Chapter 8

[ ARIA’S POV ]

The car ride back was dead quiet.

I sat as far away from Luca as I could, pressing my back against the door. My hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Outside, the city lights blurred into long, distorted streaks against the tinted glass, but I wasn't really seeing them. All I could feel was the weight in my chest.

I knew what was coming. I knew exactly what was waiting for me behind those mansion gates.

Luca hadn't uttered a single word since we walked out of the gala. No yelling, no questions. Just a suffocating, deadly silence that felt a thousand times worse than his temper.

Elara sat across from us, looking perfectly relaxed. Every time our eyes met, I saw it, that tiny, smug glint of victory. She’d done it. She had twisted the truth until Luca was convinced I was seconds away from running.

Now, I was the one who was going to pay.

When the car finally pulled up to the front steps, my stomach did a slow, painful somersault. The house looked like a tomb, dark and ready to swallow me whole.

Before I could even find my footing, Luca’s hand clamped around my arm like a vice.

"Get out."

His voice was like ice. He didn't wait for me to move; he yanked me out of the car so hard I almost face-planted on the gravel.

"Luca, wait" I tried to say, my voice cracking.

"Shut up!"

The command rang out through the courtyard. I saw the guards shift their gaze to the floor, and the servants vanished into the shadows of the house. No one was going to help me.

The second we were inside, he slammed me back against the wall. The impact knocked the wind out of me.

"You really think I’m that stupid?" he hissed, his face inches from mine.

"I didn't do anything!" I choked out, tears already stinging my eyes. "Luca, please, you have to listen”

The slap was so fast I didn't even see it coming. My head snapped to the side, and a hot, searing pain exploded across my cheek.

"You tried to leave me."

"No!" I sobbed, the room spinning. "I swear, I didn't”

He hit me again, harder this time. My legs gave out and I crumbled to the floor, the cold marble biting into my skin.

"You made me look like a fool tonight," he growled, looming over me. "In front of everyone."

I shook my head, my hair falling over my face. "It was Elara! She’s lying to you, Luca! Please!"

Mentioning her name was a mistake. His eyes turned pitch black.

"Don't you dare try to pin this on her."

"She set me up!" I screamed, the words tumbling out between sobs. "She spent the whole night threatening me! She said people go missing at these things, she—"

Luca reached down and grabbed my jaw, squeezing until I couldn't breathe. He forced me to look at him.

"You just don't learn, do you?"

His grip was agonizing. I could feel the bruises forming under his fingers.

"I'm not lying," I whispered, the words barely audible.

For a heartbeat, I thought I saw a flicker of doubt in his eyes. A tiny crack in the mask. But it vanished before I could be sure.

He let go of me so suddenly my head hit the floor.

"You should be grateful," he said, his voice terrifyingly calm as he straightened his cuffs, "that I even brought you back here alive."

I stayed there on the floor, my whole body trembling. I felt broken, inside and out.

I looked up toward the stairs and saw her. Elara was leaning against the railing, watching the whole thing like it was her favorite movie.

When she caught me looking, she didn't hide it. She smiled that slow, wicked smile of a winner.

In that moment, the truth hit me harder than Luca's hand ever could. Elara wasn't just trying to get me in trouble anymore.

She was waiting for Luca to finish me off for her.

I cried until I was empty. My body was one big bruise from Luca’s temper, but the weight in my chest felt ten times heavier. I just curled up on the edge of the bed, hugging my knees and replayng every moment in my head like a bad movie.

That night, I made myself a promise: stay away from Elara.

She was the real poison in this house. She was a demon who hid behind fake smiles and wide, innocent eyes. Every single time she got close to me, something went wrong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, I was up before the maids even started their rounds. My eyes were puffy and my ribs ached with every breath, but I forced myself to move. I spent the morning playing a game of hide-and-seek, walking the long way around the mansion just to keep a wall between us.

If I heard her heels in the hall, I doubled back.

If she walked into a room, I walked out.

I didn't want to hear her voice or look at her face. I just wanted to disappear. But deep down, I knew someone like Elara wouldn't just let me be.

I was heading to the kitchen for a glass of water when I heard it, the sharp, steady click-click-click of heels on the marble behind me.

"Running away already?"

I froze. My hand tightened around my glass until my knuckles went white. I didn't turn around.

"I have nothing to say to you," I said, my voice barely a whisper.

She stepped closer. I could practically feel her breath on the back of my neck. It felt like something crawling under my skin.

"Aww... poor little Aria," she mocked. "Still nursing those bruises Luca gave you?"

I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. I was shaking, trying to keep my temper from snapping.

"You love this, don't you?"

She leaned in, her voice dropping to a cold, smooth whisper. "Every second of it."

My stomach turned.

"Every mark on your skin is just a reminder that you don't belong here," she sneered. "No matter what you do, Luca is always going to pick me. Every. Single. Time."

I finally turned to look at her. My eyes were stinging, but I didn't let the tears fall. "You’re evil."

Elara let out a soft, dry laugh, like I’d just told a joke.

"No, honey," she said, her face suddenly going stone-cold. "I'm just smarter than you. And if I were you, I’d stop hiding. The more you run, the more fun it is for me to hunt you.

“The more you run, the more fun it is for me to hit you.”

Elara’s voice wouldn't stop. It rattled around in my head long after she’d walked away, leaving the hallway cold and empty.

I stood there, paralyzed. My breath came in shallow, jagged hitches as her words looped like a broken record.

She liked it.

Every sting of her hand, every cruel "lesson," every tear I shed. She didn't just want to hurt me; she wanted to watch me fall apart.

My hands were shaking, but the feeling in my gut was shifting. It wasn't just that cold, sick fear anymore. It was heat. It was anger.

For days, I’d been acting like a ghost. I hid in empty rooms. I kept my head down. I stayed quiet, thinking that if I just made myself small enough, she’d lose interest.

I was wrong. Silence didn't protect me; it just gave her a bigger target. The more I backed away, the more room I gave her to lunged forward.

I wiped the dampness from my cheeks and caught my reflection in a nearby window.

I didn't even know who that was.

The girl in the glass looked hollow. She looked like someone who had already given up.

“No,” I whispered.

My voice sounded pathetic at first, barely a breath.

I cleared my throat and said it again, firmer this time. “No.”

I squeezed my hands into fists until my knuckles turned white. I made a promise to myself right then: I’m going to face her.

It didn't matter that my heart was hammering against my ribs. It didn't matter that I was still terrified. She had to stop. If I kept letting this happen, there wouldn't be anything left of me to save.

The fear was still there, heavy and thick in my chest, but something else was pushing through the cracks.

Courage. It was small. It was shaky. But it was there.

I took one long, slow breath and forced my shoulders back. For the first time since I’d been brought to this mansion, I stopped thinking about how to hide from Elara.

I started thinking about how to survive her.

And if I was going to survive in this house, I had to stop being her victim.