CHAPTER 20: What Really Happened
891 Words
Ariana’s POV
I shouldn’t have gone.
But I did.
Something didn’t feel right after I left him. The distance I asked for didn’t bring clarity—it made everything louder. The questions. The doubt. The feeling that something was about to happen.
So when my phone buzzed with another unknown message, I didn’t ignore it this time.
I opened it.
If you want the truth, come now.
An address followed.
My heart dropped.
I knew that place.
Vanessa’s house.
I should have stayed away.
I knew that.
But if there was even a chance of getting the truth…
I couldn’t ignore it.
By the time I got there, the gates were already open.
That alone felt wrong.
Like I was expected.
I stepped inside slowly, my pulse quickening with every step. The house was quiet, too quiet, the kind of silence that made everything feel sharper.
Voices broke through it.
Low.
Tense.
Familiar.
I moved closer, stopping just before the main room.
And then I heard it.
“…you should have let it disappear,” Vanessa was saying.
“I’m done letting you control this,” Ethan replied.
My chest tightened.
They were already deep into it.
I stepped in before I could stop myself.
Both of them turned instantly.
Ethan’s expression changed the moment he saw me.
Shock.
Then something sharper.
“You shouldn’t be here,” he said.
“I know,” I replied. “But I am.”
Vanessa smiled slightly, like this was exactly what she wanted.
“Perfect timing,” she said softly.
I ignored her, my eyes fixed on Ethan.
“I’m done being kept out of this,” I said. “If something is going to come out, I want to hear it now.”
Silence fell.
Heavy.
Unavoidable.
Ethan exhaled slowly, running a hand through his hair.
“This isn’t how I wanted you to find out,” he said.
“Then tell me now,” I replied.
Before he could respond, Vanessa spoke again.
“Why wait?” she said lightly. “You’ve already told her half the story.”
Ethan’s gaze snapped to her. “Stop.”
But she didn’t.
Of course she didn’t.
“That night,” she began, her voice calm, controlled, “wasn’t just an argument.”
My heart started racing.
“It turned into something else entirely.”
“Vanessa,” Ethan warned.
She ignored him.
“There was a deal being negotiated,” she continued. “Tension was already high. People were desperate. And when things started falling apart…”
She paused.
Just long enough to build it.
“…someone made a move.”
My breath caught.
I looked at Ethan.
“Who?”
Silence.
Then—
“I did,” he said.
The words hit harder than anything else.
“What?”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen,” he continued quickly. “I wasn’t even meant to be involved. But someone pushed too far, and I reacted.”
“How?” I asked, my voice barely steady.
His jaw tightened.
“I hit him.”
The room felt like it closed in for a second.
“What?”
“It wasn’t planned,” he said. “It wasn’t calculated. It just—happened.”
“And he got hurt,” I whispered.
Ethan didn’t answer.
He didn’t need to.
Vanessa stepped forward slightly.
“He didn’t just get hurt,” she said softly.
Ethan’s expression hardened instantly. “Enough.”
But it was too late.
Because now I was looking at him differently.
Not with fear.
Not exactly.
But with something else.
Understanding… mixed with uncertainty.
“You told me you didn’t do anything wrong,” I said quietly.
“I didn’t,” he replied immediately. “Not the way she’s trying to make it look.”
“But you still—”
“I reacted,” he cut in. “To protect something that mattered.”
“What?”
Silence.
Then his voice lowered.
“You.”
My heart skipped.
“What?”
“That deal,” he said, “was connected to something that would have affected you. Your scholarship. Your place here. Your future.”
My breath caught.
“You were there because of me?”
“I wasn’t supposed to be,” he admitted. “But when I found out what was happening… I stepped in.”
The room fell silent again.
Because everything had just shifted.
Vanessa laughed softly.
“See?” she said. “Not so innocent after all.”
I ignored her.
My focus stayed on Ethan.
“You did it because of me?”
“Yes.”
The answer came without hesitation.
And somehow…
That made it harder.
Not easier.
Because now I didn’t know what to feel.
Gratitude.
Shock.
Or something else entirely.
“You should have told me,” I said quietly.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From the truth?”
“From what comes with it.”
Silence stretched again.
But this time…
It wasn’t just tension.
It was realization.
Because the truth wasn’t simple.
It wasn’t clean.
And it wasn’t something I could ignore anymore.
And the worst part was—
This wasn’t even all of it.
I could feel it.
There was still more.
And whatever was left…
Was the part he was most afraid to say.
- Writer
