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?”
His eyes widened.“And I… want this. With you,” Aria continued, smiling. “If you still do.”For a heartbeat, Tyler just stared at her, expression stunned, like his brain was still catching up. Then his whole face broke open into a grin so bright it made her laugh.“If I still do?” he repeated. “Ari
By the time a week had passed, the sharpness of that last conversation with Jason had dulled into something flatter. He’d given her what she asked for and kept his distance.No lingering looks, no extra questions directed at her. His gaze skimmed past her the way it did every other student, landing
Monday came with that washed-out light that made everything on campus look a little pale, including Aria, since she'd been dreading how she was going to stand on her resolve.As usual, she headed to Jason's office with her laptop hugged to her chest for their morning T.A. meeting. She slowed down
Aria didn’t remember how she got home. One minute, she was just at the campus gate, and the next, she was standing in front of the apartment door, her keys cold between her fingers.Her heart still hadn’t slowed down.She managed to steady her trembling hands to fit the key into the lock to open it







