Chapter 98
1511 Words
✨When Silence Gets Loud✨
Ari Darven
Ari didn’t rush.
He never did.
Even now—walking out of his own penthouse, the door closing behind him with a quiet finality—his pace stayed measured.
Controlled. Like nothing had shifted.
But everything had.
The elevator ride down was silent.
Too silent.
Her words replayed anyway.
I need space.
I can’t keep doing this.
His jaw tightened slightly, but his expression didn’t change.
City lights streaked past the tinted windows, reflections shifting across Ari’s face—but his gaze stayed fixed ahead.
Ari didn’t go far.
But he drove.
Fast enough to feel it.
Not reckless—never reckless.
Just… enough to outrun the noise in his head.
It didn’t work.
I can’t keep doing this.
The words replayed.
Over and over.
Each time landing a little harder.
His hands tightened slightly on the steering wheel as he exhaled through his nose.
Because it wasn’t just what she said.
It was everything leading up to it.
Everything he hadn’t fully paid attention to—
Until now.
Elena had been different.
Subtle.
Small shifts.
The kind most people would miss.
But he didn’t miss things.
Not when it mattered.
Her phone.
Always in her hand lately.
Always lighting up.
Notifications she would glance at—
Then quickly lock the screen.
Dismiss.
Brush off.
“Work.”
That was always the answer.
But it didn’t feel like work.
Ari’s jaw tightened.
Because he knew what it was.
Or at least—
He knew part of it.
The exposure.
The photos.
The headlines.
He hadn’t cared.
Didn’t care.
Didn’t read that kind of garbage.
Didn’t let strangers dictate anything about his life.
But Elena—
Elena was different.
She was private.
Careful.
Controlled.
And now?
She was being pulled into something she never asked for.
He could see it now.
The way her shoulders would tense when her phone buzzed.
The way she’d go quiet for a second too long.
The way her mind would drift—even when she was right next to him.
Ari exhaled sharply.
“Damn it…”
He had thought it was just the case.
Just the pressure of her job.
Just the tension between them and everything surrounding it.
But it wasn’t just that.
They were talking about her.
Posting about her.
Digging into her life.
Twisting things.
Creating things.
And she had been dealing with it—
Alone.
His grip on the wheel tightened again.
Because that part?
That part didn’t sit right with him.
At all.
“She should have said something,” he muttered.
But even as the words left his mouth—
He knew.
She hadn’t said anything…
Because she was trying to hold everything together.
Her job.
Her image.
Him.
And somewhere in all of that—
She started cracking.
Ari leaned his head back briefly at a red light, closing his eyes for just a second.
Running through the argument again.
From the beginning.
Every word.
Every pause.
Every look.
She wasn’t trying to leave.
Not really.
She was overwhelmed.
And instead of saying that—
She said the one thing guaranteed to push him away.
“I can’t keep doing this.”
A humorless breath left him.
“Yeah… good job, Elena.”
The light turned green.
He drove.
By the time he pulled up outside Matteo’s place, the tension in his chest hadn’t eased.
If anything—
It had settled deeper.
Matteo opened the door before Ari even knocked.
Took one look at him—
And sighed.
“You look like you just walked out of a negotiation you didn’t win,” Matteo said as Ari walked in.
Ari didn’t answer.
Matteo watched him for a moment.
“Yeah… I was wondering how long that would take.”
Ari walked past him without a word.
Straight inside.
The place was quiet.
Too quiet.
Matteo shut the door behind him.
“You look like hell,” he added casually.
Ari ignored that.
Ran a hand through his hair instead.
“Pour me something.”
Matteo didn’t argue.
Just moved toward the bar.
Glass.
Liquid.
Silence.
Ari took the drink the second it was handed to him and downed half of it without pause.
Matteo watched him.
Carefully.
“Alright,” Matteo said finally. “What happened?”
Ari let out a slow breath.
“She said she can’t do this anymore.”
Matteo’s brows lifted slightly.
“That’s… not good.”
“No,” Ari said flatly. “It’s not.”
