Chapter 7

Aria did not move for a few seconds after reading the message, not because she did not understand it, but because the way it was written, simple and direct without any explanation, carried a kind of certainty that made it harder to process than it should have been, and even though part of her wanted to immediately dismiss it as nothing more than an assumption or a guess, the problem was that everything about him so far had shown that he did not say things without knowing exactly what he meant.

Her fingers tightened slightly around her phone as she read it again, slower this time, as if looking at it differently would change what it said, but it didn’t, the words stayed the same, clear and certain, and the more she looked at them, the more she realized that this was not something she could brush off or ignore the way she had done with everything else, because this crossed a line she had not expected him to reach this quickly.

She forced herself to breathe steadily, keeping her expression the same even though there was no one around her paying attention, because reacting too quickly would only make things worse, and the last thing she needed right now was to let him see any kind of reaction that would give him more control over the situation.

Her first instinct was to respond, to push back, to question how he knew or why he would say something like that, but she stopped herself before typing anything, because engaging with him at this point would only give him exactly what he wanted, which was her attention, and she had already given him more of that than she should have.

Instead, she set her phone down on the desk, leaning back slightly in her chair as she tried to think through this clearly, because reacting without thinking was not going to help her, not with him, not with the way he approached things, and if he really did know where she lived, then this was no longer just about curiosity or unfinished conversations, it was something that had already moved beyond what she could easily control.

But even as she tried to stay calm, her mind kept circling back to the same thing, how he knew, when he found out, and how much he actually knew beyond that, because if he had already gotten that information, then it meant he had been looking into her in ways she had not accounted for, and that meant she had underestimated him in a way she could not afford to ignore anymore.

Her phone buzzed again.

She did not look at it immediately, because she already knew it was him, and the fact that another message came so quickly after the last one only confirmed that he was not done, that he was pushing deliberately, step by step, without giving her time to settle or regain control of the situation.

When she finally picked it up again, the message on the screen made her pause in a way she could not hide even from herself, because this time it was not just a statement, it was something more specific.

"You should be more careful."

Aria stared at the words, her mind already running ahead of what that could mean, because that was not just a warning, it was something else, something that suggested he knew more than he was saying, and the way he phrased it made it feel like he was not just observing from a distance anymore.

She stood up from her chair without thinking too much about it, her movements controlled but quicker than before, because sitting there pretending to focus on work was no longer an option, not when something like this was happening, and as she picked up her bag and phone, one thing became clear to her in that moment.

She needed to leave.

Not because she was afraid, but because staying in one place without knowing exactly what he knew or how he was moving was not something she was comfortable with, and the only way to regain any kind of control was to remove herself from the situation long enough to think clearly.

She walked out of her office without drawing attention, keeping her pace steady as she moved through the hallway and toward the elevator, because the last thing she needed was to make it obvious that anything was wrong, even though her mind was already running through possibilities faster than she could organize them.

By the time she stepped into the elevator, her grip on her phone had tightened again, and this time she did not wait before opening the message thread, because she needed to see everything clearly, needed to understand exactly what he had said and how far this had already gone.

There were only the messages she had seen, nothing more, no extra details, no explanation, just those few lines that carried more weight than they should have, and that was what made it worse, because he did not need to say more for it to mean something.

The elevator doors opened, and she stepped out quickly, heading straight toward the exit this time without slowing down, because the sooner she got out of the building, the sooner she could figure out what to do next without feeling like she was being watched.

The moment she stepped outside, she scanned the area without making it obvious, her eyes moving naturally over the space as if she was just looking for her car, but in reality she was checking for anything that felt out of place, any sign that he might be closer than she expected.

Nothing stood out.. everything looked normal.

People moved the same way they always did, cars passed by without slowing, and for a second she almost convinced herself that she was overthinking it, that this was just him pushing too far without actually meaning anything behind it.

Her phone rang.

This time she looked at it immediately.

"Sebastian Drake.

She hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering, not because she was unsure, but because she knew that picking up would change the situation again, and once she did, there would be no going back to ignoring it.

She answered.

“What do you want,” she said, keeping her voice steady even though the tension had already settled deeper than before.

There was no immediate response on the other end, just a brief silence that lasted long enough for her to notice, and when he finally spoke, his tone was calm in a way that made it harder to read.

“I told you to be careful,” he said.

“I’m not interested in your advice,” she replied, because she was not about to let him control the direction of this conversation again.

“You should be,” he said, and there was something in the way he said it that made her pause, not visibly, but enough for her to notice it herself.

“Why,” she asked, even though she was not sure she wanted the answer.

“Because you’re not the only one who knows how to find people,” he said.

The words landed differently this time, because now it was not just about him knowing where she lived, it was about something else entirely, something that suggested there were other factors involved, things she had not considered.

Aria frowned slightly as she reached her car, unlocking it and getting in quickly before closing the door behind her, because this conversation was already moving in a direction she did not like.

“What does that mean,” she asked.

“It means you’ve been noticed,” he replied.

Her grip tightened on the phone again, because that was not something she expected to hear, not from him, not like this.

“By who,” she asked, and this time she did not bother hiding the edge in her voice.

There was another pause, slightly longer this time, and when he spoke again, his tone had shifted just enough for her to notice.

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he said.

Aria leaned back slightly in her seat, her mind already moving through what that could mean, because if he was saying that, then this was no longer just about him and whatever he thought was going on between them, this was something else, something outside of both of them.

“And why are you telling me this,” she asked.

“Because it involves you,” he said, and the way he said it made it clear he was not guessing.

Aria stayed quiet for a second, because this was not how she expected this to go, not at all, and the shift from him pushing her to him warning her changed the situation in a way she had not prepared for.

“How,” she asked finally.

There was a brief pause, and then he said something that made everything else stop.

“Because someone asked about you,” he said.

Aria felt that settle immediately, sharper than everything else that had come before it, because that was not something she could ignore or dismiss, not when she had no idea who he was talking about or what they wanted.

“Who,” she asked.

Another pause, longer this time,.. and when he finally answered, his voice was lower, more deliberate.

“That’s the problem,” he said.

“I don’t know.”

The words stayed with her even after he said them, because they did not feel like uncertainty, they felt like something worse, like something still forming, something not fully clear yet.