FAZER LOGINThe next morning began with music, fabric, and nervous laughter.Aria stood in the middle of the bedroom as Lena adjusted the hem of her gown one last time, Mia smoothed a stray wrinkle from the sleeve, and Jade insisted on taking “just one more” picture.She tried to be in the moment and feel the excitement in the air… but Jason’s text message sat in her chest like stone.She tried shoving it to the back of her mind because today was not the day to fall apart… but she couldn’t.“Aria,” Lena’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts, “you are doing that thing again.”“What thing?”“The thing where your face looks calm, but your eyes are screaming.” She stood in front of her and held her shoulders. “YOU are graduating today. Do not let anything take away the joy of today. Got it?”Aria took a deep breath. “You’re right.”Jason… and his text shouldn’t spoil the mood for her.Just then, the apartment door opened and her mother entered. She looked around, took in the chaos, and smiled. “So
The days flew by… until finally, it was the night of graduation.Aria sat cross‑legged on the couch in her pajamas, twirling the edge of her sleeve between her fingers while Lena flipped through channels, Mia scrolled on her phone, and Jade laid on the rug with her legs up against the wall.Tomorrow was everything. Tonight, she just felt… jittery.“You’re quiet,” Mia said without looking up. “I don’t like it. You’re making the air weird.”“What? I’m not making the air weird.”Lena glanced over. “You kind of are. You look like you’re about to sit an exam, not walk a stage.”“Don’t remind me,” Aria sighed. “You’ll make me more nervous. The thought of it all… It’s just a lot.”“That’s the point,” Jade said. “It’s supposed to be a lot. You survived hell. Now everybody comes to clap.”Mia tossed her phone aside. “Okay, this is not how we spend the night before graduation,” she declared. “We should be doing something fun. Stupid. Unproductive.”“Like sleep?” Aria asked, hopeful.“Like the c
Aria ignoring him was starting to get under Jason’s skin.He had sent several messages and called too many times… only to get no response back.Victoria.She caused this.He exhaled sharply as he walked across the mostly empty campus toward the Dean’s office, muttering under his breath, “Fuck.”The sessions were over, so there were no students flooding the corridors.Only staff moved around now—gardeners trimming the edges of the walkway, cleaners pushing carts, security posted near the entrance.The quiet made every footstep feel too loud.The Dean had asked him to come in urgently. That alone was enough to make his shoulders tense.When he knocked and stepped inside, he paused in the doorway.Two other people were already seated with Dean Hargrove, and Jason recognized them from HR.His jaw tightened, but he kept his expression carefully controlled. “What’s going on here?”Hargrove folded his hands on the desk. “Nothing to be alarmed about. We’re carrying out a discreet investigatio
It was now two weeks to graduation, and Aria’s life felt like it was moving toward a new direction. Even though she still thought of Jason, she didn’t reach out to him.She had to stick to her decision.“Okay, Len,” Jade narrowed her gaze at her. “It’s either you’re planning a crime, or you’re very much in love.”Aria laughed as she stood in front of the mirror in the boutique, smoothing down one of the many outfits I’d tried on for graduation.
Aria knew the second Victoria leaned in that this brunch had been a mistake.Watching her touch that fake bump had already hurt, but seeing them kiss was worse than anything she’d expected to survive.Jason had told her there was no physical side to his marriage, no real intimacy, just a contract and a public performance.Yet, he clearly looked like he was enjoying the kiss… which only proved that they had done this before.He’d lied to her. Again.She dropped her g
The following evening, Jason came home from campus, still seething about the message Aria had gotten from Victoria.He couldn’t bring it up himself, so he waited for her to do it.She was on her tablet when he stepped into the living room.“I invited Aria over for Sunday brunch,” she said flatly, like she was commenting on the weather.He stopped in his tracks. “You did what?”
Aria’s Uber rolled up to a high white wall with discreet security cameras and a tall golden gate that looked like you were entering heaven. The mansion was bigger than she imagined. That’s if she imagined a mansion at all.“Wow!” she whispered, peering from the window. “I can’t believe Sofia lives
Jason hadn’t expected a reply to his email so quickly. He had only sent it the previous afternoon, and now, mid-morning, his phone buzzed on his desk.From: Dean HargroveCould you stop by my office today, 11:30?He checked the time. 11:08 A.M“Of course,” he muttered, more to himself than anyone,
Aria moved on autopilot.She went home, changed, and headed to the café for her shift. There, she wiped the table, reset the sugar caddy, smiled at customers, got their order, and repeated the same cycle.Lena was working the register with speed while Mia hovered near a table, laughing at something
“First, it started as a rumor,” Sofia said. “Then, it got messy. People chose sides before anyone knew the full story. The girl was the one who got eaten alive by it. Online, in class, everywhere. As for him, all he got was a stern talking to and a new posting. The end.”Aria’s stomach dipped, the







