Chapter 3

Aria stood there for a second longer than she should have, her phone still in her hand and the message still open on the screen, because even though the words were simple and not even that long, they carried a weight that made everything else around her feel like it had slowed down without warning, and the fact that his name was right there under it made it impossible to pretend that this was just a coincidence or something she could ignore and move past like everything else she had learned to leave behind.

She should not have opened it, she knew that much immediately, because the moment she read it, the distance she had just created between them inside that room felt like it meant nothing, like all the effort she had put into keeping things controlled and simple had been undone in a second, and even though she had already walked away from him physically, something about that message pulled her right back into the same space mentally in a way she was not prepared for.

For a brief moment, she considered deleting it without replying, because that would have been the easiest option and the one that made the most sense, just remove it, pretend she never saw it, and keep moving the way she had planned to before any of this happened, but the problem was that ignoring something like this did not make it disappear, especially not when it came from someone like him, someone who clearly did not plan to leave things unfinished once his attention had settled on something.

She locked her phone instead of replying, her fingers tightening slightly around it as she started walking again, this time more focused on getting out of the building than anything else, because staying there any longer felt like a mistake, and the last thing she needed was to run into him again before she had time to think properly about what she was going to do next.

The air outside felt different the moment she stepped out, cooler and quieter compared to the controlled noise of the gala, and for a second she let herself breathe properly, like she needed that small break just to reset everything that had shifted in the last few minutes, but even with that, the message was still there in her mind, sitting at the back of her thoughts in a way that refused to settle.

She told herself it did not matter, that it was just a message and nothing more, she did not have to respond, she could still choose to ignore it and keep everything exactly where it was before tonight, but the problem was that she already knew it would not be that simple, because he had seen her, he had spoken to her, and now he had reached out, which meant this was no longer something she could completely avoid.

Her phone buzzed again before she even reached her car, and this time she did not check it immediately, even though she knew who it was without needing to look, because there was only one person who would follow up that quickly, and the fact that he was not waiting for a response before sending another message made it clear that he was not planning to let this go easily.

She got into her car first, closing the door and letting the quiet settle around her again before finally unlocking her phone, because if she was going to read whatever he sent, she wanted to do it on her own terms, not standing outside where everything still felt too close to what had just happened.

The second message was shorter than the first, but it carried more weight in a way that made her pause before she even finished reading it, because it was not just a request this time, it was more direct, more certain, like he had already decided that this conversation was going to happen whether she agreed to it or not.

“You left too quickly.

Aria let out a slow breath, leaning back slightly in her seat as she stared at the screen, because that was exactly the kind of message she expected from him, something simple on the surface but loaded enough to mean more than it said, and the fact that he noticed she left quickly meant he had been paying attention even after she walked away.

For a moment, she considered replying just to end it, just to say something neutral that would close the conversation before it went any further, but every option she thought of felt like it would only pull her deeper into something she was not ready to deal with, and she had already made the mistake of staying longer than she should have inside that room, so she was not about to make another one by opening a conversation she did not need.

She dropped her phone onto the passenger seat instead, starting the engine as she focused on something else, anything else that could take her attention away from what was happening, because the only way to keep control now was to not engage, to not respond, to not give him anything that would make it easier for him to continue.

It should have ended there, it would have, if things were still the way they used to be.

But they were not.

Her phone rang before she even pulled out of the parking lot, the sound cutting through the quiet in a way that made her grip tighten slightly on the steering wheel, and she did not need to look at the screen to know who it was, because there was only one person who would go from messages to calling this quickly without hesitation.

For a second, she let it ring, her eyes fixed ahead as she tried to decide whether ignoring it was still the better option, but the problem with ignoring someone like him was that it rarely ended things, it only delayed them, and she knew from experience that he was not the type to leave something unfinished once he decided it mattered enough to follow up.

The call kept ringing, and then it stopped. The silence that followed felt heavier than the sound itself, because now she knew he was waiting, deciding what to do next, and the fact that she had not answered meant he would not just drop it and move on.

Her phone buzzed again almost immediately, and this time when she looked at the screen, the message that appeared made something in her chest tighten in a way she could not ignore.

“Answer the phone.

There was no question in it, no hesitation, just a statement, and that was what made it worse.

Aria stared at the screen for a few seconds, her mind running through every possible outcome of what would happen if she answered and what would happen if she did not, because either way, this was already going further than she wanted it to.

She could still ignore it, she could still put her phone away, drive home, and pretend none of this happened, but she already knew that would not stop him, and that was the problem.

The call came in again, this time, she did not let it ring for too long.

She picked it up.

“Hello.”

Her voice was calm, steady, controlled, exactly the way she needed it to be.

There was a brief pause on the other end, not long enough to feel awkward, but long enough for her to notice it, like he was taking a second before speaking, like he was deciding what to say first.

“You left,” he said, and even though the words were simple, the tone carried more than that, something that made it clear this was not just a casual follow up.

“I had somewhere to be,” she replied, keeping her tone just as even, because she was not about to let him set the direction of this conversation without holding her ground.

“Before or after you decided I didn’t know you,” he asked, and that was the moment she realized that this was not going to be a simple conversation, because he had not let it go, not even for a second.

Aria leaned back slightly in her seat, her grip tightening just a little as she chose her next words carefully, this was exactly what she had tried to avoid, and now she was already in it.

“You didn’t,” she said.

There was another pause, shorter this time, sharper.

“That’s not what I meant.”

And just like that, everything shifted again, because now it was not about whether he recognized her or not,.. now it was about something else, something he was starting to question, something he was not letting go of.

Aria felt it clearly in that moment, the way the situation was changing in real time, the way the control she had been holding onto since the beginning was starting to slip, and the worst part was that she could not stop it completely anymore, because she had already answered the call.

“You remembered my name,” she said, trying to keep it simple, trying to keep it grounded in something that made sense.

“I remember things that matter,” he replied, and the way he said it made her chest tighten in a way she did not expect, because there was something in that statement that felt too close to something she had spent years trying not to think about.

For a second, she did not respond, because she did not trust herself to say the right thing without letting something else slip through, and that silence stretched just enough for him to continue.

“So tell me something,” he said, his voice quieter now but more focused, “if I don’t know you, why does it feel like I should.”

And that was it, that was the moment everything stopped feeling controlled.. that question was not simple, it was not casual, it was not something she could brush off easily, and for the first time since she saw him again, Aria realized something she had not fully accepted until now.

He might not remember her, but he was already starting to notice her, and once he did.

There was no going back.