Chapter One Hundred and Twelve Julian’s POVI’d faced enemies my entire life. Rivals, traitors, assassins in the night. But nothing compared to the man in front of me.My father.Victor Blackwell.The monster who built my empire in shadows before I ever had a chance to claim it as my own. The man who branded me, molded me, and now dared to threaten the only woman I’d ever bled for.Aria’s gasp lingered in the air, her broken whisper what does that mean slicing me open. But worse was her eyes, those wide, searching eyes burning into me as though I held the blade at her throat.Victor knew it. He saw the crack, and like the viper he was, he sank his fangs deeper.“You’ve kept her in the dark,” he sneered, his lip curling. “But she deserves the truth. Doesn’t she, son?”Rage flared so hot my vision blurred. My grip on his collar tightened, and I slammed him harder into the wall, the sound reverberating through the room.“Say another word about her” I growled.He cut me off with a laugh,
Chapter One Hundred and Eleven Aria’s POVThe air in the room turned toxic. Celeste’s words slithered into my ears and coiled around my chest until I could barely breathe. Her. That single word detonated in my head, ringing louder than Julian’s silence.He didn’t deny it.That was the part that cut the deepest, not Celeste’s venom, not the cruel gleam in her eyes but Julian’s stillness. His silence was an answer in itself.My pulse thundered. “Tell me she’s lying,” I whispered again, my voice trembling, almost breaking. “Julian, please, tell me she’s lying.”He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. His jaw worked, his eyes closed for a heartbeat like he was fighting himself, and when they opened again, there was a darkness there I hadn’t seen before. A weight he had carried all this time, and hidden from me.Celeste laughed softly, like a dagger sliding into a sheath. “Oh, he won’t say it. Not to you. Because if he does… you’ll never look at him the same again.”I wanted to scream,
Chapter One Hundred and TenJulian’s POVThe words were out before I could stop them. He’s alive.The silence that followed was sharper than any blade. Aria’s face, pale and trembling, cut into me deeper than Celeste’s smirk ever could. Her eyes weren’t just questioning anymore, they were shattering.I had spent years mastering control, building walls so high no one could climb them. Yet in this moment, with Aria standing before me, those walls crumbled like dust. And the ghost I had buried, the one shadow I never thought would rise again, stood between us.“My father…” The name nearly caught in my throat, but I forced it out. “Victor Blackwell.”Even saying it felt like poison.Celeste tilted her head, savoring the fracture in me, the weakness I had sworn I’d never show. “Oh, Julian,” she crooned, “you always did inherit his talent for secrets.”I wanted to shut her up, to silence her before she twisted this deeper into Aria’s veins, but the damage was already done.I turned to Aria,
Chapter One Hundred and NineAria’s POVI couldn’t breathe. Every step I took away from them was fueled by the desperate need to keep my body moving before it caved in on itself. The hallway blurred, walls stretching and bending like I was in some nightmare I couldn’t wake from.“Aria, wait!” Julian’s voice thundered behind me, the sound that used to make my knees weaken with desire now slicing straight through my ribs.I didn’t stop. My heels struck the floor in angry, uneven rhythms, each step a refusal, a prayer, a scream. “Don’t follow me, Julian. Don’t..” My voice cracked on the last word, betraying the tears threatening to spill.But he did. Of course he did. His footsteps closed in, and before I could push open the heavy double doors ahead, his hand slammed against the frame, trapping me. His chest pressed close to my back, his heat an unbearable reminder of what I was running from.“Aria.” His voice was low, desperate, trembling like he was fighting to breathe, too. “You can’t
Chapter One Hundred and EightAria’s POVThe silence after her words was unbearable. Even the dust in the corridor seemed to freeze midair, waiting. Julian’s chest rose and fell against my back, every breath jagged, every muscle iron-hard.“Prove it?” My voice was a rasp, my throat raw. “How?”Celeste’s smile widened slow, patient, like she had been waiting for me to ask. She stepped closer, her perfume faint but suffocating, a scent too sweet, too perfect. “You really want to know, little dove?”Julian’s hand gripped my wrist so tightly it bordered on pain. “Aria. Don’t. She twists everything”“because truth hurts,” Celeste finished smoothly, her gaze slicing past him and straight into me. Her eyes were sharp, glimmering with a satisfaction that made bile rise in my throat. “Do you know why he touches you the way he does? Why every kiss feels like it consumes you, as though he knows exactly how to unravel you piece by piece?”I swallowed hard, my pulse roaring in my ears. “Because he
Chapter One Hundred and SevenAria’s POVThe ground split like a living wound, stone screaming as it gave way beneath us. My body jolted sideways, thrown against the wall as dust rained down from above. The strobe lights flickered violently red, black, red, making it impossible to tell what was solid and what was just shadow.“Aria!” Julian’s voice cut through the chaos. A strong grip clamped around my waist, pulling me away from the crack that widened at my feet. Heat and fear tangled together as his body pressed against mine, bracing me from the fall.I could feel his chest rising hard against my back, the raw thrum of his pulse pounding as if it were my own. For a heartbeat, I wanted nothing more than to melt into him, to believe his strength could hold the world together.But Celeste’s words clawed at me: This is who he is… A liar. A weapon. He will destroy you.“Let me go,” I gasped, pushing against him, though my legs trembled too violently to stand on my own.“Over my dead body