Chapter 5: The Return

Ariana’s POV (Six years later)

After six years away, the city of Los Angeles still looked the same, smelled the same, and even felt the same to me.

And although the place hardly forgot a scandal, especially one linking to one of the most powerful families in the city, it didn’t recognize me.

There was no way it could, I’d made absolute sure of that. My physical appearance was enough disguise… although I knew there were people who would still recognize me.

My thoughts flew to Sebastian and his mother briefly. They had no I had returned… yet. But they would find out soon enough.

They would find out that I had survived and I wasn’t the same woman who fled in disgrace six years ago. Ariana Frost had left this city broken, now Aria Forbes had returned.

I stepped out of the maroon SUV that had picked us up at the airport, my heels clinking the pavement softly, as if careful not to step into deep waters.

The atmosphere felt the same… warm, alive and buzzing with ambition and secrets.

I caught my reflection from the tinted glass of the building ahead. My hair... black, long and always tied back in a ponytail before, but now it was dark brown and I let it freely fall in soft waves down my shoulders.

“I’m guessing this isn’t home sweet home.” Kylan’s familiar voice sounded behind me.

I turned slightly, my lips curving into a smirk.

Kylan leaned casually against the car, his presence as effortlessly interesting as ever. Six years had done nothing but refine us both.

His dark skin shone against the sunlight, his black curls tousled slightly at his forehead. His features carried that same irresistible charm that made people often look twice at him… and then unable to look away.

But it wasn’t just his looks that interested me. He was a survivor… just like me, having turned from a life of controversy himself, to this nerdy genius standing beside me.

“You know… for someone who claims not to care about this city,” he continued, pushing himself off the car and stepping closer, “you’re staring at it like you do love it.”

“I do love this city. It’s the memories of my traumatic experience here that I hate with everything in me,” I replied smoothly.

Kylan’s smile deepened. “Right.”

I turned and our eyes met. That brief moment, something melted away in me. Kylan wasn’t just my business partner, he was the man who had helped me when I sought out a fresh start.

The man had seen me at my lowest, but never once treated me like I was broken. He had given me the opportunity to rebuild myself, and then supported me all the way to this very point.

I knew I could never repay him, even though while I kept the doors to my heart firmly shut, Kylan never hid the way he felt about me.

“You’re thinking again,” Kylan spoke again, pulling me from my thoughts.

“I always think.” I answered, trying my best to hide the nervousness creeping beneath my skin.

“Not like this.”

Exhaling slowly, knowing he was right, I adjusted the grey jacket framing most part of my upper body.

“Well, let’s check it out then.”

He studied me for a second longer, like he wanted to say something else, but then he let it go.

“Sebastian Frost won’t see what’s coming for him,” he said as we walked towards the entrance of the building.

A faint, humorless smile loosened my lips a little.

“No,” I replied. “He won’t.”

This was true, because the woman he had humiliated and discarded no longer existed… at least not to him.

My mind returned to the towering building, which now had the name SinTech Global body displayed above. A sign of the power I was about to wield.

The lobby of the newly built tower looked better than the way I imagined it would. Pure glass structure and glittering black marble floors.

I walked beside Kylan into the reception space, while a couple of engineers and project managers trailed closely behind us, eagerly explaining the final touches for the place.

“…the executive floor was fully concluded last night,” one of them was saying nervously. 

“Good,” I replied calmly, my eyes moving across the interior.

Construction had started and gone on for months under private contractors from outside Los Angeles. Kylan and I had planned everything personally, ensuring no connection of the place led back to me.

For now anyway.

But I still thought Sebastian would have noticed the development, even if he had no idea who was really behind it. Because I knew him that well.

A huge tech company suddenly rising in Los Angeles? Sebastian absolutely would have surely investigated.

Good. Let him keep guessing until I was ready to emerge publicly.

The corner of my lips curved with a half smile again at the thought. Surprises were far more effective when people believed they were untouchable.

And Sebastian Frost had always believed exactly that.

My phone vibrated suddenly inside the pocket of my jacket. I pulled it out and glanced briefly at the screen before a my facial expression changed.

Kylan noticed instantly and gazed at me.

“Skylar?” he asked.

I nodded lightly. “Probably Jason.”

“Go ahead.” He said with a smile.

The engineers went silent as I stepped away from them, moving toward a more quiet side of the massive reception area.

I finally answered the call. “Hey.”

“Mom!” Jason’s voice sounded at the other end just as I’d thought.

Even though I had been away from him only a couple of hours, hearing his voice melted my heart.

“There’s my favorite boy.”

“You said that yesterday,” the boy pointed out seriously.

A soft laugh escaped me. “And I meant it yesterday too.”

I could practically picture Jason already, his hair dark and messy, probably with a book in hand while pretending not to miss me too much.

“Did you land already?” he asked quickly.

“Yeah. We just got here, darling .”

“Is the city big?”

“It’s very big!”

There was a quiet pause from the other end before he asked, “Do you like it there?”

The question caught me off guard and my gaze drifted back toward the Kylan and the group of engineers who were now explaining something to him.

Did I like it? I couldn’t really tell.

“Yes,” I answered softly. “I think I will.”

“Good,” Jason replied simply, like that settled everything.

God. Sometimes he sounded too wise for a five year old.

“But I already miss you, sweetheart,” I admitted quietly.

“I miss you too, Mom.”

His words continued to melt something in me. And for the first time since I made up my mind to return, it almost didn’t feel worth it.

I had Jason, and he was the ultimate thing that mattered to me. I shrugged of the feeling of doubt by telling myself I’m doing all these for him.

“You promised to bring me when everything’s ready,” he reminded me from the other end.

“And Mommy keeps my promises.”

“Even the pinky ones?”

I smiled faintly. “Especially those ones.”

There was a brief silence after that, and my instinct told me the boy was satisfied with my answer… for now.

Then, quietly, “Is uncle Kylan there with you?” He asked.

“Yes,” I replied, glancing across the lobby toward Kylan who smiled at me.

Even from a distance, he still kept a close eye on me, and I couldn’t help but admire him more for that.

“He says hi.”

“Say

hi back for me.”

“Sure darling,” I said gently. “Alright put Skylar on for me.”