تسجيل الدخولAriannaThe silence after Liam left wasn’t empty.It was filled with beeping sounds from the machines I was hooked on.Like something had been placed into the room and sealed in without anyone telling us how to breathe around it.Aiden hadn’t moved.Neither had I.But something between us had.I couldn’t name it at first.It wasn’t trust.It wasn’t comfort.It was awareness.The kind that came after realizing you could no longer pretend you didn’t see what was in front of you.Aiden stood near the bed, one hand in his pocket, the other relaxed at his side—but nothing about him was truly relaxed.He looked like someone whose mind was already three steps ahead of the room he was standing in.Liam had left again shortly after Elena was taken out, muttering something about “confirming external movement.”That phrase had stayed in my head longer than I wanted it to.External movement.It sounded distant.But I was starting to understand that nothing about this situation was distant anymore
AriannaThe first thing I felt was weight.Not pain.Not fear.Just weight.Like my body had been pulled under something too deep to fight, and the world above it no longer reached me properly.Everything felt far away.Voices. Movement. Light.All of it existed, but none of it fully belonged to me yet.There was a steady sound cutting through the haze.Beep.Pause.Beep.Something rhythmic and mechanical, like the world had replaced my heartbeat with something less personal.My eyelids felt heavy when I tried to open them.Too heavy.But I forced them anyway.White ceiling.Too bright.Too clean.Hospital.My mind reached the conclusion before my body fully caught up.A soft pressure lingered in my side, dull but present. Not sharp anymore. Just… there, like a reminder that something had already happened and I had missed the worst of it.I blinked slowly.Shapes formed.Machines beside me.A monitor tracking something I didn’t have the strength to focus on.A chair near the bed.And
Liam I was late.Not by choice.By design.The kind of delay that doesn’t feel accidental when you’ve spent your entire life learning patterns of danger.The restaurant came into view as I stepped out of the car, its glass front reflecting too much light, too many movements inside. I had chosen it for one reason only—neutral ground. Public enough to discourage stupidity. Quiet enough to talk without interruption.Arianna was already inside.That was the plan.She was supposed to meet me first.Then leave.Then Aiden would take over the rest of her movement schedule like he always did now—tight, controlled, calculated. I didn’t like it, but I understood why it was necessary.What I didn’t expect was the call I received twenty minutes ago.Aiden’s voice had been sharp.Not panicked.Never panicked.Aiden didn’t do panic.“Something is off, why did she show up?” he said.That was all.No explanation at first.Just that.Then he added, “Stay alert around her today.”I had frowned.“Why?”
Arianna’s POV The city felt louder than I remembered. Even inside the mall, where everything was supposed to feel polished and controlled, there was still noise everywhere. Footsteps, conversations, soft music playing from overhead speakers. People moving like they all had somewhere important to be. I didn’t. Not really. I walked slowly beside Chloe’s absence in my mind, fingers brushing lightly against the edge of my bag strap. I wasn’t even sure why I had come out today. Aiden had been busy since morning, locked in calls he didn’t explain in detail. And I had told myself I didn’t want to stay cooped up in the apartment again. Fresh air. Normal life. Something simple. But nothing about my life felt simple anymore. Not after the island. Not after everything that had started unfolding around me like layers I didn’t even know existed. I paused briefly in front of a shop window, not really seeing what was displayed. My reflection stared back at me instead. Same face. Same eyes
Arianna’s POVThe moment she turned away, something inside me refused to move.My body stayed rooted where I stood, even as the crowd around us kept flowing like nothing unusual had happened. People passed between us, laughing, talking, carrying shopping bags, living their normal lives.But mine had stopped.Completely.I tightened my grip on the envelope in my hand without realizing it.It felt too light for something that heavy.Aiden stepped closer beside me, but I still didn’t look at him.Not yet.Because if I did, I knew I would break out of whatever fragile control I was holding onto.“She’s gone,” he said quietly.I swallowed.“I saw that.”His eyes stayed on me for a moment longer than necessary.“You’re shaking.”“I’m not.”I was lying.He didn’t argue.He never did when he could already see the truth.Instead, he shifted slightly, scanning the direction she had walked off in.“Do you know her?” he asked.My throat tightened.“No.”But even as I said it, the word felt wrong.
Arianna It was the morning of my high school graduation.The morning felt different.Not loud. Not dramatic.Just… final.Like something had quietly reached its end without asking permission.I stood in front of the mirror longer than usual, adjusting my gown for the third time even though it didn’t need fixing. The fabric sat perfectly on my body, but my mind didn’t feel as aligned as everything else did.Today was supposed to be simple.Graduation.Closure.A clean step forward.But nothing in my life had been clean lately.Nothing stayed simple for long.A soft knock came on the door.Before I could respond, Aiden walked in.Of course he didn’t wait.That was him.Always direct. Always certain.His eyes moved over me slowly, not in a way that made me uncomfortable, but in a way that made me aware.Fully aware.“You’re ready,” he said.“I think so.”He stepped closer, stopping just a short distance away.“You don’t sound convinced.”“I’m not.”That earned a slight pause from him.T
Aiden’s POVThis little, pretty lady was obviously trying to get on my nerves by mentioning that young child from the Pearson family. From her tone, I couldn’t tell if she was joking or if she was being serious, but either way, she had succeeded. Her words lingered in the air longer than they shoul
Arianna’s words stuck in her throat, making her unable to respond to his question, so they sat in silence. It wasn’t a comfortable silence, but one that pressed heavily against her chest, amplifying the tension that already filled the car. He seemed pretty angry at her statement. “Did I say somet
I was almost grinning, a ridiculous reaction considering the tension coiling between us inside the car. The low hum of the engine filled the silence, broken only by the sound of my own breathing. The word he had used echoed in my head, loud and mortifying, and my heart thudded as heat crept up my n
The silence following their entrance into the car was almost suffocating. It pressed against their ears, thick and heavy, making the words Aiden had promised—“we have some things to talk about”—feel almost meaningless. The tension between them was palpable, a living thing curling around their shoul







