جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 146

Aria’s POVLucien walks into the interview room, and I freeze where I am, standing between him and Alexio.My cheek still burns from the slap, and Alexio’s fists are still tightly clenched.My notebook has fallen to the floor, its pages spread everywhere like leaves blown by the wind.On the table, the recorder’s red light keeps blinking quietly, as if everything around it is still normal, even though everything has fallen apart.The first person Lucien looks at is me.His eyes grow slightly wider when he notices the fresh red mark on my cheek.A second later, his face hardens, and I see the muscles in his jaw tighten as he struggles to control his anger.“Aria,” he says in a low, calm voice that carries a dangerous edge, “who did this to you? How did you get those marks?”I try to answer him. My lips part, but no sound comes out.My heart is beating so hard that I can feel it pounding in my throat, making it difficult to even breathe.Alexio suddenly steps forward.His chest rises an

Aria’s POVI wake up before the first light of morning appears in the sky.The apartment is quiet and peaceful. The only sound I hear is Lucien’s slow and steady breathing beside me.My body still feels sore from everything that happened yesterday.My cheek no longer hurts as much, but it is still a little tender where Alexio slapped me.The memories of that terrible moment, the violent fight that followed, and the way Lucien stepped in to protect me are still fresh in my mind.They stay with me, filling my heart with mixed emotions.I slowly turn my head on the pillow and look at him. Even while he is asleep, Lucien looks strong and dependable.His broad chest rises and falls with every calm breath, and one of his arms rests loosely on the bed. As I watch him, my heart feels warm.I am deeply grateful for everything he has done for me. At the same time, another feeling grows stronger inside me.He did not hesitate to stand between me and Alexio. He brought me to his home, gave me a s

Aria’s PovThe moment I storm out of the locker room, anger burns through every part of me. I don’t even care where I’m going.I just need to get away from Alexio, away from the team, and away from the humiliation that still feels fresh in my chest.A few seconds later, I hear footsteps behind me, they are following me.And I walk faster, my sneakers scraping sharply against the floor as I make my way into the empty service hallway behind the locker rooms.The narrow corridor leads to an old equipment storage area that nobody bothers using after training hours.It is quiet, cold, and completely deserted, my heart pounds harder with every step.I try to put as much distance as possible between myself and the voices calling my name, but my legs still feel weak after everything that just happened.Before I can get very far, they catch up with me. Devesh reaches me first, and his hand wraps around my upper arm.His grip isn’t rough enough to leave a bruise, but it is firm enough to stop m