Symphony of a Broken Heart

Chapter 2

“Are you crazy, Florenta? You gave up the chance to take part in the Great Brigs just for a man!” The woman’s voice dripped with a mixture of anger and desperation. “How can you ruin your bright future for that useless prick?”

“I know that you are disappointed in me, but please try to understand, mom. I love Justin. If he is not a part of my life, even the grand prize can’t make me happy.” She drew closer to her mother and took her hand in hers. “Don’t worry, mom. Justin has promised that he won’t impose any restrictions on me. I will work harder and win the next Great Briggs.”

“I don’t think his feelings for you are real, Flora.” A deep baritone voice rang in the hall as a middle-aged man walked inside with brisk steps. “He is just pretending.”

“How can you say that, Dad?” Florenta’s temper flared, and she snapped. “No one in this world pampers me as much as Justin does, not even you. We are a perfect match in every way. You are just too prejudiced against him. That is why you can’t see his love and affection.”

“Florenta!”

“Dad!”

The tension in the air took on a physical dimension as the duo stood there in a standoff. None of them wanted to back down.

After what seemed like an eternity, the man spoke up in a cold voice, “I will never accept this marriage, Florenta. So, you had better divorce him.”

“W… what?” The color drained from her face and she staggered half a step. “I never thought you would… How can you say that?”

“My decision is final, Florenta. If you don’t divorce Justin, I will disown you.”

Florenta’s eyes flashed with hurt as she took in her father’s frigid expression. She had thought that once she was married to Justin, he would have no choice but to accept him as his son-in-law.

Never in her wildest dream had she thought that her father would force her to divorce Justin. Flora’s pale face flashed with a flicker of indigence.

“Nothing I say or do is going to change your mind, is it?” Wiping her tears, she stated in a firm voice, “Fine then, disown me. In this lifetime, Justin’s love is enough for me.”

A strange fuzzy feeling enveloped her, and everything faded into the background. Sitting up with a startled gasp, she shouted, “No!”

It took a few minutes for her brain to register that she was in the hospital. Still in a daze, she sat there, gaping into the space. It’d been so long since someone called her by that name: Florenta.

“Miss Aria, how are you feeling now?” The man sitting across from her asked in a voice that was tinged with a mixture of concern and wariness.

When Aria didn’t reply, he got up from his seat and walked over. “If you are still unwell, I can call the attending doctor.”

Aria’s eyebrows drew together in a frown as she tried to think if he knew him. Soft brown eyes, golden curls, and a wheatish complexion; though he wasn’t as handsome as Ethan, he looked charming in his own way. If she had ever met a person like him, she was bound to remember.

“You are?”

“Sorry, I should have introduced myself first.” He held out his hand. “I am Mattias Hale. I was the one who brought you here on behalf of Mr. Ethan.” Seeing that Aria made no move to shake his hand, he dropped it and chuckled awkwardly. “You don’t have to worry about the hospital bills. I have already settled them. Also, if you have any other demands, you can discuss it with me.”

“I know you must have been startled by Ethan’s actions.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shifted in his place uncomfortably. “How about this? I will give you ten thousand dollars for the emotional damages you suffered.”

“What do you think I am?” Aria snorted and shook her head. “A beggar?”

“Hmm… you are right. It’s insulting to offer such a low amount. Fine, I will increase it to fifty thousand dollars.”

Aria didn’t say anything. She merely kept staring at him with an amused expression. He really thought money could solve all the problems in the world.

“At most, I can offer half a million dollars, Miss Aria. If you still don’t agree with my conditions, I will have no choice but to use other methods.”

“You know how to use other methods too?” Aria raised her eyebrows and scoffed. “I thought you knew only how to offer money.”

“Miss Aria! You are mocking me, aren’t you?”

“So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?”

“Don’t forget that Vancouver is our turf. I was being kind only because I felt Ethan was wrong in locking you up.” His expression hardened and his eyes lost all his warmth. “This is your last chance, Miss Smith. If you still don’t accept, you will have to face the consequences.”

Aria remained unperturbed by his threat. She wasn’t the fragile girl from five years ago who accepted her fate with resignation. Shrugging, she replied in a nonchalant tone, “Bring it on, Mr. Hale. I am not afraid of anything.”

“YOU!” Mattias exclaimed in frustration and stormed out of the private ward. Since Aria was being so stubborn, he had no choice but to execute Plan B.

Ten minutes later, two men dressed in uniforms walked into Aria’s private ward.

“Miss Aria Smith?”

