UNTIL YOU ARE MINE (TWISTED VOWS 1)

Bankruptcy

Aria’s POV

“If you’re going to yell at me, do it fast.”

That’s the first thing I blurted when I stepped into the living room and saw my parents siting like stone statues, waiting.

Mother’s eyes narrowed but calm. Calm as always. Father didn’t move, only stared at me like I was already guilty of something. His look was icy and sharp.

I let out a bitter laugh. “What? You’re angry because I didn’t come home last night? Do you guys know I am no longer sixteen?”

Mother’s voice cut through the air like glass. “You look disgusting, Aria and you smell like alcohol. Do you even know what people would say if they saw you like this?”

I dropped my bag by the door and crossed my arms. “Can you give me a break? People already talk. Let them choke on it. I don't care."

Father finally spoke. His tone was calm, too calm. The kind of calm that always meant danger. “This isn’t about last night.”

“Oh, it’s not?” I shot back, my voice rising. “Because last night, I walked in on my boyfriend of five years screwing our neighbor on his bed. But sure, let’s not make it about that. Let’s make it about me not showing up here on time to get lectured.”

Mother’s lips thinned. Father didn’t even blink. He just walked forward slowly, the weight of his silence pressing on me until I felt small.

“Aria, there is bigger issue on the table. I don't care about your stupid relationships."

I shook my head, my chest burning. “There’s nothing bigger. Do you even hear me? He threw me away like I was nothing. Five years, gone. Do you even care about that? About me?”

Father’s eyes were steel. “What I care about is survival. I already disapproved of Ethan but you kept clinging to that fool. ”

The words hit me like a slap. “Survival?”

Mother’s hands trembled in her lap. “The company. Stone Enterprises. It’s… collapsing.”

For a moment, I thought I misheard. The words sounded foreign, like they belonged in someone else’s life.

I stared between them. “Collapsing?”

Father’s jaw tightened. “Bankruptcy. We’re drowning in debt. Years of poor investments. Corruption in the board. Everything I built is burning.”

I laughed, sharp and hollow. “Good. Let it burn.”

Mother gasped. “Aria!”

“No!” I snapped, my throat raw. “All my life, everything’s been about that company. Every decision, every sacrifice, every time you told me no, it was because of Stone Enterprises. And now you tell me it’s gone?”

“It’s not gone,” Father growled. “Not if you do your part.”

My chest tightened. “My part? What does that even mean? I’m not a CEO. I’m not a savior. I’m barely breathing.”

Father stepped closer. “You will have to meet with Mr. Kane and negotiate with him.”

Silence.

The name landed like a knife in my stomach. I had heard it before, whispered in hushed tones, like a curse. A man with more money than God, more enemies than friends. Ruthless. Cold. Dangerous. To crown it all he was a psychopath.

I shook my head slowly. “You can’t be serious.”

Mother’s voice cracked. “Your father had tried speaking to him but he refused to help. There's nothing we can do."

I stared at her, horror rising in my throat. “So that’s it? I’m your bargaining chip now? You want me to go to the lion's den? What if he devours me?"

Father didn’t flinch. “Yes.”

My vision blurred, rage burning hot behind my eyes. “I won’t do it.”

“You will,” he said, his voice flat, final.

I turned to Mother, desperate. “You can’t let him do this. You can’t let him send me to someone like that.”

She shook her head, tears in her eyes. “You don’t understand, Aria. Mr. Kane is our only hope to save your father's company. ”

Her words sent a shiver down my spine.

I took a shaky step back. “Then maybe I’ll be the first.”

I spun, ready to storm upstairs, slam my door, scream until my throat bled. But Father’s voice froze me in place.

“If you walk away now, you walk away from this family.”

The room spun. My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe.

Alone.

A memory flashed—those dark blue eyes of the stranger from this morning, cold and unreadable, the grip of his hand like steel around my wrist, his voice calling me sweet girl. He was handsome.

No.

I shook the thought. He took advantage of a drunk lady and I will not forgive him.

Mother’s soft sob broke the silence. “Aria, please. For once, just do as he says.”

I looked at them both and felt a weight in my chest. Father’s eyes were fixed on me the way they always were when business was mentioned. He had given me many things growing up—money, gifts, everything I asked for. But never his heart. His love belonged to the company, and there was no space left for me.

Mother sat beside him, quiet as always. Her fingers twisted in her lap, her gaze low, too gentle to ever rise against him. She had lived her life in his shadow, soft enough to bend, never strong enough to resist.

But I am not her.

I will not sit still while Father throws me into Kane International like another deal to be signed. I have seen the headlines, the way Kane crushes companies without mercy. To step into his world is to lose everything. I will not let my family walk into that trap.

They may not understand yet, but I will make them see. I am not their pawn.