All Chapters of The Crowned Nobody: a Brand New Bitch: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Aria’s POVThe night before graduation should have felt like freedom, yet it reeked of everything I despised.The party glowed with neon lights, the laughter and music so loud it made the floor tremble. I stood in the corner, clutching my cup like a lifeline, watching Maya—my so-called best friend—spin in circles with the others. Her shrieks of laughter stabbed at me. That bitch was having the time of her life.She had dragged me here, insisting “It’s tradition, Aria. We can’t miss this.” Tradition my ass.Every drunken giggle, every cheer, every clink of bottles reminded me of the years I’d endured in that hellhole of a school. Years of whispers about my mom being a single mother. Years of being shoved in hallways, called names, treated like a stain no one wanted near their perfect uniforms. Tonight was supposed to be a countdown to escape. Tomorrow, high school would finally spit me out. I forced a breath and looked up, only to find Maya wobbling toward me, her hair wild from

The ride home felt like walking through shards of glass. My body still ached, my mind replaying every second of last night, twisting it sharper each time and I wanted to explode. When I pushed the door open, Mom was waiting. Her arms were folded, her eyes furious and worried all at once. “Aria Scarlett Monroe, where the hell were you last night?” Her voice cracked with anger. I tried to stand tall, to swallow it down, but the moment her gaze locked on my swollen eyes, my trembling lips, and the way I clutched myself like I’d shatter—her expression softened. Her anger melted into fear. “Baby… are you okay?” And that was it. The wall broke. My knees buckled. I tried to hold it in, but the tears. “Mom,” I cried, my voice breaking into pieces. “I… I messed up. Something happened—last night—Something I can’t take back.” She pulled me into her arms before I could finish. “Tell me. Whatever it is, I can take it. I’m here.” My words spilled between gasps and hiccups, messy and

Aria’s POVThe silk of my dress brushed smoothly against my skin as I adjusted the gown, its lines falling exactly as I had designed it—sharp, timeless, and commanding. Tonight was not just another gala. Tonight was the haute couture awards, the highest stage in the world I had fought tooth and nail to claim. I walked through the studio, my fingertips grazing the mannequins clothed in my latest collection. Bold cuts. Intricate embroidery. A whisper of rebellion stitched into every seam, I exhaled slowly. My work. My voice. Once upon a time, I had been the girl too afraid to even look people in the eye. But tonight, I'm the woman the industry will bowed to. Last year, they had crowned me the Top Designer Brand of the Year. And tonight, I intend to prove it had never been luck. When I was satisfied with every detail, I returned to my dressing mirror. I smiled as I watched my reflection stared back—no longer fragile, no longer broken. Seven years had carved steel where weakness use

Aria's PovLately, happiness came easier to me. Winning Top Brand of the Year for the second time felt like a crown on my head, It proof that the girl everyone once mocked had burned her scars into gold. But what thrilled me most wasn’t the award—it was the fact that Liam Brooks, of all people, had been there to watch me shine. The same boy who once spat disgust in my face had now been forced to clap for me with the rest of the world. If that wasn’t payback, I didn’t know what was. Would I ever forgive him? I didn’t know. But I was certain about one thing—I wanted nothing to do with him. When I first saw him that night, the urge to deny him was instinctive. To look him in the eye and pretend he was a stranger—God, the way his expression faltered fed me like oxygen. It was nourishing, intoxicating. That night, Mum and Kollin—no, Dad, because that’s what he’d become to me—took me out to celebrate. They clapped when the waiter brought out champagne, laughed when I toasted to “being n