From D.K.

Aria's POV.

And just like that, everything I had predicted would happen, did happen.

Ethan’s leak to the gossip blogs had thrown my life into a hot mess to an extent that I had to stay into a hotel during the first week of the paparazzi hounding me on my way home. And the situation wasn’t any better at work either. The constant stares and whispers felt like a million needles on my skin

It was so bad I had to beg Miranda to let me work from home. Thankfully she agreed.

I wanted to scream my head off at how exhausting everything was. And to make it worse, I didn’t have anyone to complain to. Ethan, at one point had been my best friend before we had begun dating, then everything went to shit.

“Everyone’s up in my business.” I sighed, rubbing my temple as I sat in my cozy apartment, contemplating my next move. I wanted to call Ethan after the shit storm he caused. The thought harassed my mind and fought with my pride until eventually I gave in.

He answered on the first ring.

“Took you long enough.” Ethan rumble smugly in satisfaction. “I’ve been expecting your call.”

“Why?” I asked, my voice came out cracked and hollow.

“I mean I did say you’ll end up regretting it, didn’t I? I never make empty promises.” He replied lazily.

I stared blankly into the empty coffee cup next to me, my throat burning with unshed angry tears I blinked back with a tired sigh. “What do you want from me, Ethan? There’s nothing between us. You already have Annette, so what more do you want?”

Ethan chuckled. “I want nothing from you. This is simply payback. You needed to be put in your place and that’s all I’ve done.”

“So you decided the best thing you could do was to leak my secret out to the media?” I asked quietly.

“You forced me to do that. I didn’t want to, so you can’t blame me.” He replied a moment later.

I hurled the coffee mug at the nearest wall, watching it shatter like I currently was, panting hard at the fury burning my chest. “I forced you? Really? I fucking told you that in confidence! How could you do this to me?”

Ethan scoffed. “What? The fact that you once turned tricks at exclusive parties and were arm candy for those wealthy old geezers? Please, it’s nothing to get emotional about.”

A single tear ran down my cheek and I wiped it away with a shaky hands. Memories threatened to explode in my head, but I forced them back, swallowing tightly at the sour taste in my mouth.

I had only done that out of desperation. My family had been in debt. My father was a deadbeat womanizer and who abused my mom and I all through my childhood until I had escaped to college. I grew up struggling and managed to get a partial scholarship into college.

The pay was good, and I needed to pay off loans and debts so I had no choice. I wasn’t proud of it so I never told anyone about it. Not even my mother knew and she’s dead. Same with my father who ended up OD’ing on drugs.

Luckily the clubs I worked under had strict rules on anonymity for their employees, so no one knew me. I had worked hard to put my past behind me and carefully created this perfect image. And with one single post, it shattered.

“You’ve ruined me.” I muttered brokenly, staring straight at nothing.

“You did this to yourself.” Ethan huffed with a hint of discomfort in his voice.

A broken smile cracked my lips. “You’ve always been nothing more than a spoilt brat, throwing a tantrum just because things don’t go your way.”

“Don’t talk like you know me.” He hissed.

I arched a brow slightly. “Don’t I? Does Annette really know you and how truly soulless you are?” I asked in a taunting whisper.

“Shut your fucking mouth!”

My lips stretched into an empty smile as I ended the call, blocked Ethan’s number then deleted it finally. That felt good.

The doorbell rang, startling me from my thoughts. Frowning, I rose to answer the door. “Who is it?”

“Package for Ms. Walker.” A voice said.

My heart dropped to my stomach and the hairs on my arms stood on end. “I—I didn’t order anything. Who is it from?”

“It just says from D.K to Aria.” The deliveryman replied.

Heart pounding, I unlocked the door, apologized for taking his time then took the package off his hands before locking the door firmly behind me. The package felt heavy. I slid the box onto the coffee table before dropping to floor, eyeing it like it was a bomb.

A minute after my phone rang. I glanced at the screen to see it was him. I ended the call.

My phone rang three times and I let it go to voicemail.

A single text came through a moment later: “Answer your phone.”

He called again and I glared at my phone before answering reluctantly. “I don’t want to talk to you and I don’t want anything from you.”

There was a beat of silence on the other end before Daniel muttered, “Let me see you. I don’t like how we left things last time.”

“Oh my fucking God.” I chuckled tiredly, rubbing my eyes as it throbbed at the back of my head. “I have nothing to say to you.”

“Aria...” Daniel sighed. “We can’t get past this if we don’t talk this out—”

“I don’t want to talk to you! Don’t you fucking get that?” I snapped, finally losing my temper.

“A car will be waiting for you at exactly 5pm.” He declared calmly, leaving no room for argument. “The package contains everything you’ll need for tonight. I’ll see you then.”

“Wha— hello? Daniel?!” I pulled the phone back to stare at the blank screen. “This fucker ended the call.” I whispered incredulously.