|Aria’s POV|My heart pounded in my heart erratically as I stood in front of the abandoned building and waited for the perpetrator to come outside. Ace was in the area with me while Harper was trying to get the police there, so that the time was right, to avoid alerting the kidnapper before time.My jaw dropped when I saw a movement flashed by the window. The man had very long hair. Too long for a man, that was what I thought till the person stepped out fully and my head couldn’t process the identity.It was Mia Collins.My eyebrows hiked up to my forehead, my mind reeled with several possibilities as I questioned weakly. “Why… why are you here?”“For the same reason, you are here. Just that in this case, you are my guest.” Her crooked teeth were on display as she smirked evilly.It was as if the world gave out under me and I held my head while my knees buckled. “Wa- wait what? You are the one behind the kidnap?”“What? That was a nice plot twist, right?” She mocked, with a triumphant
|Aria’s POV|Envisioning that the kids would be okay and rescued without a scratch was one thing, but seeing a text on my smartwatch from Ace that said the mission was successful was another.A warm fuzzing feeling spread in my body and relief flooded into my veins, making my tensed shoulders relax immediately. A deep exhale escaped my lips and I couldn’t help the way my lips formed into a smile.“What is funny and why are you smiling?” Mia hissed through her teeth, her eyes blaring fury.My eyes snapped open after hearing her voice, and I was immediately shoved back into reality.I moved closer to her, ignoring how her eyes narrowed at me and how she bared her teeth. “I am sorry you had to go through all of that. I genuinely wish you didn’t have to. But we can settle this amicably,” I suggested.“If I hear another apology from you, I will lose my shit. Your apology isn’t going to make my parents take me back, so it’s unnecessary if you ask me.” She gritted out.With a sigh, I muttere
Have you ever wished some things didn’t end up the way they did? My eyes clashed with Mia in a silent plea, hoping she wouldn’t do what she wanted. But how her red eyes flickered towards mine and scanned the abandoned building now swarming with police was alarming. Just in time, my heart almost jumped out of my chest when I saw the detonator on the floor. It clicked in my head that the aim of the shot wasn’t to make her hurt but to get the detonator away from her before she killed us all. My legs moved on their own accord to grab the detonator. If I wasn’t wrong, it was planted in the compound and, somehow, we would all be affected if she detonated it. She ran in the direction and my legs also moved as fast as I could, but before I could get to it, she beat me to it and snatched the detonator off the floor with a grin on her face. “As I have said, there is no way I would go down alone. If we all don’t die, I will be detained by the police and sent to jail. My family would
|Ace’s POV|I couldn’t believe that of all the news I could have gotten from Aria, hearing that the kids I saved just because she was in pain that I couldn’t bear were my kids.My kids.Not just one, but two.Everything stopped, and I faintly remembered the screeching tires that reverberated in the silent night, leaving behind decayed leaves that settled on the floor.What did I just hear?Is she trying to pull some pranks on me?“They are my kids?” I repeated.“Yes, they are.”My eyes met Brianna as I tried to fathom that piece of information. My eyebrows hiked up to my hairline, as if coming to terms with the fact that she had kids was insufficient. But the kids were mine.“How?” I questioned.A deep exhale escaped her lips as she leaned against the yellow Benz that belonged to Penelope. “Aria was pregnant when you chased her out of the house and with no consideration of where she would stay because you knew about her family. She had miraculous twins and had done a perfect job at hi
Zion's scent on his hoodies was now faint to the extent that I could only imagine it. My heart ached for not seeing Zion for two months and two weeks. Although the calls were often, they didn’t soothe the ache that grew in my chest each time I thought about him and craved to be in his strong hands.I snatched my phone from the table and hovered over the dial button.‘Am I starting to be an overbearing fiancé? What if he is busy?’The negative thoughts got shoved aside when his words filtered into my head. “Don’t ever hesitate to reach out or think you are a burden. I love you and you are a priority.” I exhaled shakily as I finally dialled his number. He answered immediately and the corners of my lips lifted into a smile after hearing his voice.“Hi baby,”“Hi.” I breathed shakily.“Is this the wrong time to call you? I just missed you very much and your hoodies are losing your ingredients.” I complained, my lips forming a pout even if he couldn’t see me.“You don’t have a wrong time
|Aria's POV|It's been a day since Ace showed up claiming to be in the kids' life. My eyes felt heavy felt even my heart was heavier, I couldn't even sleep a wink knowing that his visit would be the beginning of all my problems.Not after he sent the disturbing text that made me want to shove my knees in his balls so he doesn't have to use his manhood anymore.My feet hurt from pacing around and chewing my finger but I was done letting Ace have the upper hand in this marriage. I had decided that I was going to state my ground rules and for my relationship to work out with him around, he had to know his place and that was why I sent him a text message a few hours ago to meet me.Immediately I heard two rasps on my door, my heart skipped a beat but I shut my eyes and walked to the entrance to open the door for the visitor.Immediately I yanked the door open, I was met with his handsome face. I didn't study Ace's reactions often, but I knew he looked at me like he owed me everything for
