Chapter 10

_Aria's POV_

Lucien explained the plan to me. I would go back home and pretend that everything was fine and normal. Then, at night, when everyone was asleep, I would quietly sneak out and go with him.

He spoke slow and clear. “Act like nothing happened,” he said. “Talk to them like you always do. Do your chores. Be the good daughter. They must not suspect. If they suspect, they will watch you more closely.”

I nodded. My hands were cold and my heart was loud in my throat. He watched me with eyes that seemed to read the small tremors inside me.

“I want you to come with me tonight,” he said. “But you cannot leave now. Not without a plan. You need to pack a few things. Bring only what you must. I will wait for your signal. When the house is quiet, I will be outside. You step out quietly and I will take you.”

“I have things I want to take,” I said. It sounded weak even to my own ears. “Important things. My sketchbook. My ring. A photo. Some other small things.”

“That is fine,” Lucien said. “Pack them and hide your suitcase. Make sure they cannot see it. Act normal. Do not change your face. Do not show fear.”

He smiled then. It was a small smile with a touch of mischief. “We will make this like a game. The better you play, the safer you are.”

His voice made the plan feel possible. It made leaving feel less like stealing my life and more like stepping into a new part of it. I wanted to ask a hundred questions. But his plan was simple and that made me trust him a little more.

I walked to the market with the vegetables. The basket felt heavy on my arm. The town looked the same as always. People moved about. Shops smelled of bread and coffee. I forced my face into the same blank kindness I always wore. I saw my reflection in a café window and barely recognized the hollow-eyed girl looking back.

At home I handed the vegetables to my mother. She took them without looking up much. “Good,” she said. “Put them in the sink.” Her voice was tired and fast. I did as I was told.

I helped with the chores. I swept. I washed. I did not say much. My mother hummed an old tune. Dad was not home. Elena lounged on the couch with her phone. She looked up when I came in and gave me a slow and knowing smile. It felt like a push.

I was about to go to my room to start packing when Elena blocked my path in the hall. She leaned against the frame and gave me that look. “Stay away from Ryan,” she said casually. Her voice had no warmth.

I did not want to answer. My hands ached with the need to throw something. I kept my voice steady. “I am trying to get rid of him,” I said. “He keeps coming to our house. He is the one bothering me. I have no interest in him now. You can have him.”

Elena’s face flickered. She opened her mouth to say something cruel. I cut her off. “Don’t bother me now.” I said it sharp. “I am going to take a nap.” I pushed past her. My shoulder brushed hers. She stumbled and smiled at me with slow triumph.

I slammed my door and locked it. My chest hammered. I pulled my suitcase from the closet. I sat on the bed and looked around the room. It looked smaller than it did when I was a child. There were posters on the wall and my sketches pinned to the corkboard. A chipped mug with paint stains sat on my desk. I touched them one by one. These reminded me of my childhood.

I packed the important things first. My sketchbook went in first. I wrapped it in a soft scarf. It was the place where I kept my designs and my quiet thoughts. I put in the little silver ring my mother had once worn. It did not mean much now, but it was a piece of her even if she had been paid to keep me. I folded the photograph of me as a baby, asleep in a blanket. I slid in my favorite sweater. I took a small locked box from the drawer. Inside was a note I had written myself years ago that said, You are stronger than you know. I put that box in too.

I packed a toothbrush and a change of shoes. I tucked in a small flashlight. I put a ribbon Elena had once given me into the zipper pocket. It felt like stealing a memory. I folded the clothes slowly as if making a promise.

When the suitcase was half full I did something foolish. I hid it. I pushed it under my bed in the dark. Only the strap showed from beneath. I pulled a blanket over it so the strap could not be seen from the door. If anyone walked past, they would see nothing but a neat bed.

I heard voices in the kitchen. The smell of stew tickled up the stairs. It was time to be normal again.

Dinner was loud with family talk. Aunt Carol’s visit had left crumbs of gossip in the house. Elena spoke about clothes. My mother spoke about money and arrangements at work. I cleared plates. I smiled when they expected a smile. My voice sounded fake. It slid over the table like a thin film.

