The Knife Behind the Smile

~ARIA’S POV~

The contract felt heavy in my hands.

I’d found it tucked in the side pocket of my bag, the Wolfe Marriage Agreement.

Signed, sealed, and forgotten… like a paper chain around my throat.

Cassian hadn’t asked for it back, but I knew better than to keep something that belonged to him in my possession. Not when everything I had now was borrowed from his world. My name. My protection. My place in his house.

The estate was quieter tonight. The staff had all retreated, as they always seemed to when Cassian wished it.

But I knew where he’d be.

I stood outside his private study, heart racing. The staff had warned me; no one entered without invitation.

But tonight, my nerves finally pushed me forward. Something they hadn’t done since I first stepped into the Wolfe estate and caught the fever that was Cassian Wolfe.

I revered him more than I used to, more than I wanted to.

But I was also more afraid of him now than ever before.

I knocked once. My knuckles felt ice-cold.

No answer.

I hesitated.

Then, slowly, I opened the door.

Cassian sat behind a blackened wood desk, the city lights glinting behind him as he twirled a rocks glass in one hand.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he spoke, looking up lazily, his voice soft, but deadly.

I swallowed hard. “I… forgot to give you this,” I said, stepping forward, heart pounding but spine straight.

I placed the contract on the desk between us.

“And you thought now was the time to interrupt me?” His tone was lazy, but there was steel beneath it.

I held his gaze, something sharp flickering in my chest. “I thought it would be worse to keep it.”

A pause. Then his mouth curled at the edge - not a smile, just something colder.

“Perhaps you’re learning.”

“Perhaps I already knew.”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Cassian’s eyes darkened. The air between us tightened like a drawn wire.

“Careful, wife,” he said softly.

The word hit harder than I expected. Wife. It unraveled something inside me; something raw and trembling.

A long, loaded silence stretched between us.

Then Cassian leaned back in his chair, eyes steady, studying me like a puzzle he hadn’t yet decided whether to solve or break.

I stood there, the heat of his stare prickling across my skin like an unspoken threat.

“Don’t come to my study uninvited next time,” he said at last, his voice silk over steel.

I barely nodded, forcing out a whisper, “Understood.”

I turned quickly, my heart pounding.

“Aria.”

His voice froze me mid-step.

“This is not a game. Be careful what lines you cross.”

I kept my back to him. “I’m not trying to cross anything.”

“Then remember why you are here.”

I fled before my legs gave out beneath me.

_______________________________________________

[TWO DAYS LATER]

~SIENNA’S POV~

The air in the underground wine cellar was thick with old wood, damp stone, and the tension that always came when they summoned me.

A dim chandelier buzzed overhead, casting long shadows across the antique barrels. They never met me in the same place twice, but the chill of their presence always felt the same.

They were already waiting.

One leaned casually against a column, his dark coat slick with rain. The other stood by a table, gloved hands resting on a carved cane he didn’t need.

They didn’t look at me when I entered.

They didn’t need to.

“She’s still breathing,” said the one near the column. His voice was silk stretched over a knife. “So we’re assuming your last brilliant plan didn’t go as planned.”

I stood straighter. “The party was supposed to be the end of her. Malik had spiked her drink…”

“But Cassian intervened,” the other finished, eyes glinting. “He pulled her out of there before she was touched. And the camera feeds were… conveniently wiped.”

I clenched my fists. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“No,” the first said. “It was your failure. You couldn’t get one clean shot to shatter her reputation. A few hours later and those videos would’ve gone viral. That would’ve ensured her grandfather turned his back completely. No mercy, no redemption.”

“She was banished anyway,” I snapped, too defensive. “The frame job still worked - embezzlement, betrayal. Everyone hates her.”

“Not everyone,” the second man said coolly. “Cassian Wolfe, for example.”

I flinched.

“She was supposed to disappear, Sienna. Become irrelevant. But now?” His voice dropped. “Now she’s a Wolfe’s woman.”

“She’s not,” I said quickly. “He doesn’t love her…”

“Doesn’t have to,” the first figure said flatly. “He’s claimed her. That’s all that matters.”

