CHAPTER SIX: Already With Damian

ARIA

“You filed it.” I’m still standing, phone pressed tightly to my ear. “Before I even said yes?”

A Pause.

“Well, Aria… I filed it,” Evelyn says slowly. “You  can still say no.”

“Of course.”

“But think about your career. How about that too?”

That line gets me. Because I have always been waiting for opportunities like this to show the world that the rejected stone at the altar can also become the cornerstone.

“This is not even about Sinclair being involved,” Evelyn continues. “You’re currently the most sought lawyer in the state. So, think about it, Aria.”

I sit down at the table; my hands aren’t steady.

“Forty-eight hours.”

“Forty-eight hours, Aria.”

I don’t know if I am sure about this.

“I have a daughter, Evelyn. I have a father in a care facility three hundred miles away I haven’t seen in person in six years. I just can’t…”

“You can. You are a strong woman. You have done things harder than this.”

I don’t answer that, because as much as I hate to admit it, she is right.

I inhale deeply. “Alright Eve, let’s see if we can do this.”

I can hear her almost jump up on the other side. “Sure, the woman king! Go sure them what you’ve got,” she chatters excitedly, “just like you showed AstraPoint.”

“Thank you, Eve.”

We talked a little more about what the process will look like after mediation, and the call ends.

The next morning, I book the earliest flight I can find to see him. Four hours there, three at his bedside, four hours back to the city. Barely enough time to matter to my Dad.

I walk through the gates of the building as fast as my legs can carry.

He’s in his chair by the window when I arrive. For a moment, I wait at the doorway and stare. All the emotions I have held together for six years come crashing in.

My super-hero is almost a shadow of his former self. His body is thinner and frail, his face different.

I shed a tear at the sight before my legs finally move into the room.

“Hi, Dad.”

He turns and is trying to stand; I run to him and stop him before he can.

“Aria!”

The name comes out slow, almost like it is dragging.

“Dad.”

We hold each other in a tight embrace. I do not hold the tears anymore. His eyes are clear on mine now.

I avoid eye contact. “I’m so sorry, Dad.” I start. “Six years, and I—”

“Aria, do not,” he says, “you did what you were supposed to do. Over the years, God has helped me. I am better. I miss you, my child.”

He holds me in a tight embrace. For some seconds, we cry on each other like old pals.

I take his hand as we talk at length.

Three hours later, I am glancing at my watch. “I don’t have long,” I tell him. There’s a case against Sinclair Group.”

His hands tighten around mine. Faint. Barely there.

“I have to go back, Dad. Just for the case.”

He nods slowly. Something in his eyes- pride, or maybe relief that I am still fighting for something.

“The AstraPoint money,” I say, “and whatever comes from this one, it’s enough now, Dad. I’m bringing you home. To live with me and Luna, soon.”

His eyes go bright and wet, and he squeezes my hand.

I kiss his forehead. “I have a flight to catch.”

He doesn’t let go right away.

That evening, Sonia calls as soon as I am home, Luna already asleep.

“I did some digging,” she says, “you know my old colleagues still work at Sinclair’s.”

“Sonia—”

“Just listen. Sinclair Group’s board is nervous,” she says. “Really nervous. A director is pushing hard to settle everything quietly before it gets to the courtroom.”

I swallow.

“Victoria, apparently, she is practically running PR for the whole company now.”

My stomach turns at the name, six years old and still sharp enough to cut.

“She would,” I say. “Sonia, I had a very long day and—”

“Hold on. Just this one before you go.”

“Okay?”

“My contact says Damian’s been different this week. He snapped at someone in a board meeting for the first time anyone’s seen.”

I almost laugh. “Sonia! How is that our business?”

“One of his assistants says he is staying past midnight, alone in his office. They’re feeling the pressure, Aria.”

I yawn tiredly. “Whatever Damian does is not our business.”

“I know, Aria. I am just telling you the situation report so you know they’re feeling the heat of you already,” she laughs, “go girllll!”

I don’t know when I join in the laugh. “Need to get some rest, talk later, Sonia. Goodnight.”

I am walking to the bedroom when my phone buzzes. A message from Evelyn.

“The earlier 48-hour timeline has now been extended. Be in the office tomorrow morning for new findings and files.”

I exhale.

The next day, I am at the office to continue with legal findings, research and strategy. Evelyn is waiting with the final brief when I walk in.

“You look like you haven’t slept.”

“I haven’t.”

How will I sleep after seeing my father that way? And the fact that the man who put me through this is roaming free. Now I wish him whatever Sonia said he is passing through and more.

I take the files from Evelyn.

“Mediation’s at nine tomorrow,” she says. “Sinclair’s team confirmed.”

“And Damian? Confirmed too?”

“Confirmed.” She studies me a second longer. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

I think about my father’s hand tightening around mine. I think about the envelope I never opened.

“No,” I say. “But I’m going.”

That night, I stand outside my apartment door for a full minute before I go in, keys still in my hand, staring at nothing.

Inside, I stare at the case file.

SINCLAIR GROUP.

The same name that ended my life years ago.

Tomorrow, I will sit across the table with Damian Sinclair. Not as the bride he abandoned.

As the lawyer determined to beat him.

The woman who left that city broken is gone. Tomorrow…he meets the woman she became.