Chapter 8
1083 Words
Chapter 8– The Line Crossed
⸻
The villa was too quiet.
Which meant Joan was planning something.
Ariana felt it in her bones as she moved through the hall, hoodie loose around her frame, fingers twitching near the small gun tucked into the waistband of her skirt. She wasn’t stupid. She knew Joan wouldn’t give up. And today? She was done playing polite.
She found Joan on the veranda, sipping wine like she owned the estate.
Ariana’s voice was calm when she spoke. “You like pretending you’re his wife, don’t you?”
Joan didn’t flinch. “I don’t pretend, darling. I belong here.”
Ariana laughed bitterly. “You belong six feet under.”
Joan set her wine down. “Touchy. Did I scratch too hard last time?”
“You’re psychotic.”
Joan stood slowly, her silk dress swaying like a whisper. “I’m just in love. Something you wouldn’t understand.”
Ariana stepped forward. “You think love is manipulation? Bruising someone’s daughter and smiling in his face while you lie through your teeth?”
“Oh, sweetheart…” Joan’s smile curved like a blade. “You think you’re the reason he pushes me away? You’re not. He’s scared. Because of what almost happened between us.”
Ariana’s brow furrowed. “What?”
Joan’s eyes glittered. “Two years ago. He was grieving, vulnerable. I was there. And for a moment—just one—we were everything. We almost had a baby, you know.”
The world stopped.
“What?”
“He didn’t know. I lost it before I could tell him. Stress, maybe. Or maybe it was the little stunt you pulled that night—sneaking into his office, bleeding from your first kill, begging him not to leave you. He chose you. And I lost everything.”
“You’re lying,” Ariana whispered.
Joan’s face twisted. “Believe what you want. But I was carrying a piece of him. And it died… because of you.”
The heat behind Ariana’s eyes wasn’t tears. It was rage.
She pulled the gun free.
Joan froze.
“You want to play family?” Ariana said, voice cold. “Let’s see how good you are at playing dead.”
Joan’s mask cracked. “You wouldn’t.”
Ariana c****d the gun.
But before she could move, a voice thundered from behind.
“Ariana. Put it down.”
Matteo.
He stood in the archway, his jaw clenched, gun already drawn.
She turned slowly, the weapon still in her hand.
“She’s lying,” Ariana said. “You know she is.”
Matteo didn’t answer.
“She said she was pregnant with your child. That I killed it. That it’s my fault.”
His silence was louder than anything else.
Ariana’s heart cracked.
“You believe her?” she asked, voice hollow.
Matteo lowered his gun but didn’t move toward her. “You pointed a weapon at her.”
“I’ve pointed one at worse people for less.”
“She’s still under my protection.”
Ariana lowered the gun. Not because he asked—but because the fire in her chest had gone cold.
She stared at him for a moment longer, then turned and walked away.
She didn’t cry.
She didn’t scream.
She just left.
⸻
Lucas opened the door half-dressed, mouth full of gummy bears. “That was fast. I thought you were gonna let him ruin you before you came crawling to me.”
Ariana didn’t laugh.
She stepped inside, dropped the gun on his table, and threw herself onto his couch. “I need you.”
Lucas shut the door behind her. “For real or for pretend?”
“Pretend.”
He raised a brow. “So we’re doing this?”
She sat up. “We’re doing this. I want him to feel what it’s like to lose something he never thought would leave.”
Lucas grinned. “God, you’re hot when you’re vengeful.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’re fake dating. Not actual dating. I don’t do boys who steal my eyeliner.”
“Please. If I were into girls, you’d be my type.”
She smirked. “You’re still in denial.”
He flopped down beside her. “You’re in grief. Big difference.”
Ariana looked at him. “Lucas… do you think I’m disgusting?”
His smile faded. “You’re in love. With the one man you were never allowed to want. That doesn’t make you disgusting. That makes you real.”
She stared at him for a long time. “He believed her.”
Lucas leaned back. “Then it’s time to make him believe you don’t need him.”
⸻
They made their first appearance that evening.
Ariana wore red. Tight, short, heart-stopping.
Lucas’s arm wrapped easily around her waist as they strolled into the family courtyard where Matteo stood with his inner circle.
She didn’t look at him.
But she felt his eyes.
Lucas leaned in and whispered, “He’s burning. I can feel it.”
Ariana smiled.
Matteo’s voice cut through the air like a blade. “Ariana. Can I speak to you?”
She turned slowly. “I’m with my boyfriend.”
Lucas added sweetly, “Yeah, we’re kind of busy having unresolved s****l tension.”
Matteo’s eyes narrowed. “This isn’t a game.”
“Tell that to Joan,” Ariana said. “She’s been playing it since the day she bled on my skin and made it my fault.”
Matteo took a step forward. Lucas slid in front of her with a grin. “Back off, Daddy. She’s mine now.”
That did it.
Matteo’s face twisted.
He turned and walked away.
Lucas turned to Ariana, stunned. “I’ve never seen him like that.”
Ariana looked at the path Matteo vanished down.
And whispered, “Good.”
⸻
But just as she turned to leave, Joan stepped out from the shadows, her arm bandaged, a smile curling like smoke.
“Nice show,” she purred. “But it won’t last. You don’t have the stamina to keep playing this game.”
Ariana stepped forward. “Try me.”
Joan leaned close. “You should know something.”
Ariana narrowed her eyes.
Joan whispered, “He was mine first. But I won’t make the same mistake twice.”
Then she slipped something into Ariana’s hand and disappeared into the dark.
Ariana looked down.
It was a positive pregnancy test.
And suddenly—
everything stopped.
- Writer
