His Little Bird

Chapter 4, His Little Bird

Alex opened the door and walked out.

Aria slid down against the wall and sat on the floor. Outside, songs of celebration were playing, but Aria felt as if her entire world had been buried inside this dark room.

At that moment, Ethan was sweating on the basketball court, but his mind was focused on the auditorium. As soon as he heard that Alex Moreno had come to the college, a student had informed him of the news. He could no longer stay calm. Throwing the ball from his hand, he started running toward the auditorium like a madman. He knew that this donation and meetup were all excuses—Alex had come only for Aria.

When he reached the auditorium, he couldn't find Aria anywhere. When he asked Sophie and the others, they told him that Aria had gone toward the restroom a while ago. Ethan's sixth sense was telling him that something was wrong. He rushed toward the old wing of the college.

A deserted corridor. The faint sounds of the event and music echoed all around. Suddenly, Ethan heard the sound of painful crying. The sound was coming from a storage room.

Ethan pushed the door open with one forceful shove.

Inside it was dark. Only a faint light coming through the window allowed him to see Aria sitting on the floor, her hair messy, trembling with fear.

"Aria!" Ethan shouted and ran to her, pulling her into his arms.

The moment Aria saw Ethan, she broke down crying. Ethan noticed a red mark near Aria's neck—the mark of Alex's teeth. Everything went dark before Ethan's eyes with rage. Every vein in his body began trembling with anger.

"He did this? That animal touched you?" Ethan's voice was shaking with fury.

Aria only held Ethan's shirt tightly and cried. She couldn't say a word.

Ethan helped Aria stand up and said in a calm voice,

"You stay here, Aria. Today I'll make sure I see his end."

Aria tried to stop Ethan, but she couldn't.

Ethan completely lost his sense of direction and stormed toward the parking lot like a hurricane.

At that exact moment, the convoy of Alex's black cars was preparing to leave.

Ethan walked straight in front of Alex's lead car and stood there. His arms were spread wide on both sides, and an unstoppable rage and determination burned in his eyes.

The car screeched to a halt.

Within moments, the bodyguards jumped out of the vehicles and pointed their guns at Ethan.

"Move away from here! Otherwise we'll be forced to shoot!" Marcus shouted.

Alex was sitting in the back seat, watching everything.

A crooked smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

He raised his hand, stopping his bodyguards.

Then he slowly stepped out of the car himself.

Alex and Ethan stood only a few inches apart.

It was as if electricity was crackling between their gazes.

"How dare you! How dare you touch Aria?" Ethan reached out to grab Alex's collar, but the bodyguards restrained him.

Alex calmly adjusted the sleeve of his suit and said,

"Courage? Ethan Carter, this entire city belongs to me. This college, this ground... even Aria Lewis belongs to me. When I consider something mine, I don't need courage to touch it."

"She's my girlfriend! We've been together for three years!" Ethan shouted. "Even if you die, you'll never have her!"

Alex took one step closer until he was standing right in front of Ethan.

The weight of his height and presence seemed to make the entire atmosphere heavier.

In a low voice, he said,

"You know, Ethan, I could kill you right here and bury you in this ground. For me, that would take only seconds. But I'm not going to kill you."

He paused for a moment.

"Because my Little Bird loves you. If I kill you, tears will fall from those beautiful eyes of hers. And I don't want a single tear to appear in her eyes because of me. I don't want to hurt her."

Alex spoke again in a serious voice.

"But remember, my mercy extends only this far. If you don't leave Aria, then I may not kill you, but I will turn your life into hell. Your career, your family, your reputation—I will reduce everything to dust. And in the end, right in front of you, I will make Aria mine. You'll remain alive, but only as a living corpse."

Alex tapped Ethan's chest with a finger.

"Aria is mine. Get that into your head."

After finishing his words, Alex got back into the car.

The vehicle drove away, throwing dust into the air as it passed Ethan.

Ethan remained standing there. His fists were clenched and fire burned in his eyes.

He realized that this fight would not be easy at all.

But Aria was his love.

And he would never let his love belong to anyone else.