“You’ve seen how he is,” the second murmured. “Cassian doesn’t protect people, he protects property. And, yes, they haven’t gone public with it but she’s under his roof, under his name, wearing his ring. You think that contract means nothing?”

I stayed silent.

“Tell us, Sienna,” the first man said after a moment, stepping forward. “Have you forgotten why you’re here? Why we made a place for you in this plan?”

I looked away. My throat tightened.

“Her mother,” he continued, voice low and cruel, “seduced your father and stole what should’ve belonged to you and your mother. They waltzed into the Ravenwoods with nothing but charm, and your father and the Old man let them rewrite the family tree.”

My stomach twisted.

I felt it in every cell, the old resentment that had fueled me for years. The nights my mother cried quietly after every family dinner. The invitations we never received. The second-hand treatment. The silence when she reached out.

“I haven’t forgotten,” I said, barely above a whisper.

“Then prove it,” he snapped. “Because right now, you look like someone who’s grown fond of the girl you were supposed to ruin.”

My eyes flashed. “I tried. She trusts me. I’ve been feeding her lies for months. I was breaking her until he showed up.”

“Excuses,” the second man said sharply. “You’re supposed to be smart, Sienna. To be a clever and useful asset, not a whining liability.”

“Do you even want it anymore?” the first asked, tone quiet but deadly. “The Ravenwood name? The power? The legacy the Old man and your father was too blind to let you and your mother belong to?”

I swallowed hard.

“If Aria’s still standing,” he said, “The Old man will never look your way. But remove her and suddenly, you would become the loyal granddaughter who stayed behind, who warned him, who tried to protect the family… you would become the bloodline’s future.”

It was everything I ever wanted. Everything my mother had whispered in the dark when she thought I was asleep.

But I couldn’t ignore the way Aria looked at me… still with a flicker of trust. Still believing I was her last connection to a world that had thrown her away.

And maybe that was why it had taken me so long to do the one thing that could finish this.

“We need her isolated,” the man with the cane said. “No security, no Wolfe.”

“We need her vulnerable,” the other agreed. “You set the meeting, we’ll handle the rest.”

I nodded slowly. “She won’t suspect anything. Not from me.”

I took out my phone.

Typed the message with steady fingers, even as something in my chest cracked.

SIENNA: Can we meet? Just us at the usual spot, please.

I hit send.

The screen blurred for a second.

“She’ll come,” I said quietly.

“Your assessment had better be accurate,” the first man mumbled, already walking away. “For your sake.”

The other paused, just before he disappeared into the shadows.

“And, Sienna?” he said without looking back. “Next time you hesitate… make sure it’s not your last.”

And then they were gone, leaving only the drip of water, the dull hum of silence, and the echo of a message that would end whatever part of me still remembered being her friend.

_______________________________________________

~ARIA’S POV~

The servants had persistently declined every offer of help I made, leaving me with nothing to do but lie around all day. It was starting to wear on me, but I didn’t have much of a choice.

As usual, I was scrolling through fashion headlines before bed when a message suddenly lit up my screen.

SIENNA: Can we meet? Just us at the usual spot, please.

My heart twisted.

I missed her. Although she had become erratic, she was still my friend- my best friend, the only part of my past that hadn’t fully rotted away.

But Cassian’s frosty voice reverberated in my mind like a blade brushing my spine.

I hesitated.

Then typed:

ME: 3pm tomorrow. I’ll be there.

I didn’t tell him.

I didn’t need another cold lecture.

Conceivably at heart, I didn’t want to hear what he might say.

That was reason enough.

I slipped my phone below the pillow and snuggled into the silky sheets, letting a flicker of hope relax in my chest.

Sienna wanted to meet. Maybe she missed me too. Maybe things could still be fixed.

Just that thought was calming enough to lull me to sleep, feeling emotionally neutral, for once.

The next day, I arose early, my heart throbbing with something dangerously close to excitement.

I couldn’t wait.

I watched as the clock dragged toward three, counting down every minute I had left until I could leave.

Once it was time, I slipped out without a word, note, or explanation.