Chapter 7

Aria's POV

I let out a cold, silent laugh.

Opening his photo album, I selected the hundreds of private videos and photos of me, hit delete, and permanently cleared the trash folder.

Once it was done, I finally breathed a long sigh of relief.

Next, I opened his Snapchat and found their private group chat with his wealthy friends.

I scrolled up through the chat history.

For two years, they had been mocking me behind my back.

"Julian, Aria looks so pure and untouchable. How did you get her into bed so fast?"

"Just a few sweet words and some flowers, and she lays down and does whatever I want."

I clenched my teeth, scrolling further.

"Julian, make sure you don't accidentally get her pregnant. You'll never get rid of her then."

"I'd never let her carry my child. She isn't worthy."

Every sweet memory, every gentle promise, and every midnight whisper shattered into worthless, ugly shards of glass.

But the text that truly chilled me to my core was from Hunter:

"Once you're done playing with her, destroy her. If she tries to cling to you, I don't mind disposing of her myself."

The boy who had promised to protect me at all costs now wanted to strip me of my dignity and throw me to the wolves.

I was completely, utterly done.

I exited the group chat and opened Julian's direct messages with Chloe.

"Chloe, Aria was begging me not to go on the business trip today. I told her I had an urgent board meeting."

"Thanks for putting up with her, Julian. Once the truth is out, you won't have to deal with her disgusting presence anymore."

I scrolled up.

On my birthday last year, Julian told me he had an emergency meeting in Chicago and left after giving me a cheap brooch.

In reality, he had flown to Miami to spend the weekend on a yacht with Chloe.

And when my grandmother passed away.

I had called him dozens of times, crying, but he kept saying he was stuck in crucial negotiations in London.

According to their chat logs, he was actually spending Christmas with Chloe in Paris.

Not a single tear fell from my eyes.

I put the phone back exactly where it was and stared at Julian's sleeping face.

This face, which I had loved with every fiber of my being, now filled me with nothing but absolute disgust. I never wanted to look at it again.

The next morning, I was choked awake by thick smoke. I ran to the window and saw Chloe in the backyard, burning something in a metal bin.

Once I realized what she was burning, my heart stopped, and I ran downstairs.

"Stop it! Stop!" I screamed, rushing at her to grab the items from her hands. "Give them back to me!"

It was a stack of old polaroids. They were the only photos I had left of my biological parents.

Most of them had already been turned to ash inside the fire bin. Only a few remained in her hands.

Chloe giggled, stepping back. "Give them back? Sure. If you give me the wooden block."

So that was why she had moved in. She wanted the wooden toy block Seven had given me, the ultimate proof of identity.

"I lost that block years ago! Give me the photos!"

"Lost? Oh, what a shame!" Chloe threw the remaining photos directly into the roaring flames. "You better hope you really lost it."

I ignored the heat, reaching my hands directly into the fire to pull out the burning photos.

Chloe whispered maliciously, "Because even if you find it, Hunter will only believe you stole it from me!"

Just then, the sound of a car arriving echoed from the driveway. Seeing this, Chloe quickly scratched her own wrist against the metal bin, then pretended to struggle with me over the fire.

"What are you doing?!" Julian and Hunter rushed into the backyard, immediately pulling Chloe away from the fire.

"It's my fault... I thought they were just old, useless papers, so I wanted to clean up. I didn't know they were Aria's things..."

Chloe sobbed hysterically. She wasn't burned at all, but the scratches on her wrist looked red and dramatic.

Hunter's face darkened as he inspected her wrist. "Did she do this to you?"

I was on my knees, frantically pulling the last half-burnt photo out of the ash, my hands covered in painful, blistering burns. I couldn't care less about their drama.

Furious, Hunter kicked me hard in the shoulder, knocking me flat onto the frozen grass. My blisters popped, and blood began to seep through the dirt.

Julian stared at my bleeding hands, his brow furrowing slightly, but seeing Chloe crying so pitifully, he snapped, "Aria, Chloe didn't do it on purpose, and she tried to help you save them! How could you put your hands on her!"

I screamed through my tears, "She did it on purpose! Those were the only photos of my parents!"

Hunter remained completely unmoved. "A dead person's photo isn't more important than a living person's well-being. I can't believe Christian's sister is such a classless bitch."

Julian felt humiliated in front of Hunter. "Guards! Lock her in her room. She is not allowed to leave this house without my permission!"

With that, the two men rushed Chloe inside to treat her scratches.

I clutched the half-destroyed photo with my bleeding, raw hands, letting out a shattered laugh that turned into a quiet, painful sob.

It was fine.

In just a few days, everything would be over.

And I would make sure every single one of them paid the price.

I dragged myself back to my room and began to pack.

The clothes Julian had bought me. I took scissors and cut them into shreds, hanging them back in the closet.

The jewelry he gave me. I smashed them with a hammer, placing them back in their velvet boxes.

The watches, cufflinks, and ties I had gifted him. I destroyed them all and put them back in his drawer.

Our framed photos were torn into tiny pieces and left in a neat pile on his desk.

The villa still looked beautiful and warm on the outside.

But on the inside, it was already a graveyard.