Chapter 4
When the party ended, Aria’s face was ghostly white.
She gripped the wall to stay upright, fingernails digging crescents into her palms just to remain standing.
Lucas headed to the bar to settle the tab, but his eyes kept tracking her swaying figure.
The server had to prompt him three times before he finally signed the receipt.
He went to get his car, telling Aria to help Madison outside first.
Aria nodded and carefully supported the tipsy Madison toward the exit.
But as they passed the artificial lake, Madison deliberately stumbled and plunged into the water!
Ahhh-”
Ier scream echoed across the courtyard. Lucas came running just in time to see Madison hit the surface.
lis eyes went deadly cold as he grabbed Aria’s wrist. “Aria! How fucking dare you push her?!”
ria stumbled from his grip, her wet dress clinging to her legs like ice. She looked up into his furious face and uietly shook her head. “I didn’t…”
I saw it with my own eyes! You’re still lying!” Lucas tightened his grip until she gasped in pain. “Since you love ushing people so much, let’s see how you like it!”
Vithout hesitation, he shoved her into the lake.
Splash.*
he freezing water swallowed Aria instantly.
he was already weak from her period, and now the cold water made her cramp so badly she could barely move. Black spots danced across her vision.
ucas stood on the shore, watching her with ice–cold eyes. “Keep her down there,” he ordered his bodyguards. “Don’t et her up.”
The lake water was bone deep cold. Aria’s consciousness began to fade.
The last thing she saw was Lucas carrying Madison away in his arms.
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Chapter 4
When she woke up, Aria found herself in a guest room at the Sinclair mansion.
Lucas sat beside the bed, an unlit cigarette between his fingers, his dark eyes churning with emotions she couldn’t
read.
“You’re on your period. Why didn’t you say?”
Aria managed a weak smile. “Would it have mattered? Would you have let me stay out of the water if I said that?”
The air crystallized around them.
Lucas crushed the cigarette between his fingers, tobacco scattering like ash.
He stood abruptly, looming over her. “Why do you keep hurting Madison?”
‘I didn’t.” Her voice was barely a whisper. “She jumped in on purpose.”
‘Aria!” Lucas roared. “Madison would never do that!”
Aria stopped trying to defend herself and just looked at him quietly.
She knew he’d never believe her.
Lucas took a shuddering breath and pulled a gold–embossed folder from his jacket, tossing it onto the bed.
‘Madison’s birthday party is coming up. You’ll plan it.”
‘Her preferences and requirements are all in there. Don’t fuck this up.”
Aria opened the folder, her fingertips trembling slightly.
The meticulously detailed preference list reminded her of someone else who used to remember everything about
her-
Adrian always knew exactly how she liked her coffee, remembered every dress in her closet.
Seeing her distraction, Lucas frowned. “Are you listening?”
“Yes.” She looked up quietly. “You really do love her.”
She slowly got out of bed to start planning, but as she reached for her coat, her phone slipped from the pocket.
The screen lit up, and Lucas’s pupils dilated in shock-
The lockscreen showed Aria being tenderly embraced by a man who looked exactly like a younger version of
himself.
The man in the photo gazed at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
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