ARIA
The truth never knocks it just breaks the door down.
That morning started like any other. Reports. Emails. Silence from Nathan.
Then Sophie burst into my office, face pale, holding her phone like it was radioactive.
"You need to see this," she said.
On the screen was a headline that made my stomach twist.
Hale Technologies Reignites Alliance with Carter Holdings Sources Confirm Reconciliation Between Nathan Hale and Ex-Fiancée Vanessa Carter.
Below it was a photo Nathan and Vanessa leaving a restaurant. Her hand rested on his arm, her smile perfect for the camera.
The caption burned. 'Love rekindled or corporate strategy?'
I stared at it until the words stopped making sense. "When was this taken?"
"Last night."
"Last night he said he was working."
"Maybe he was," Sophie said carefully. "Just… with her."
Something inside me cracked quietly, like glass under pressure.
I didn't look for him. I went straight to her.
Vanessa was in the conference room, reviewing slides with her assistant, perfectly composed.
"Busy?" I asked.
She turned, smiling faintly. "Aria. You look… tense."
"Save it. Just tell me was that a dinner business or a photoshoot?"
Her eyes sparkled. "A little of both."
"So the rumor's true?"
She tilted her head. "If you're asking whether Nathan and I have history, yes. We were engaged once. Our families planned it for years the Hale and Carter merger. Two empires tied by a ring. Romantic, isn't it?"
My throat closed. "He never told me that."
"Of course he didn't." Her tone softened, almost pitying. "Men like Nathan prefer to rewrite their pasts when they fall for women who don't fit their world."
I wanted to speak, to defend him but she wasn't done.
"It wasn't a love match, not really. But we made sense. Until you." She stepped closer. "And when he threw away that merger for you, he almost cost his mother everything."
My pulse thudded painfully. "That's why she hates me."
"She doesn't hate you, Aria. She just understands balance. You were the chaos."
"Then why are you here?"
She smiled. "To restore order."
For a moment, all I heard was the sound of my own heartbeat.
Slow. Loud. Breaking.
"I should thank you," she added softly. "Without you, he never would've realized how much he still needed me."
I didn't answer. I couldn't.
The walls felt smaller. The air is heavier.
When I finally walked out, my hands were shaking so hard I could barely press the elevator button.
Nathan found me an hour later in the rooftop garden the only place in that building that didn't smell like ambition.
"Aria "
"Don't."
"She told you."
I looked at him, tears stinging my eyes. "You were engaged, Nathan. To her. And you never said a word."
"It was years ago. Arranged. I didn't want it."
"But you went along with it."
"I was twenty-four. My mother "
"Your mother controls everything, doesn't she? Even who you love."
His voice broke. "I'm not that man anymore."
"Then why does she still win?"
He took a step forward, but I stepped back. "Was she right?" I asked. "Was I the chaos that ruined your perfect little merger?"
"You didn't ruin anything."
"Then what is this?" I held up my phone, the article glowing between us. "Because it looks like you're already fixing your mistake."
"It's a setup, Aria. My mother staged that dinner. She knew the press would see."
"And you went anyway."
His silence was answer enough.
I turned away before he could see the tears fall. "You could've told me the truth, Nathan. I would've understood. But you let me believe I was the problem."
"Aria "
"Don't." My voice shook. "I can't keep being the woman your world eats alive."
I left him standing there, alone under the city lights, the sound of my heels echoing off the marble.
That night, my phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
You see now. You were never meant to fit his world.
Then another message came through a photo this time.
Nathan and Vanessa. At the same restaurant.
Only this one wasn't from the news.
It was taken through glass.
From inside.
My stomach dropped.
Someone was watching him.
And me.