|Aria's POV|My heart skipped a beat when I saw the text message glaring at me. One thing was knowing your partner was understanding, another was realizing that he is just another insecure man who wouldn't help but go crazy especially when he saw you with your former love interest.A part of me contemplated shoving Ace into the back of the sofas, but I didn't want him to know he was a threat to Zion. Ace would only make things worse, besides, it wasn't as if we were in any act or something, so why should I act like I was caught in the middle of infidelity?Excitement coursed through my veins at the prospect of Zion being around but his happiness would be short-lived because I hadn't even told him yet about how Ace found out about the kids and how he wanted to be in their lives.“Aria?” Ace called out, concern etched on his face as if he meant it.A muscle twitched in my jaw and I ground my teeth on each other, fearing that it might break before my legs found the will to move and final
|Author’s POV|Hello dear readers. If you are reading this note, I am glad you followed me all through this chapter and I hope to see you at the end of the book. I would love to see more of your comments and suggestions. XoXo.I am sorry for the convenience, but I am going to be writing this chapter in Author’s POV because there are lot of characters that needs to be captured in this chapter and I do not want to have other’s POV that are not too significant! Thanks for your understanding!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “You have done this numerous times, you can do it again.” Aria muttered to herself as she got off the Uber in front of The Royal’s Luxury hostel. She was there for a charity ball, she had contemplated not going but she knew these kind of opportunity might be hard to come by again since influential people in the acting career would be in attendance. All week, she had thought about the lip-gloss she had found in Zion’s bag and whether Zio
|Aria’s POV|I shouldn’t have brought her back here…My knees buckled, and I gripped the window bars to steady myself, barely stopping myself from collapsing. My chest rose and fell in shallow gasps as panic crept up my throat. The room felt too small like the walls were folding in on me, stealing the air from my lungs.How did I end up leading the lions to the monkeys’ safe haven?“Aria.”Brianna and Penny flanked my sides and supported my weight, but all I could see were my dreams shattering in real time. The children I’ve struggled to keep off social media and away from public hate—are now exposed because of my foolishness.“No—no, please,” I choked out, shaking my head frantically. “Keep them away from my kids.”“They can do anything they want to me, but they can’t harass my kids,” I whimpered.“Ria, please calm down. Ace’s security is already working to get the fans away from the house,” Penny reassured.“H–how? How did they get to know my house?” I asked, fearing the answer I al
|Aria’s POV|Ace balanced Zoe on his hip, and she grinned toothily. Her cheeks had slightly thinned over the few days spent at the hospital, but her skin was slowly regaining its tint, and she no longer complained of her stomach pinching her.“Miss Aria!”We all turned, and my smile widened when I saw Dr. Alexander standing outside his office, his door slightly ajar. I wouldn’t lie—he’s been a remarkable help to us these past few days.Walking toward him, I gave a small nod. “Yes, Dr?” I answered politely.“I just wanted to remind you—make sure she takes her meds regularly. Make it compulsory, until I say otherwise,” he advised with a firm but kind tone.I bobbed my head, feeling my chest warm with gratitude. “Of course, trust me. I will do just that,” I assured him with a soft smile.He gave a curt nod and turned to step back into his office.I turned back to Ace and Zoe, and we all walked outside together. My feet froze for a moment when I spotted nearly fifty burly men and women in
|Aria’s POV|“Richard, I don’t give a fuck about what your selfish self says. I am not getting married when my best friend’s life is falling apart!” Penny’s voice exploded through the thin bathroom door.I winced and pressed my ear tighter against the wall. Her tone was wild with fury, her anger like a pulse you could feel through the drywall. I had followed her when I noticed her mood shift after that call. She’d been dodging the number for hours.Ace was with the baby. His personal doctor was almost here—despite me telling him it wasn’t necessary. But, being Ace, he had waved me off and declared, “These rookies shouldn’t even have their licenses if they can’t fix a sick child instantly.”Inside the bathroom, Penny raged on.“I’m telling you now—don’t call my bluff,” she warned darkly. “If you go through with this stupid arrangement, I swear I’ll crash your net worth in the first month alone.”A pause. Then a cold scoff.“Oh, that’s not all. I could name ten thousand other ways to ru
