. She had once warned Julian, half-jokingly, never to deceive her. He had done exactly that. He had chosen the woman she loathed most.

“I will never forgive you, Julian.”

Thunder cracked overhead. She flinched. She had always been afraid of storms, but the fear was nothing compared to the pain in her chest.

She kept driving. A sudden movement on the road caught her attention.

Ahead, headlights swerved violently. A black luxury sedan lost control, slammed into the divider, and spun sideways.

Her foot hit the brake on instinct. For a split second she only stared, pulse roaring in her ears. Then smoke rose from the engine, and she moved.

The driver might still be alive. I have to help him.

She threw the door open and ran into the rain. Sparks flickered near the hood. A chill ran through her.

It is going to explode.

Every instinct told her to step back. Then she saw movement inside the car. A man. Blood on his temples.

“Oh my God.” The smell of gasoline filled the air. She yanked the door open and tried to pull him out.

The seatbelt held him in place.

She unbuckled it and dragged him free.

He coughed up blood.

“Hang on,” she said, voice steady despite the fear. “You will be alright.”

She hauled him as far as she could. The car exploded behind them. The blast threw them onto the wet asphalt.