Chapter 3

Aria's POV

The pieces of the puzzle began to violently crash together in my mind.

Those men just said Hunter had Julian impersonate him.

I remembered that on "Hunter's" phone, there was always a pinned contact named Julian.

So...

The man I had actually married, the man who went to family matchmaking dinners, who courted me, who lived with me, was Julian Carter. He had used Hunter's name to deceive me from day one.

Hunter's cold, mocking voice cut through my chaotic thoughts.

"Just wait until Chloe's birthday party. Julian, we'll project Aria's finest videos on the grand screen. I want the entire high society of New York to see what Christian King's precious little sister really is behind closed doors."

"Let's see if Christian still dares to look down on us."

"We are going to make sure Chloe gets her sweet revenge."

"Though," Hunter turned to Julian, "Julian, man, thanks for putting up with this for so long."

Julian locked his phone with a click. "It was nothing."

"Chloe loved Christian so much back in college, but that arrogant bastard rejected her in front of the whole school, making her a laughingstock, and then had his military buddies humiliate her family. We had to settle this score for her."

The blood in my veins turned to solid ice. I clutched the door frame, gasping for air, my knees trembling so violently I could barely stand.

The man who had shared my bed, comforted me when I was sick, and held me through the night for two long years... was a lie.

His name was Julian Carter.

When he kissed my eyes during our most intimate moments and whispered, "I love you more than life itself, Aria," it was a lie.

When he drove across New York in the dead of a winter blizzard just to bring me my favorite warm chestnut cake, it was a lie.

The perfect husband, the perfect lover, the perfect romance... it was a meticulously crafted trap.

But how? His eyes had been so warm. His passion had felt so incredibly real. How could anyone fake that for two years?

I didn't want to believe it.

"Hey Julian, don't keep them all to yourself! You only let us hear the audio. Let us see some of the videos too! You took tons of them, didn't you?"

"Yeah, Aria's got a killer body. Let us appreciate it too!"

Julian declined instantly, his voice sharp. "You'll see them at the birthday gala. On the big screen. It'll be much clearer then."

The group burst into another round of crude laughter.

"Man, I can't wait for Chloe's gala in two weeks! Not only do we get to strip Aria of her innocent little mask, but we get to see the look on Christian's face!"

"Exactly! I've been waiting to see Christian King fall from his high horse. Every time my dad meets him at charity events, he comes home and lectures me, comparing me to him. It's disgusting!"

"Hey, after you guys are done playing with her, pass her over to us. Aria always acts so pure and untouchable, but she sounds like an absolute siren in bed. That kind of contrast must be insane to play with."

Hunter let out a disdainful chuckle. "You guys aren't worried about getting dirty?"

The vulgar jokes continued to pile up, suffocating me.

Tears streamed down my cheeks, hot and bitter. I tightly pressed my hands over my mouth, desperate to stifle my sobs.

My parents were national heroes, scientists who sacrificed their lives in a laboratory accident when I was very young. I grew up in an orphanage.

Back then, when the older kids bullied me, Seven was the one who stood in front of me, taking the hits.

When his parents found him, he held my pink hair tie tightly and promised, "Candy, I will come back for you when we grow up."

I still kept the wooden toy block he gave me in my most treasured jewelry box.

Through all the hardships of my life, the memory of Seven had been my anchor, my hope.

But I never could have imagined that when I finally met him again after twenty years, he would be the monster pushing me straight into hell.

I kept screaming inside my head, This isn't real. It can't be.

Julian's voice cut through the noise, silencing the room. "That's enough. Don't bring up sharing her again."

"Why, Julian? Don't tell me you've actually caught feelings for her?"

Julian swirled his drink, his voice devoid of any emotion. "She's just a toy. Why would I care about a toy?"

"After the birthday gala, both she and Christian will never be able to hold their heads up in New York again."