Aria’s POV|These past few months, I might’ve gotten used to the white walls and the ever-present antiseptic scent clinging to every corner of this hospital.But nothing could ever prepare me for this—my baby lying there, pale and unmoving in a loose blue hospital gown she’s never worn, her usual glow gone.I sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and resumed pacing the cold tiles. I couldn’t sit still. My eyes were locked on her through the transparent door as the nurses and doctors worked around her. Despite all their efforts, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was failing as a mother.I didn’t know what had happened to her, but it should’ve been me. Not her. She doesn’t even know how to express pain, let alone endure it.My chest clenched painfully at the sight of the tubes hooked to her tiny arms. The doctor had already started speculating it might be poison. Poison. But who could hate my baby enough to do something so vile? What could an innocent child possibly have done t
|Aria’s POV|It’s been three days since the chase on the bridge. I still can’t explain how Zion managed to get us out of that hellish situation and lose the tail, but somehow he did. And for that, I couldn’t be more grateful.I sighed — again. I’d lost count of how many times I’d done that today. My arms wrapped around my knees as I curled up on the sofa, trying to find some sort of comfort in my own embrace. But there was none. Not really.Over the past few days, I’ve cried more than I ever did when Ace divorced me. That was heartbreak. This? This is suffocation. Zion warned me to stay off social media while he and Penelope worked behind the scenes to handle the mess, but I couldn’t help it. I kept scrolling, kept reading the lies people were conjuring up like some twisted fairytale.Do they even realize that celebrities have lives outside of their screens? That we’re just as human as they are? I asked myself for the hundredth time.The house felt too empty. Too quiet. Brianna and Pe
| Gabriella’s POV |“Are you out of your goddamn mind? Haven’t you done enough already? She’s your step-sister, for crying out loud!” Hannah’s voice shrieked through the speaker.I tapped the speaker icon and set the phone on the marble counter beside me, barely sparing it a glance as I applied a final swipe of my Fenty gloss. The golden tone shimmered under the bathroom lights. I admired the effect for a moment before speaking.“I’m just answering their questions, Han. That’s all,” I said coolly, brushing an invisible speck from my sundress.“You know, I’ve been meaning to say this for a while now.”“Oh God, please don’t tell me this is the moment you finally confess your undying love for me,” I deadpanned, smirking at my reflection.“Far from it. You’re a selfish narcissist who never sees herself as wrong. And this latest stunt of yours? It’s going to backfire. You’ll be dragged through the mud, worse than Aria ever was.”I rolled my eyes. “You do realize being nice to her won’t ear
|Penelope’s POV|I've always wanted to be a mom, for as long as I can remember. But not at the cost of my child growing up without a father. I know what it means to raise a kid alone—it’s not for the fainthearted. Watching Aria handle two children on her own, with little to no help, made me admire her strength even more. She made it look possible, but I knew better than to think it was easy.Honestly, my fear of marriage stems from what I saw growing up. My mother nearly lost her mind in hers. My dad made her life hell, always blaming her, causing drama, and then expecting her to clean up his mess like it was her job.And his worst quality? He was a misogynist to the core.My mom only had me before she was diagnosed with severe womb complications. Doctors said she couldn’t have any more children. I suspect I might’ve inherited those complications, but that’s not even the worst part.My father never accepted me. He never saw me as his. He’d proudly tell people, "I don't have a child,"
|Zion’s POV|Pacing around the restroom, I glared at my reflection in the mirror. My jaw was tight, the fury bubbling under my skin like lava ready to erupt.“You weren’t able to take the video down?” I barked into the phone, my voice echoing off the tiled walls. “Our reputation is hanging by a thread, and you’re telling me you couldn’t manage one job?”Matt stammered on the other end, but I didn’t let him speak.“You’ve got five hours,” I snapped. “Get those accounts down, or I’ll cut your paycheck in half. No reason to keep paying you for work you’re clearly not doing. And considering how fat that check is, you better get moving.”“Yes, boss. I’m sorry, we’ll handle it,” Matt muttered.“You better,” I hissed. “Because if you don’t, you’ll be the next name trending—for all the wrong reasons.”I hung up and slammed my fist into the wall. Pain exploded through my hand, but it barely cut through the rage clouding my mind. I stared down at my bruised knuckles, breathing hard.“Hey man, y
Aria’s POV |It’s been two days since I was admitted to the hospital, and today, I’m finally being discharged.Yay.As we walked out of the hospital, I kept my head down, ignoring the nurses who waved enthusiastically at me. It felt less like a warm sendoff and more like mockery. My chest tightened with shame, but Zion squeezed my hand gently, his reassuring smile doing little to ease my nerves.My kids were with Mr. Jimmy, and as much as I missed them, I couldn’t risk being around them right now. I didn’t know what to expect. Some deranged people, disguised as anti-fans, had been dragging me online, demanding that I speak up about the scandal unfolding around me.Some even claimed I wouldn’t dare because I was too busy warming Ace’s bed.In the last forty-eight hours, I’d contemplated breaking up with Zion more times than I could count. Every cruel comment made me question why he was even with someone like me. I knew he was acting unbothered, but he was human. These words had to cut