A pause.
Then—
“What did you do?” Matteo asked.
Ari shot him a look.
“What makes you think I did something?”
Matteo shrugged.
“Because you usually do.”
Ari looked away.
Took another drink.
Slower this time.
“She’s been off,” he admitted after a moment.
Matteo leaned back slightly.
“Off how?”
Ari hesitated.
Then—
“Distracted. On her phone a lot. Tense.”
Matteo nodded slowly.
“And you thought that was just her being her?”
“I thought it was work.”
“And now?”
Ari’s jaw tightened.
“Now I think it’s everything else.”
Matteo didn’t need more explanation.
“The press?” he asked.
Ari nodded once.
“They’ve been digging,” Matteo said. “You know that.”
“I didn’t think it was getting to her like that.”
Matteo gave him a look.
“She’s not you, Ari.”
That landed.
“She doesn’t live in this world,” Matteo continued. “She didn’t grow up with people watching, talking, making things up.”
Ari stayed quiet.
Because—
That was true.
“She’s probably reading things about herself she doesn’t even recognize,” Matteo added.
“And instead of telling me,” Ari said, frustration creeping back in, “she let it build until she snapped.”
“Or,” Matteo countered calmly, “she didn’t want to seem like she couldn’t handle it.”
Silence.
Ari stared down at the glass in his hand.
The liquid barely moving.
“She asked for space,” he said after a moment.
Matteo didn’t react immediately.
Just watched him.
“And you gave it to her?” he asked.
Ari’s grip tightened slightly.
“I left.”
Matteo sighed.
“Of course you did.”
Ari looked up sharply.
“What was I supposed to do? Stay there while she figures out if I’m worth it?”
“Yes,” Matteo said simply.
That—
That hit something.
Ari shook his head.
“That’s not how this works.”
“No,” Matteo agreed. “That’s not how you work.”
“Yes.”
Matteo hummed under his breath. “You don’t usually walk away.”
“This isn’t business.”
“No,” Matteo agreed. “It’s worse.”
Silence settled between them again.
Heavy.
Ari leaned back slightly, closing his eyes for half a second—
He watched her shake just slightly even as she tried to hold her ground.
Asking for space—but not wanting him gone.
That difference—
It mattered.
More than he had allowed himself to admit.
Silence stretched again.
Longer this time.
Ari leaned back slightly, exhaling.
Because the truth?
He didn’t know how to stand still when something felt like it was slipping.
Didn’t know how to just wait—
And not act.
“She thinks this is going to cost her everything,” Matteo said.
“And what about me?” Ari shot back. “What is it costing me?”
Matteo held his gaze.
“Looks like it’s about to cost you her.”
The words landed heavy.
Too heavy.
Ari didn’t respond.
Didn’t move.
Because for the first time—
That possibility didn’t feel distant.
It felt real.
His phone buzzed.
Both of them looked at it.
Ari didn’t reach for it immediately.
Just stared at the screen as it lit up against the table.
Elena.
Another buzz.
Then again.
Matteo raised a brow slightly.
“Well?”
Ari’s jaw tightened.
Because a few hours ago—
He would have answered on the first ring.
Now?
Now he just stood there.
Looking at her name.
Letting it ring.
And the question sat heavy in his chest—
Did he give her the space she asked for…
Or answer the call she finally made?
The phone buzzed again.
And this time—
It stopped.
Silence filled the room.
Ari didn’t move.
Didn’t pick it up.
Didn’t breathe properly.
Until—
Another notification lit up the screen.
Not a call.
A message.
His phone vibrated once more.
And Matteo leaned slightly, just enough to see the screen light up again.
Ari’s eyes dropped to it.
And whatever he saw—
Made his entire expression change.
Darken.
Sharpen.
Dangerously.
“…What?” Matteo asked quietly.
Ari didn’t answer.
Didn’t speak.
Just stared at the screen—
As his grip around the glass tightened.
And slowly—
He set it down.
Very.
Carefully.
Because whatever Elena had just sent—
Changed everything.
- Writer