After dinner, I washed the dishes. I sang softly to myself to keep my hands from trembling. I set the pots to dry. The house settled into the soft hum of evening. My mother called up the stairs.

“Aria,” she said. “Come down. I need to tell you something.”

My heart dropped. I had not expected anything but silence. I dried my hands and walked down. At the table she signaled to the chair across from her. Her eyes looked tired but they wanted something from me. I sat.

“There is something important I wanted to say to you for a long time,” she said. “I did not know how to tell you.”

The room felt small. I wanted to run upstairs and hide. I wanted to finish packing. I tried to keep my voice calm. “You can tell me now,” I said. “Say it.”

She looked at me like she was reading a book she had never learned to read. “You are not like us, Aria,” she said slowly. “You are different. I don’t know how to explain it to you.”

My first thought was the adoption file. I felt the old familiar sting. “I know I am adopted,” I said. “You don’t need to tell me. You raised me after someone left me at the orphanage. This is not new information for me.”

My words came sharper than I meant. Inside I thought ugly things. I thought of the money on the bank paper. I thought of the video in Lucien’s phone. I thought of the man bleeding in the bushes. I thought of being only a job for my parents. They took care of me only because they were paid to do so.

My mother pressed her lips together. She reached out and took my hands between hers. Her fingers were dry and warm. “No, Aria. It is not about being adopted,” she said softly. “There is more. Much more.” She looked at me like she wanted to give me a truth she had kept locked away for years. “You are different in ways I cannot explain.”

Anger burned in my chest. It rose so fast that it almost choked me. I thought about everything I had seen. Everything she had hidden. Every lie Lucien showed me today.

I pulled my hands back and stood up. “There is no need for us to talk,” I said in a flat voice. “Nothing will change. I will always be less than Elena in this house. I will always be the outsider.”

“No,” she said quickly, her voice trembling. “That is not what I wanted to say. Please, Aria. Hear me out.”

“I can’t,” I muttered. I pushed my chair back and walked away from the dining table. My heart beat fast with fear and anger. I did not want to hear anything from her. Not when I knew what she had done. Not when I knew she had taken money to keep me here like some caged thing.

I climbed the stairs quickly. My legs felt shaky but I kept going. I needed to lock myself in my room. I needed to finish packing. I needed to leave this house forever.

I reached the top and hurried down the hall.

I was almost inside my room when I heard footsteps behind me.

“Aria, wait,” my mother said.

I closed my eyes. I felt annoyed and scared at the same time. I turned the doorknob and stepped inside. She followed me before I could close the door.

“Please,” she said. “You need to listen to me.”

I wanted to scream. I wanted her to stop pretending she cared.

I took a step back… and that was when I saw it.

A strap of my suitcase was showing from under the bed.

My blood turned cold.

My mother’s eyes were moving around the room. If she looked down, she would see it. She would know I was planning to leave. She would call Dad. She would call Ryan. They would stop me. They would lock me inside this house forever.

I swallowed hard and moved fast. I walked to the bed and stood right in front of the strap, blocking it with my legs. My heart was beating too loud. I felt like she could hear it.

“Mom,” I said quickly, forcing my voice to stay calm. “It’s late. Really late. I’m tired. We can talk tomorrow.”

“But Aria....”

“Tomorrow,” I repeated, sharper this time.

She looked at me for a long moment. I could not read her eyes. I did not want to. I just wanted her to go.

“Fine,” she whispered at last. “We will talk tomorrow. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” I said. My voice was steady but inside I was shaking.

She walked out slowly and closed the door behind her.

The moment she left, the breath rushed out of my lungs. I locked the door fast then leaned my back against it.

I almost got caught.

I almost lost everything.

I went to the bed and pulled the suitcase out. I pushed the strap back in place and zipped it tightly. Then I slid the suitcase under the bed again and pulled the blanket down to hide every corner of it.

Only then did I sit on the bed and press my hands over my face.

Tonight, I had to get out.

Nothing could stop me.

Not even her.