All Chapters of Marked By Two: Chapter 51 - Chapter 60

Noah's pov​Halfway through the flight, while the city lights of Ravaryn burned beneath the private jet like a field of fallen stars, I stared out the window and wondered why the hell I had agreed to this.​“Try not to look like you’re attending a funeral,” Cassian muttered from the seat across from me.I glanced at him. He looked different now than the brother I used to know. Still dangerous. Still impossible. But fatherhood and disappointment had carved something harder into him. There was less recklessness in his eyes these days. More damage.​“You always know how to make an entrance,” I said dryly.​Cassian smirked faintly. “And you always know how to ruin one.”Across from him, Elena sat quietly with their son sleeping against her shoulder, his small hand curled against her silk dress. She looked composed in the way women learned to look when they had no other choice. Beside me, Maeve adjusted the diamond bracelet around her wrist for the third time, legs crossed, staring at her

Noah's povThe applause continued while their lips were still locked. Laughter bled into celebration. And I stood there— Still burning, trying to process what I was looking at. My fingers tightened slowly around the glass in my hand. The faint crack of pressure barely registered over the noise in my head.​Cassian moved first. Of course he did.​He took a sharp step forward, then another. The air around him turning dangerous. ​“You’ve got some nerve,” he said. His voice was low, but it cut clean through the noise of the ballroom. “Disappearing for two years and walking back in like this?”But Aria didn’t flinch. Not even a little.​Cassian let out a humorless laugh. “What? No explanation? No apology?”​She tilted her head slightly, her eyes were steady and unblinking. “I don’t owe you either.”Maeve let out a soft, sharp, ugly sound that should have been a laugh.​“Well,” she said slowly, stepping forward just enough to be seen. “I suppose we should congratulate you.” Her gaze sli

Aria's pov “They said you don’t lose.” I didn’t look up from the contract. “I don’t.” A pause. Then. “Then you might want to explain why someone just tried to kill your deal.” That got my attention. I lifted my gaze slowly. He hadn’t changed as much as I expected. Still the same sharp jaw, same steady eyes, just older now. Harder. Like life had taken its time with him. “Ryan,” I said, leaning back slightly in my chair. “I didn’t realize you were in Ravaryn.” “I wasn’t,” he replied. “Not until recently.” His gaze moved across the office, the glass walls, city view, huge space, before settling back on me. “You’ve done well.” “That’s one way to put it.” There was a pause, it wasn't uncomfortable. Just heavy things we weren't saying. “You disappeared,” he said finally. “So did you.” “My mother arranged something,” he said after a moment. “Big client. Different city. I left the day before…” His voice trailed off Before our pack got slaughtered. “I

Aria's pov The morning light spilled on my face, causing me to turn to the pillow. My brows pulled together and I realized something.I wasn't on my bed.I sat up immediately, looking around me. Then the memories came back slowly. “Shit." I scrambled out of the bed. My legs got tangled in the sheet and I ended up slipping and hitting the floor.“Running somewhere?" Ryan stood at the bathroom entrance with nothing but a towel, wrapped around his waist. Water clinged to his tight muscles that I couldn't take my eyes away from.“Look Ryan, whatever happened, it was a mistake, like a really big mistake.”"But was it?” He asked, raising a brow. "Seriously, I'm engaged, I'll be getting married soon, this wasn't supposed to happen.”"What?You and I, we were each other's first love, got caught up in the moment and had sex.”"It's not so bad, Aria.”He was already in front of me. Looming over me like a shadow I couldn't shake off.He was so damn irresistible, I hated that he made me feel

Aria's pov“This is the day.”I stared at my reflection, unmoving, as hands worked around me, adjusting fabric, fixing details, perfecting something that already looked flawless.The dress fit like it was made for me.Maybe it was.Soft ivory. Clean lines. No excessive designs. Elegant in a way that didn’t beg for attention, but held it anyway.“Turn a little,” Livia said from behind me.I did.Her fingers moved easily, smoothing the last crease along my waist like she had every right to touch me, to adjust me, to prepare me. Like this wasn’t the first time.“You look perfect,” she added.I met her eyes in the mirror. I didn't feel perfect. I'd been trying so hard not to think, but nothing stopped it. Not for days now.***“I miss you." The message sat on my screen, staring back at me. I should have ignored it, deleted it, or blocked him. But I didn't.Instead, I replied.“What do you want, Ryan?”His came almost immediately.“You."I locked my phone and set it aside like it hadn’t j