LOGINThe question felt different than Aria expected. No hidden push underneath it. Just the question.“Yes,” Aria said.Cassandra nodded slowly. She looked down at her hands. “I want you to hear something from me. And I need you to believe it, even if you don’t want to.” She paused. “I never loved him. Not once. What I had with Damian was a transaction, his name, our father’s connections, the image of it. That was the whole of it. I never even tried to feel more than that.” Her voice stayed steady. “What you two have… I don’t know what to call it, but it was never anything like what we had. It never could have been.”The room went quiet.Something shifted inside Aria, slow and careful. She breathed through it and kept her face still. She nodded once.“Okay,” she said.“I mean it, Aria.”“I hear you.”Cassandra looked at her a moment longer, then let it go. She started talking about smaller things, a show she had been watching, the doctor telling her to get outside in the mornings, a decent
The morning came in slow and golden through the floor-to-ceiling windows, the kind of light that made everything feel fresh and new.Aria was already at the kitchen island when Damian walked out of the bedroom. He had his jacket slung over one arm and was still fixing the second button on his shirt. His hair was a little damp at the temples. She had made eggs the way he liked them, not too dry, with toast on a small plate next to his mug. He stopped at the island, looked at the food, and then looked at her.“You didn’t have to do this,” he said.“I was up anyway.”He set his jacket over the back of the stool and sat down. She poured his coffee first, then hers, and they ate in the quiet. That still felt new to her, the easy kind of silence with someone who did not expect her to fill it. She watched him check his phone between bites, the clean line of his jaw in the soft light, the way he set the phone face-down when he was finished without anyone asking.When he was done, he carried h
Cassandra’s voice came through weak and broken, like she’d been crying for hours without stopping. “Aria?” A shaky breath, wet at the edges. “They gave me something to help me sleep but I can’t. I keep waking up… I feel so alone in here. Everything hurts.”Aria sat very still, heart pounding in her throat. “You need to take your medicine,” she said quietly. “It’ll help.”Cassandra swallowed hard. “They’re discharging me tomorrow. I’m going home.” Her voice cracked. “Will you come? When I get home. Please. I just… I need to see you. I’m scared.”The war inside Aria’s chest pulled at her from both sides. Damian was right down the hall. The trust they had built. The IV in her sister’s arm. The promise she was about to break.Cassandra’s breathing shook on the line. “I know I don’t deserve it. But I’m scared. Please.”Aria closed her eyes.“Yes,” she said quietly.Cassandra let out a shaky breath of relief. “I’ll be waiting. Thank you.”The call ended.Aria sat there with the phone in her
When he finally stood up again, she was trembling. He shut off the water, wrapped a big towel around her, and lifted her into his arms like she weighed nothing. She buried her face in his neck as he carried her to the bedroom, cool air raising goosebumps on her wet skin.He laid her on the edge of the bed and dropped the towel. Then he was on her again—mouth on her breast, sucking hard while his hand played with the other. He moved lower, spread her thighs wide, and put his tongue back on her, licking and sucking until she was gasping his name. Two fingers pushed inside her again, thrusting deep. She grabbed his hair, hips rocking against his face, pleasure building fast and sharp.He pulled away right before she came. In one smooth move he flipped her onto her stomach, pulled her hips up so she was on her knees, and pushed inside her in one long, deep thrust. They both groaned at the same time. He filled her completely, stretching her in that perfect way that made her eyes flutter sh
Aria stood under the hot spray, eyes closed, letting the water pound down on her shoulders. Steam filled the whole bathroom until she could barely see the glass walls. She had been in here for what felt like forever, but it wasn’t helping. Not even a little.Her mind wouldn’t shut up. Ever since she left the hospital yesterday, the same thoughts kept looping. Cassandra’s tired face. The way her hand had grabbed Aria’s like she was scared to let go. The doctor’s voice saying the next few days were critical. The guilt sat heavy in her chest, like something she couldn’t swallow down no matter how hard she tried. She knew she had to tell Damian. She had known it the whole drive home, known it when she couldn’t sleep last night, and she still knew it now. But every time she pictured saying the words out loud, her throat closed up. What if it pushed Cassandra over the edge? What if Damian got that cold look in his eyes before she could even finish explaining?She pressed her forehead agains
Aria walked down the hallway alone. Her shoes sounded too loud on the linoleum. She stopped outside the closed door, took a breath, and pushed it open.The room was dim, blinds half-drawn. Cassandra lay in the bed, small against the white sheets. Her face was pale and puffy from crying, nothing like the beautiful, put-together woman Aria remembered. Her eyes—those big dark eyes that had always drawn people in—looked dull and red-rimmed now. Her hair was flat and tangled against the pillow. An IV dripped steadily into her arm. She looked exhausted. She looked like someone who had given up.Aria stood at the foot of the bed, unable to move closer right away. Her throat felt tight.Cassandra’s eyes opened. For a second she just stared, like she wasn’t sure if Aria was real. Then her face crumpled. Not the polished tears from the phone calls. This was quieter, rawer, the kind that came from somewhere deep and tired. Her shoulders shook and a tear slipped down
Aria pulled the dress out of the bag and held it up.Black lace. She turned it once in the light and looked at it properly for the first time since the delivery. It was short, the kind that screamed for attention, not the kind you wore by mistake. The back was open from the shoulders all the way do
Where is she?His mind wouldn't stop spinning. Four hours. She'd been gone for four hours. Anything could have happened. Someone could have grabbed her. Hurt her. She could be lying somewhere bleeding, calling for help.Please be okay.His chest felt tight. He tried to breathe normally but couldn't
She had been awake for a long time before he came in.The room was still dark at the edges, city light pressing grey and flat beneath the curtains, and she lay on her back with her hands at her sides and thought about Alex. He was in a coma in a hospital somewhere in this city, a machine keeping hi
"Get out."Aria heard herself say it and it didn't sound like her. She said it again."You need to get out of this room."He looked at her.He didn't speak. He didn't move. He just sat there watching her with that settled patience that had never been passive, that had always been something else dre







