Mag-log inRose was sitting on the edge of the bed, brushing her hair.Aria leaned against the doorframe, a teasing smile playing on her lips. "So."Rose paused, looking at her in the mirror. Her cheeks immediately turned pink."When exactly did this start?" Aria asked, walking inside and sitting in the small armchair. "You and Leo?"Rose set the brush down, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. "It's... nothing official. Just... happening.""Rose," Aria laughed."Okay, okay," Rose sighed, turning to face her. "Do you remember when I took that job at the bar? And I wasn't picking up my phone, so you sent Leo?"Aria nodded slowly. She remembered it well."Well, Leo came and literally dragged me out of there," Rose said, looking down at her hands. "Something happened between us that night. I was so mad, I stopped talking to him completely after that. I just ignored him. But he wouldn't leave me alone. He followed me everywhere. He wouldn't say a single word, he just... followed me to make sure I
The penthouse was completely quiet. Rose had stayed the night in one of the guest rooms after drinking too much wine with her cake, and Leo had left a few hours ago, muttering something about having work to finish.Aria lay in her large bed, tossing and turning. The digital clock on the nightstand read two in the morning. She couldn't sleep. Earlier in the evening, after Damian had taken that phone call in his study, she had noticed a visible shift in him. His broad shoulders were tense, his jaw locked. She hadn't asked him about it, and he hadn't brought it up, but the heavy energy lingered.She pushed the blankets off and walked quietly to the door.Aria opened it. Damian was sitting on the floor in the hallway, his back against the wall. His head was tipped back, his eyes closed, lightly dozing off.Aria stepped out and gently shook his shoulder.Damian woke up instantly. His dark eyes snapped open, immediately scanning her face. He stood up in one fluid motion."What is it?" Damia
The sheer terror slowly drained from Damian's face. He looked back down at her stomach. Another small, fluttery kick pressed against his hand. A slow, rare smile broke onto his lips. He let out a long, shaky breath, resting his forehead against hers.After the panic subsided, Aria cut a few more slices of cake. She noticed Matteo standing by the front door, his hands clasped behind his back, staring straight ahead like a bodyguard.She picked up a plate and walked over to him.Matteo blinked, looking down at the cake she was holding out to him."For you," Aria said gently. "Thank you, Matteo. For everything. For protecting us."Matteo looked at the cake, then up at her. He didn't say a word, but he gave a single, respectful nod, taking the plate from her hands.Just then, Damian's phone buzzed sharply in his pocket. He pulled it out, looking at the screen. His expression tightened. He moved to hit the ignore button, but Aria caught his arm."Take it," Aria said. "It's fine. I need to
Aria blinked her eyes open, staring at the dark ceiling of the bedroom.She had only meant to close her eyes for twenty minutes. Being five months pregnant made her feel constantly drained, and her afternoon naps were getting longer and longer. She slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The penthouse was unusually quiet.She pushed the heavy blankets aside, slipped her feet into her soft slippers, and walked out of the bedroom.The moment she stepped into the living room, she froze."Surprise! Happy birthday!"Aria jumped slightly, her hands flying to her mouth.The living room had been completely transformed. There were soft balloons clustered near the ceiling and a massive chocolate cake sitting on the dining table.Rose was standing there with a huge, beaming smile. Next to her was Leo, looking his usual grumpy self, though he was awkwardly holding a small stack of paper plates.And right in the center stood Damian. He didn't yell surprise. He just stood there, looking at
Aria picked up a strawberry, dipped it in the chocolate, and leaned back. Damian grabbed the remote and started the movie she had picked out.For the first hour, the penthouse was filled with the quiet sounds of the movie and the low hum of the city outside. Aria ate her chocolate, completely relaxed under his heavy, soothing hands.When the movie reached a slow, quiet interlude, Damian stopped massaging. He rested his hands firmly over her ankles.“Do you know when all of this really started?” Damian asked. His voice was low, cutting through the ambient noise of the television. “Do you know when I first saw you?”Aria paused. The strawberry hovered near her mouth. She looked down at him for a frozen second, her mind going back into the past.“Yes,” Aria finally answered softly. “That night you came to our house for dinner. The night you finalized the marriage contract with Cassandra.”Damian shook his head slowly. "No. There is something I need to tell you, Aria. I wanted to tell you
Damian stood in the center of the massive kitchen, staring down at the spread of food he had just prepared.A large bowl of fresh strawberries, perfectly tempered dark chocolate for dipping, and a massive bowl of popcorn were sitting on the marble island. He reached out and carefully adjusted the small silver spoon in the chocolate.His mind drifted back to last night. Around two in the morning, he had been sitting on his folded blankets in the hallway, leaning against the wall outside Aria’s bedroom. He had heard a faint, muffled sound from inside. Panic had seized him instantly. He thought someone had breached the penthouse. He had thrown the door open, ready to kill whoever was inside.He had found Aria sitting up in bed, crying her eyes out in the dark.He had rushed to her, his heart hammering against his ribs, asking her what was wrong, what hurt. Aria had looked up at him with tear-streaked cheeks and sobbed that she just really wanted to have a movie night.Damian had let out
December at the Hale estate was a high-budget performance art piece titled "The Perfect Family."The house was draped in heavy garlands of fresh pine that smelled of winter forests and old money. A twelve-foot fir tree dominated the foyer, dripping with crystal ornaments and thousands of tiny white
"Do you love it?" she asked, beaming. "We can hang it in the penthouse foyer."Damian stared at the painting. He stared at the painted version of himself—a man who looked happy. A man who was a lie."It is... detailed," Damian said. His voice was a flat line."I knew you’d like it," Cassandra squeal
“Don’t say that,” Aria whispered. “She’s trying, Damian. She loves you.”“She loves the idea of me,” Damian corrected coldly, stepping further into the room to block her exit. “She loves the credit card. She loves the status. Do not lecture me on my wife, Aria. You know nothing of our arrangements.”
The transition from the rotting, wet silence of the Lake House to the steel-and-glass scream of New York City was jarring. It felt as though Aria had been plucked from one circle of hell and dropped into another—one that was far more expensive and infinitely more dangerous.Aria sat in the back of t







