Beneath the Surface

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE UNIVITED

Arielle was mid-way through reading a market analysis report when her phone buzzed with a message from Airyana.

Airyana: “It's Mom. She’s back. She’s at the door.”

Arielle's stomach dropped. Her fingers hovered over the screen, unsure if she should reply, scream, or sprint out of the building. She stood up quickly, knocking over a paper cup of cold coffee in the process. The dark liquid spread across her desk, soaking a stack of sticky notes. She didn’t care.

Nina looked up from across the aisle. "Ari? What's wrong?"

Arielle’s throat was tight. "I need to go home. Now."

---

She drove fast, the city blurring past her windows. The closer she got to her apartment, the heavier the dread sat in her chest. She hadn’t seen her mother since the day she packed her siblings and left that house behind. Frances Devereux had called once. Arielle hadn’t answered.

When she reached the apartment, she found Frances standing in the hallway just outside the door. Her posture was stiff, her arms crossed, expression unreadable. Airyana stood inside the doorway, phone still in hand. Jace peeked out from behind her, his eyes wide and worried. Olivia clung to Airyana’s leg.

Arielle stormed up the steps, her voice low and clipped. "What are you doing here?"

Frances’ eyes narrowed. "You weren't answering my calls."

"Because I had nothing to say to you."

"You don’t get to freeze me out like I’m some stranger. I’m still their mother."

Arielle stepped in front of the door, shielding her siblings with her body. "You stopped being our mother the moment you started choosing everything else over us. Don’t talk to me about what I 'don’t get to do'."

Frances stiffened. "You don’t understand the sacrifices I made for this family."

"Sacrifices?" Arielle’s voice rose, years of restraint snapping under the weight of the moment. "You mean the nights we went to bed hungry while you were out with your boyfriends? The school meetings you missed? The bruises Jace came home with that you didn’t notice? The way you screamed at Airyana until she cried herself to sleep?"

Jace shrank back, Olivia whimpered. Arielle’s heart cracked, but she couldn’t stop. Not now.

"I stepped up! I became their parent while you played pretend at being one. You don’t get to walk back in here like everything’s fine just because you’re ready now."

Frances looked wounded. But only for a second. "You’re being dramatic. I was doing the best I could."

"Your best wasn’t good enough," Arielle snapped. "It never was."

Airyana gently pulled Olivia and Jace back into the apartment. Arielle took a step forward, nose to nose with the woman who had let them down so many times.

"If you try anything—if you so much as raise your voice to them, or show up unannounced again—I will go to court. I will fight for full custody. And you know I’ll win."

Frances flinched. "You wouldn’t."

"Try me. I’ve done more parenting in the last year than you did in fifteen. So don’t test me. Not with them."

The hallway was silent. Frances’ shoulders finally sagged. Her face cracked with emotion—anger, guilt, something unspoken—but she turned away, heels clicking down the stairs without another word.

Arielle shut the door and leaned against it, breathing hard.

Behind her, Airyana’s voice was small. "Do you think she’ll come back again?"

Arielle swallowed the lump in her throat. "Not if I can help it."

Jace clung to her side. "I don’t want to see her anymore. I don’t want her to live with us again."

Arielle knelt down and hugged him tight. "She’s not coming back here. I promise. You’re safe."

Airyana looked skeptical, her arms crossed. "She’s good at pretending. She’ll find a way to try again."

Arielle nodded. "Then we’ll be ready."

She looked around their little living room, the cozy mess of schoolbooks, crayon drawings, and soft blankets. Her siblings had found peace here. And she would fight to protect it.

Even if it meant going to war with the woman who gave birth to her.

---

Later that night, Arielle sat at the kitchen table while Airyana did homework and Jace watched a cartoon with Olivia curled beside him. Her phone buzzed. A message from Nina.

Nina: You okay? Need anything?

Arielle stared at the screen for a second before typing back.

Arielle: She came to the apartment. I told her if she tries anything again, I’m taking her to court.

A moment later:

Nina: Damn right you did.

