Episode5:A House That Smiled Too Much
501 Words
Jack Loosa’s house did not feel dangerous.
That was what frightened Aria the most.
It sat in a quiet neighborhood, hidden behind tall gates and soft lights. The walls were clean. The rooms were warm. Everything smelled like money and calm. Too calm. Like nothing bad had ever happened there.
Jack walked ahead of her, unhurried. Confident.
“You’ll be safe here,” he said. “No reporters. No shadows. No fear.”
Aria said nothing.
Her heart was still back at the hospital. Still standing in front of Sebastian as he told her he didn’t care.
The lie echoed in her chest.
Jack showed her the guest room. Large bed. Wide windows. Locks that clicked smoothly when he closed the door. Not aggressively. Gently.
“Rest,” he said. “You’ve been through enough.”
When he left, Aria sat on the edge of the bed and pressed her hands against her chest.
She could still see Sebastian’s face.
Cold. Controlled. Breaking.
Go with him.
The words cut deeper now than they had earlier.
That night, she couldn’t sleep.
Every sound felt loud. Every shadow felt watched. She finally stood and walked down the hallway, drawn by a faint light at the end.
The study.
The door was open.
Inside, shelves lined the walls. Files. Old books. Framed photos.
Aria froze.
On the desk sat a photograph.
The Vale estate.
Before the fire.
Her breath caught.
She stepped closer. Another photo. Lena. Younger. Smiling. Then another.
Sebastian.
Her fingers trembled as she touched the edge of the desk.
Jack’s voice came from behind her.
“You miss him.”
She turned sharply. “Why do you have these?”
Jack smiled softly. “Because the past doesn’t disappear just because people pretend it does.”
“You planned this,” she said quietly.
He tilted his head. “I prepared.”
“That fire—”
“Was inevitable,” he interrupted calmly. “The house was a lie built on silence. Lies burn.”
Aria felt her chest tighten. “People got hurt.”
Jack stepped closer. Not touching her. Not yet. “Truth always hurts first.”
She looked at him then, really looked at him.
And for the first time, she felt it.
Not safety.
Control.
“You’re afraid of him,” Jack continued. “And you love him. That’s a dangerous mix.”
“Don’t talk about him,” Aria said.
Jack smiled again. “You see? Even now, he owns space inside you.”
The words stung because they were true.
That night, in another part of the city, Sebastian stood alone in his penthouse.
He replayed the moment Aria walked away over and over again.
Her silence.
Her strength.
Her heartbreak.
Victor’s voice echoed in his head: Jack Loosa doesn’t protect people. He collects them.
Sebastian poured a drink and didn’t taste it.
Because for the first time in his life, control had slipped through his fingers.
And it had taken her with it.
- Writer
