His Runaway Queen

*Aria's POV*Rain was falling the night I ran.Not the gentle kind that kissed windows and soothed restless hearts. No. This rain came down like a warning - sharp, cold, relentless - drumming against the pavement as if trying to stop me from taking another step towards the inevitable.My breath fogged the taxi window as the city blurred past it. Neon lights streaked across the glass like smeared paint, turning everything into a distorted version of the life I was abandoning.My life.My prison.My home.My heart clenched hard enough to hurt. Maybe because the taxi crossing the one place where everything had started - the long, dark stretch of road leading away from the Hale estate. Or maybe because I was leaving behind the one person I never wanted to run from.Lucian.Even thinking his name felt dangerous.He was the storm in the middle of my too-quiet world, the man whose touch had once felt like a promise and a threat wrapped into one. The man who had held me like he owned every br

*Aria's POV*"Adrian!" I called the moment I entered my little home."Mommy!" The little rascal came running to me.Adrian, my 3 years old boy. The little life I ran away to protect. For whom I left the only person that I ever loved.The village was the kind of place the world forgot.Tucked between mountains and fog, with cobblestones street that glistened after every rain, and windows thats glowed amber at night like fireflies caught in jars. A place too small for danger.A place Lucian would never look.My name wasn't Aria here. It was Elena Vettori, the quiet woman who rented the attic above the bakery, who always smelled faintly of flour. I started working at the bakery ever since I arrived here, so I could provide a good life for my son.I kept mostly to myself, I didn't want to raise any questions, because engaging with people meant questions that I wouldn't answer.I was the woman with a child she never let out of her sight."Mr Rino let me help him feed the goats today! He sa

*Aria's POV*By noon, the bakery slowed down.Adrian sat drawing in his sketchbook at one of the tables, tongue poking out in concentration. He looked peaceful. Safe."Mommy," he asked suddenly, "can we get hot chocolate later?""Yes," I said, brushing his curls. "After your nap."He smiled proudly, holding up his drawing. It was of a goat. With very sharp horns."Very intimidating," I told him.He giggled and went back to coloring.I stepped outside to shake snow from the doormat.And froze.Across the square, two unfamiliar men stood near the inn entrance—both tall, both dressed in dark winter coats, hands buried in their pockets. Their posture was wrong. Heavily trained. Military-like. And one of them kept glancing at a phone in his hand.My blood turned to ice.More strangers.Three in twenty-four hours.This village never saw more than one in a month.Something was happening.My throat tightened. I slipped back into the bakery quickly and locked the door. Rino looked up, surprise

*Aria's POV*I looked at Marta and gulped."Are they asking about me?"Marta shook her head quickly. "No. No names. Just... families. Women who arrived years ago. Ones who keep to themselves."I swallowed."I didn't tell them anything." She added firmly. "This village doesn't sell its own."Gratitude burned behind my eyes. "Thank you."She squeezed my hand once. "Winter passes. But storms always come first."I watched Adrian laugh as he fell backward into the snow, arms flailing.A storm was coming.I felt it in my bones.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -That afternoon. Adrian asked a question I had been dreading."Mommy." He said casually, coloring at the small kitchen table. "Do I have a papa?"My heart stopped.I kept my back turned, focusing on the kettle as if my life depended on it."Why do you ask that?"He shrugged. "Everyone else does."I closed my eyes.This moment had been inevitable. I'd just hoped to delay it longer."Yes." I said quietly. "You

Aria's POV Everything about Lucian was awareness now. Predatory, focused, dangerously quiet. I knew that se choices would haunt me forever. A choice I made… A destiny I couldn’t rewrite. “You built a life.” He said bitterly. “Here.” “Yes.” I replied. “With him.” “Yes.” He took another step forward. I held my ground this time, even though every instinct screamed to run. “I didn’t do this to hurt you.” I said. “I did it because I was afraid.” “Of me?” “Yes.” I admitted. “You should be.” He grinned cruelly. There was a crazed look in his eyes. They didn’t have the slight tenderness it used to have before. He approached me like a predator approaching its prey. I turned my face away, no longer able to look into his eyes. A shiver ran through me. A million thoughts raced through my head. Memories of us, days we spent together. But all of these memories are now gone. Because all I could see in his eyes was the hatred. He was looking at me as