Ex
748 Words
By the third week of their engagement, Aria had nearly mastered the art of pretending she wasn’t wildly aware of Elias’s every move.
The way he stirred his coffee counterclockwise.
The quiet way he cleared his throat before he pitched a big idea on Zoom.
The barely-there smirk he wore whenever she insulted his furniture choices.
But pretending didn’t work when the past came knocking—literally.
---
The Knock
It was a rainy Thursday afternoon when it happened. Aria had just returned from a freelance design pitch—her first win since the engagement—when the penthouse buzzer rang.
She assumed it was a delivery.
She was wrong.
The voice on the intercom was smooth, high, and painfully self-assured.
> “Tell Elias it’s Delilah. I’m not leaving until I speak to him.”
Aria blinked. The name hit like a glass of cold water.
Delilah Roth.
The Delilah.
Elias’s infamous ex-girlfriend.
The one who had sold just enough of their breakup story to The Daily Click to tank his public image last fall.
---
Awkward Introductions
Five minutes later, Elias walked into the living room to find Aria standing—rigid and annoyed—as a sleek brunette in an oversized leather coat perched on his designer couch.
Delilah turned as he entered. “There you are,” she said, voice syrupy. “Your assistant told me you weren’t taking meetings. So I decided to surprise you.”
Elias’s jaw clenched.
“Delilah.”
Aria watched the shift in his posture. Shoulders straighter. Voice cooler. Guard fully up.
“I see your new PR strategy includes marriage,” Delilah said, glancing at Aria with a smirk. “Congrats. She’s very... minimal.”
“Thanks,” Aria replied before Elias could. “And you’re exactly as warm as I imagined.”
Elias almost smiled. Almost.
---
After She Left
Delilah stayed only fifteen minutes. Enough to plant seeds of unease and flash just enough red lipstick to remind Aria she was completely, utterly out of her depth.
Once the door closed, Aria turned to Elias.
“So. That was fun.”
“She’s not a threat,” he said quickly.
“I’m not worried,” Aria lied.
He exhaled, then sat on the arm of the couch. “She thinks I’m bluffing. That this marriage is fake.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Aria said dryly.
He looked up, expression more tired than usual. “She’s a chaos addict. Always wants to stir the pot, even when she’s not invited.”
Aria’s arms were crossed. She didn’t like how unsettled she felt.
“She seemed surprised I exist.”
“She doesn’t know how to process me moving on.” He stood. “But she’ll get over it. Everyone will.”
---
That Night
Aria lay awake in bed, the city lights blinking against the ceiling.
Delilah had been beautiful. Confident. The kind of woman who belonged in Elias Carter’s world.
Aria didn’t.
She was a temporary solution. A strategic loophole in a $12 million brand problem.
And yet, when Elias had stood beside her earlier, she had felt something real. Something neither contract nor clause could explain.
A knock came on her door.
“Aria?” Elias’s voice was quiet.
She sat up. “Yeah?”
He opened the door just enough to lean in. His hair was tousled, like he’d been running his hand through it in frustration.
“Just wanted to say… thanks. For handling today. For not walking out.”
Aria gave a small smile. “You’re welcome. But FYI, next time your ex shows up unannounced, I’m charging a hosting fee.”
He smirked. “Fair.”
She expected him to leave then. But he didn’t. He lingered
.
“Delilah never really knew me,” he said suddenly.
Aria blinked. “Sorry?”
“I thought she did. But she liked the version of me she could post about. Not the real me.”
Something tightened in Aria’s chest.
“She was never in it for love?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Maybe she was at first. Or maybe I wasn’t ready to let someone love the parts of me I didn’t like.”
The silence that followed was heavy but not uncomfortable.
“Anyway,” he added, stepping back, “get some sleep.”
“Goodnight, Elias.”
The door clicked softly shut.
And Aria lay back down, heartbeat entirely out of sync with her logic.
---
- Writer
