Episode6:The Shape of a Lie
392 Words
Days passed.
Jack was careful.
Too careful.
He never raised his voice. Never touched Aria without permission. Never locked her in. He cooked. He listened. He waited.
That made everything worse.
“You don’t have to trust me,” he said one morning over breakfast. “Trust takes time.”
Aria nodded, but her stomach twisted.
He knew exactly what to say.
At the hospital, Sebastian watched Lena breathe.
Her eyes were still closed. Her body still fragile. He sat beside her bed every night, guilt eating him alive.
“She’s with Jack Loosa,” Victor said quietly.
Sebastian’s jaw clenched.
“I pushed her into a wolf’s den,” he replied.
“Yes,” Victor said. “You did.”
Sebastian stood suddenly. “Find everything. Every file. Every lie. I want to know what Jack wants with her.”
Back at Jack’s house, Aria wandered into the garden.
Jack followed.
“Do you ever stop watching?” she asked.
He didn’t deny it. “No.”
The honesty startled her.
“You’re not a prisoner,” he said. “But danger follows you. I won’t apologize for protecting what matters.”
“What matters to you?” she asked.
Jack looked at her for a long moment. “Truth. And people brave enough to face it.”
She shivered.
That night, she couldn’t sleep again.
She walked into the hallway and stopped.
A door was open.
One she had never seen before.
Inside were files.
Stacks of them.
Photos. Contracts. Letters.
All connected to the Vale family.
And to Sebastian.
Her hands shook as she read.
Manipulated land deals. Destroyed reputations. A woman silenced for knowing too much.
Marianne Vale.
Jack’s voice came from behind her. “She suffered quietly.”
“You destroyed everything,” Aria whispered.
“I revealed everything,” he corrected. “Sebastian was raised by lies. I’m giving him the truth.”
“And me?” she asked.
Jack stepped closer. “You’re the catalyst.”
Her heart raced. “You’re using me.”
Jack smiled not kindly this time. “We use what we love to reach what we need.”
Her breath caught.
At that exact moment, Sebastian stood outside Jack’s gate, rain soaking his coat, fury burning through his control.
He had finally found her.
And he was done letting her go.
- Writer
