Chapter 87
Chapter 87
Aria’s POV
My eyes widened as I looked at the designer boxes spread across the bed.
Dior, Valentino. Cartier. Louboutin. Perfumes. Shoes. Silk dresses folded with tissue paper.
Jewelry glinting like bait.
Like bribes.
I blinked at the emerald necklace lying at the center of it all, it looked rich and heavy, gleaming in the morning light filtering through the windows.
“I thought you’d like green,” Dominic’s voice came from behind me, too careful. Too soft.
I didn’t turn around.
“You’ve barely said a word to me all day,” he added, his tone threading toward that line between guilt and manipulation.
“I’ve barely had anything worth saying,” I replied, arms crossed.
He moved into the room, his footsteps slow, hesitant.
“Aria…”
I finally turned.
He looked… tired. That was new. His black shirt was unbuttoned at the top, sleeves rolled, jaw shadowed with stubble like he’d forgotten to shave.
“I know what you’re doing,” I said flatly.
His brow furrowed. “What am I doing?”
“This,” I gestured at the mountain of gifts. “The jewelry. The apology silence. The careful touches. It’s all damage control, Dominic.”
He flinched slightly, then forced a smile. “Maybe I just wanted to see you smile.”
“Well,” I said, arms still folded, “You failed.”
His expression cracked a little.
I looked back at the bed, eyes scanning the sea of luxury. “You can’t buy your way out of this.”
“I’m not trying to buy you.”
I raised a brow.
He sighed, walking toward the window. “I hurt you. I grabbed you. I lost control. I’m not proud of that.”
“And Nico?” I asked, voice flat. “You nearly killed him.”
He didn’t look at me. “I should have.”
I grimaced. He did not just say that?
He turned back around, eyes darker now. “He kissed you. He put his hands on what’s mine. I hated that. So he deserved to die.”
I bristled. “I’m not yours, Dominic. I am a human being.”
His jaw clenched, but he didn’t respond.
Silence stretched thick between us.
I glanced at the necklace again. “What do you want from me?”
He stepped closer, his voice low. “I want you to feel safe again. I want to fix what I broke.”
I stared at him. “Then let me go.”
His expression shuttered instantly. The air turned cold.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
He looked almost pained. “Because without you, I have nothing left. And I’m not strong enough to lose you.”
I looked down. I didn’t have the strength to argue that right now. Not again.
He is saying that because he won’t own me anymore.
I won’t believe those lies of his.
1/3
Chapter $7
Fuck tum
He stepped forward, reaching like he wanted to touch me–tet stopped leches any “You dont have to teena Just accept the gifts Let me take care of you”
“Yeah, let me have things that won’t take me anywhere thee try Domin
I rolled my eyes and walked around him, slowly, and left the room
Later, when the house grew quiet, I slipped out of bed and padded down the haberefore, mowing stendy past the ZA, many shery sent the guards stationed outside my door
I didn’t know where i was going at first. My head was a mess of questions, my heart full of things I couldn’t say out loud But my feet moved on their own toward the office I’d seen him ezit a dozen times
Dominic had made it clear that certain places in the mansion were off limits. Vitach, of course, made me more outon
I gently turned the brass knob.
Locked
But the door beside it–slightly ajar–creaked softly when I pushed it. A lounge? Ho a side room
Stacks of papers were scattered across the desk. A tablet lay charging beside an open laptop, it looked the someone had left in a hurry
I stepped inside, heart hammering. This was risky. I knew that. But something in me needed to know–what he was hiding What he wasn’t saying.
I reached for the tablet.
My fingers hovered, hesitating.
What if there was something in there? Information. Plans. Proof of everything Nico warned me about.
I tapped the screen.
Password.
Of course.
Ichewed the inside of my cheek, glancing over at the papers. Contracts. Business ledgers. One of the names made my stomach jolt–Mikael Petrov.
I leaned closer, scanning quickly. Shipment routes. Communications. Surveillance logs.
Then I heard it.
Footsteps. Approaching.
Panic moved through me like cold water.
I shut off the tablet, backed away quickly, and ducked behind the couch just as the door opened.
“Nico said Dominic wants this room cleared,” a voice muttered. Male. One of the guards. “Everything to the main floor.”
Another voice groaned. “Now?”
“Now.”
I held my breath as they began moving boxes, murmuring, too distracted to notice anything unusual. I waited until they moved toward the hallway again, heart still thundering.
As soon as the coast was clear, I crept back out and slipped into the corridor.
That was close. Too close.
But what I saw… the mention of Mikael. It confirmed my worst fear Dominic was preparing for something that may bring a clash. A war. A reckoning.
And if I stayed here, I’d be right in the middle of it.
I reached the door of my room and slipped back in, shutting it behind me carefully. I leaned against the wall, chest heaving.
There was a plan forming in the back of my mind.
Escape.
Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow. But soon.
I looked back at the bed. The emerald necklace still sat where I left it, mocking me.
Dominic was trying so hard to cage me in velvet and gold that he didn’t realize the bars were still bars.
Could I really do it?
2/3
Chapter 7
Could au ryting and why was out there wasting
I sat down on the edge of the bed pirking on the asce & teang
And for the frets myself the question that had been loguing no te tokyone-
At the fo
Or obsession dressed silk?
The choice wasn’t char yet
But i koe om sting for sure
If I stayed, I had to be smart
And if I ran–16 only get one chance
if he caught me he wouldn’t let me leave or give me feedom agan
My heart thundered as I stared at the folded hoode in my bag to stuffed it there with shaking hands, dog with the cath
quietly taken from the back pocket of one of Dominic’s discarded suits. Not enough to start a new e–but maybe
The city was big. Messy Lood. There were cocks to disspper into
But I had cance
And no plan
And the man outside the door beddit lose
I closed my eyes for a second, testh clenched I wasn’t stupid–1 knew if Dominic found out I was planning to on, thesed be no second chance. He’d lock me down, maybe even chain me to this house like a pet. A porcelain doll he dressed up and
had to time it rigge
I just didn’t know when fight was
A soft knock on the door made my body go stiff
I turned sharply, chest rising and falling fast. The maid peeked in gently, her expression nervous but polite.
“Miss?” she said carefully, “Mister Dominic asked if you’d join him for dinner tonight Downstairs
blinked, “Dinner
She nodded. “He said you don’t have to dress up. Just come.”
My stomach twisted. Dominic never asked
He ordered
“Tell him I’m not hungry I said, turning away.
The maid hesitated. “Miss, L. he didn’t really word it like a request.”
1 sighed. Of course he didn’t.
“Fine” I murmured. “Give me five minutes”
She nodded and stepped out quickly
As soon as the door clicked shut, I looked back at the bag. My chance–gone. Just like that.
I zipped it closed, shoved it under the bed again, and tried to ignore the panic clawing at my ribs.
I would try again. And this time. I won’t hesitate.
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