“Yes…” Aria was a bit stunned by the sudden appearance of a cop. “What is the matter, officer?”

“We have received a report against you.”

“Sorry?”

“Mr. Ethan Martinez has lodged a compliant against you for trespassing his office without permission and verbally assaulting him.”

When Aria heard his words, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. So, this was Mr. Hale’s so-called other method. Sitting up straight, she looked at the officer with a puzzled expression. “I can’t understand what you are saying, officer. It was clearly Mr. Martinez who assaulted me.”

“I know that women are ambitious these days. Even so, you shouldn’t use such cheap tactics to obtain success.”

“You think I am using cheap tactics? Fine… show me the evidence.”

The officer took a file from his subordinate and handed it to Aria. “These are the testimonies from the receptionist and other staff members.”

“How can you believe in the testimonies of the staff members? They are bound to support their boss.”

“We also have the CCTV footage.” The officer passed his phone to Aria.

Aria’s face turned a shade paler as she viewed the recording. It was edited in such a way that it showed her creating a ruckuss and fainting on her own. “This footage… It has been tampered. If you give it__”

“That would be enough, Miss Aria.” The officer cut her off. “We don’t want to waste any more time over this matter because Mr. Martinez has decided not to press any charges. We just came here to give you a warning. If you are ever seen creating any trouble in or around Shengri La again, you will have to face the consequences.”

Without giving Aria a chance to explain anything, the officers just left.

Aria sat there, staring at the empty space in front of her for a long moment. Then, all of a sudden, her lips broke out into a wry smile and her eyes lit up with a fiery spark. Since Mattias wanted to play games, she would entertain him.

She completed the discharge formalities and went back to the small apartment she had rented. The exterior of the building looked old and dilapidated, but the interior was decent and cosy.

Taking a quick shower, she grabbed a portion of lasagna from the fridge and put it in the oven. She was going to wash the carrots when her phone rang up.

Aria’s eyes gleamed with a mixture of longing and relief when she saw the name displayed on the screen. ‘Cupcake.’

She sat down on the couch and adjusted her position before picking up the call and turning on the camera. Her voice cracked slightly as she spoke. “How is my little cupcake?”

The little girl smiled and nodded her head before scrawling something on her smart board and holding it up. ‘Good girl.”

“So, you have been a good girl? Momma is so proud of you, baby.” Aria spoke slowly, taking her time to enunciate every word clearly. Her four-year-old daughter was pretty good at reading lips but if people talked a bit too fast, she got confused.

Miraya scrawled something else on the smart board and held it up again. ‘Miss.’

“I know you must be missing me a lot. Momma misses you too, baby.” She blinked away her tears and smiled. “I will complete my work quickly and return as soon as possible. Till then, you have to be good and listen to Aunt Martha, okay?”

Miraya nodded and blew her a kiss before handing the phone to her caretaker. “Cupcake doesn’t throw tantrums like other children, but deep down, she misses you terribly. How about I bring her over to Vancouver?”

“Wait for now, Martha. I am not sure how the things will progress. Once everything is settled, I will send the tickets to you.”

“Aria….” Martha bit her lip, looking at her somewhat hesitantly. “Do you really have to do this? Can’t you just forget everything and move on?”

“If only it were so easy, Martha….” Aria’s shoulders became stiff and she swallowed. “I have tried everything I can, Martha but for the past five years those memories never stopped haunting me.” Her voice grew distant and her eyes glazed over. “Maybe, if I take revenge, if I make him suffer as much as I have, I will finally be able to find closure.”

After talking to Martha, Aria lost her appetite. So, instead of eating, she settled for a nap. She was both physically and mentally exhausted. As such, she drifted off to a dreamless sleep. By the time, she woke up, it was already midnight.

Taking out her laptop from the backpack, she connected to the power source and booted it up. Then, she downloaded a software from the dark web and started working.

Her forehead creased with deep lines as she typed line after line of code with lightning speed. Within three minutes, she had hacked into the system of the Martinez group.

Browsing through the files, she found the edited footage of her visit. Then, she installed another software on their computer and recovered the original version of the video.

She was about to leave after mailing the files to herself but then, thinking of something, she accessed the computer used by Brian Wales, their chief designer.

Her lips curved into a satisfied smile and she muttered, “I didn’t think Wales was this big of an idiot.”

She sent herself the files she had found on Brian’s computer before punching in some more codes, carefully deleting all the traces of her visit.

Initially, Aria had planned on posting the original footage on social media. But, now that she had found evidence against Brian, she changed her mind. It was better to save the trump card for the last….