Chapter 4: Conflict of Interest

Aria’s POV

“Elliot, I’m not a child. I needed fresh air, and I took it,” I finally replied after a full minute of silence that felt louder than shouting.

“Really?” Elliot said. He pulled out his phone and thrust it towards my face. “Explain this.”

My breath caught.

It was an image of me.

I was lying on a bed, limbs slack, my body angled helplessly towards the camera. A man hovered over me, his hands at the hem of my dress, lifting it. My face was painfully clear, eyes closed, mouth parted, unmistakably drunk. The angle left nothing to interpretation. Everything except one thing.

His face wasn’t visible.

“You find out yesterday that your husband is a leech and a cheat,” Elliot said, his voice cutting through the room, while I was thinking about how he got the image, “and in less than twenty-four hours, you land yourself in another man’s bed? Aria, what is wrong with you? Do you realise you are still legally married to that bastard of a man?”

“Elliot, this was an accident,” I said, forcing the words past the tightness in my throat. “And last I checked, the only condition the good Lord permits one to end a marriage is when the marital bed is defiled. In short, adultery. So my marriage to Mark ended the day he started cheating on me.”

“I see.” Elliot let out a humourless laugh. “You still remember scriptures. Good. So where in the scriptures did it say it’s okay for you to jump into bed with another man?”

I turned away and started up the stairs.

“Aria, wait.”

He followed and grabbed my hand.

“Accident, you say? So what, you crashed into the man’s bed? And he accidentally fvcked you?”

“Keep your voice down,” I snapped. “Hailey might hear us.”

“Good,” Elliot shot back. “You remember you have a daughter. A daughter you conceived with the same method. Should I go on?”

The words knocked the air out of me.

My mind dragged me back eight years, whether I wanted it to or not.

I argued with Mum. Left the house, slamming the door. The bar I walked into was just to sit somewhere warm and anonymous. The alcohol, burning and numbing all at once. Mark’s face was swimming into focus. Waking up the next morning in his bed, confused, sore, terrified. Losing my virginity without remembering how. Being angry. Being scared.

Then his promise.

He said he would take responsibility. And for two months, he proved it. Flowers. Calls. Apologies. Care. Then Hailey happened. And I married him against my family’s wishes, believing responsibility was the same as love.

“Elliot, nothing happened,” I said, though the words felt thin even to me.

I woke up naked.

“For your sake,” Elliot said coldly, “I hope this is not how you plan on giving Hailey a young sibling.”

He walked past me without another word.

I stayed where I was, watching his back retreat, my chest aching with a familiar shame. He had every right to be angry. I had been careless once, and it had cost me eight years, eight years spent building a man instead of myself. And here I was again, standing on the edge of the same mistake.

I went to my room, showered, and crawled into bed. Sleep came late and heavy.

The festive break passed without warmth.

By Monday, the 28th of December, reality demanded structure. I went to work.

Hailey kept asking about her father. I told her he had an emergency trip. It wasn’t a lie, not entirely. I simply repeated what Mark had told me in his message on the 26th. My boss transferred me to another branch. I'll be back on the 31st. He still didn’t know I had left him.

At work, I headed straight to my station, craving routine.

Sandra appeared, smiling like she’d won the lottery.

“So how did it go?” she asked, dropping into the chair opposite my desk.

“How did what go?” I replied, turning on my laptop.

“Don’t be mad at me,” she said quickly. I looked up. “I did know about Mark’s cheating, but you were so happy. I didn’t want to ruin that, so I kept it to myself.”

I stared at my screen. I wanted to be angry, but the truth settled heavily; I wouldn’t have believed her anyway.

“So,” she continued, leaning closer, “when Julius told me you called him to bring the company truck around, I knew you’d found out. So I worked something out for you.”

My fingers froze over the keyboard.

“What did you do, Sandra?”

“Have you seen our boss’s PA? He is fine, and.....”

She didn’t finish.

Everything snapped into place.

“Sandra,” I said slowly, “you drugged me?”

“Not really,” she waved it off. “It was just a boost to help you relax. So you two can, you know.”

“Sandra, you drugged me and set me up with our boss’s PA?” I half yelled.

“Keep your voice down,” she hissed, glancing around. “Look, he is rich, handsome, and takes care of his women.”

“Takes care of his women,” I repeated. “So you thought it wise that I be one of them?”

“Calm down,” she said. “He’s had his eyes on you since you started working here. You were married, so the only way to deal with his heartbreak was to indulge in aimless sex. Trust me, now that he has you, he will wrap the world and present it to you as a gift.”

She dismissed my marriage as though it had never existed.

“Did you ask me?” I asked quietly. “How about my feelings?”

“Aria, you have Hailey,” she said firmly. “You want independence, that’s why you’re here earning pocket change instead of working in your father’s companies. This isn’t about love. It’s about survival. I did you a favour.”

“Sandra, get out,” I said, my voice flat.

Before she could respond, James appeared, the PA.

“Mrs Smith, the boss requests your presence.”

My heart slammed into my ribs.

Seeing James and hearing what Sandra had said, the memory of what happened at the club came to mind. Christmas Day. The bed. The image. 

Yet, the message he delievered frigtened me. Desmond Howard only summoned employees for promotion or termination.

And I hadn’t been at my best.

James walked away without a glance, as we had never shared anything at all.

“That is strange,” Sandra muttered.

I inhaled deeply and followed the corridor towards Desmond’s office.

I knocked.

“Come in.”

Inside, he dismissed James with a wave. The door closed softly behind us.

My pulse roared in my ears. I felt light-headed. Then he leaned forward, his sleeve shifting just enough.

Something caught the light.

A bracelet.

My eyes widened.

The room tilted as recognition hit.

The bracelet.