Arielle smiled faintly. Then her screen lit up with another name—one she hadn’t expected to see just yet.

Damien: “Just checking in. Nina told me you had to go home for an emergency. Is everything alright?”

She stared at the message for a while. He didn’t know. Not about her mother. Not about the way she’d grown up being the adult in a house full of children.

But maybe one day, she’d tell him.

Just… not tonight.

“Just a family emergency. I had to check in on Jace. Thank you for looking out, sir.”

“No problem. See you at work tomorrow.” Was his response a minute later.

She placed her phone down, reached across the table to ruffle Airyana’s hair, and exhaled.

Tomorrow, she’d go back to work. Tomorrow, she’d keep pushing forward.

Tonight, she was just their sister again.

And that was enough.

DAMIEN

Damien dropped his phone the minute he baded goodnight to Arielle and went to his bar to pour himself some bourbon.

“Seriously, Damien, how do you survive?” Came his younger sister's voice in the kitchen. She was standing in front of the opened refrigerator, and she was pretty surprised.

“You don't even have snacks in the snack bar or actual drinks or juice boxes you can entertain people with. You literally have an empty freezer.” She kept on ranting.

Damien sighed. He had totally forgotten his annoying little pest of a sister was in his house.

“Life of a bachelor, Ana,” came Damien's voice as he sat down to his glass or bourbon. “Get used to it, or go live in your own house. Or go stay with dad. I'm sure that would be better staying at the house of your brother who doesn't have drinks or food in his house, eh?”

Anastasia sucked her teeth. “You know that can't happen. I can't go to my own place, it's so boring there and I can't go to dad's place because you know dad. I can't stand his judgy face at me sometimes. It's exhausting living with the old man.”

“Go to Ethan's then.”

“I know what you're doing, and stop it, Damien,” Anastasia said. “You're trying to drive me away, and it's not going to happen. Besides, I want to spend time with you alone.”

“I'm busy, Ana.”

Ana pouted. “Too busy for your own little sister, eh? I bet you're so busy with the woman you were dancing with at your company's retreat gala.” She teased. “Who is she, by the way? It's not Elena.”

Damien sighed and rolled his eyes. Everyone that knew Damien knew Elena had the hots for him from the moment they met, but Damien had never really looked her way in that manner. But he wasn't going to allow his sister disturb his peace.

“It was just a gala, Ana, and the woman was no one,” he affirmed. “Stop reading meanings into things.”

“Hm, it definitely didn't look like she was a no one.” Ana continued with her tease. “The pictures and videos of you guys were looking pretty intimate. And you're sure you don't like her?”

Damien didn't answer. He didn't want to talk about Arielle with his sister. The kiss they had shared outside after the dance was already making things awkward and he didn't even know what he really felt about her.

Being vulnerable with his sister was definitely not something Damien liked.

“Hah! I've gotten my answer!” Ana squealed. “She isn't just no one like you said. Don't worry, it only takes a matter of time before I know what's going on, don't worry,” she winked at her already annoyed brother.

“Why did you come back to Manhattan with Ethan?” Damien suddenly asked, changing the topic. “I thought he had work there and that's why he didn't come home for the past 2 years.”

“He wanted to close a deal here and actually, don't tell him you heard it from me, but he might be needing the help of your company with a marketing strategy,” Anastasia said and Damien gave her a “what?” look.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” She queried. “Don't tell him I told you though. He's going to tell you himself.”

“Hell no, Ana. Tell him I said I'm not interested in working with him,” Damien said as a matter of fact.

Anastasia rolled her eyes. “It's just business, D. Seriously, you guys are business men, you can leave out this grudge you have and just work together to actually earn money, you know.”

“Ana, you know it's not just going to be about work or business with Ethan. Working with him feels like working with Dad. He will always criticize and he's had to deal with it and I definitely can't take his bullshit this time. Even if the money in the business was worth billions, I'll still pass it.”

And now it was Anastasia's turn to get pissed.

“Seriously, D?” She said with all seriousness that Damien had to face hrr