The Mafia's Obstacle

The key wouldn't turn. I stood outside apartment 4B, my own apartment, juggling two coffee cups and a paper bag with his favorite blueberry muffins, and my key was acting stupid. "Come on," I muttered, shaking it. "Don't do this today." From inside, I could hear music. And laughing. A girl laughed. Jaden was supposed to be sick. He texted me this morning: "Baby, so sick, can't make brunch. Fever. Miss you._ And I, like an i***t, left my shift at the bookstore early to bring him soup and muffins. The door wasn't locked. It was just stuck, like always. You had to push it. I pushed it. And I froze. My coffee cups almost slipped from my hands. Jaden, my boyfriend of three years. My Jaden, who I had been paying half his car loan for, was on OUR couch. The second-hand gray couch that we got from f*******: Marketplace. He was not sick. He was not feverish. He was very, very busy. On top of my best friend, Maya. Maya, who was wearing MY oversized T-shirt. The one that says "BOOKS BEFORE BOYS." The irony was not lost on me. For a second, nobody moved. The music was still playing — some stupid pop song. Maya saw me first. Her eyes went wide. She scrambled. "Aria —" Jaden turned. His hair was messy. He didn't even look guilty. He looked annoyed. Annoyed that I caught him. "Aria? What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at work." I couldn't speak. My throat was tight. My hands were shaking. The hot coffee was burning my fingers through the cups. I looked at the muffins. Blueberry. His favorite. I had walked six blocks in the cold for this. "Oh," I said, my voice coming out small and weird. "I brought you muffins." That was it. That's what my brain decided to say after catching my boyfriend cheating on my couch with my best friend. Muffins. Jaden stood up, pulling his jeans up. He dared to look irritated. "Jesus, Aria, you were supposed to knock." Knock? On my own apartment? That I pay 70% rent for? Maya was now crying, clutching my T-shirt. "Aria, it's not what it looks like — we were drunk —" "On a Tuesday at 10 AM?" I heard myself say. And suddenly, something in me snapped. The funny, sad feeling was gone. Now I was just mad. "You were sick!" I yelled at Jaden, finally dropping the coffees on the floor. They splashed all over his sneakers. Good. "You said you had a fever! Is this your fever treatment?" He rolled his eyes. Actually rolled his eyes. "Don't be so dramatic, Aria. You're always so . . . boring. You're always working. You're always tired. Maya actually knows how to have fun." Boring. I stared at him. Three years. Three years of me packing his lunch, editing his resume, listening to his dreams about becoming a big financier. Boring. "You know what?" I said, my voice shaking but loud now. "You're right. I am boring. I'm bored because I'm too busy trying to build a life with a man-child who still can't afford his own car insurance." I grabbed the bag of muffins and threw it at him. It hit his chest and blueberry muffins fell everywhere. "We are done, Jaden. Get your stupid sneakers, get your cheating friend, and get the hell out of MY apartment." "Your apartment?" He laughed. "You can't even afford it without me." "Watch me." Maya ran into the bathroom. Jaden grabbed his shirt, still smirking like he was doing me a favor by leaving. "You'll call me back, Aria. You always do." I slammed the door so hard the photos on the wall shook. The second he was gone, my knees gave out. I slid down to the floor, in the spilled coffee and muffin crumbs, and I finally cried. Not pretty crying. Ugly, loud, snotty crying. I had been cheated on. In my own house. Wearing my favorite socks with little hearts on them. My phone buzzed. I thought it was him. Apologizing. It was my father. Dad: _Where is your sister? Chloe is not answering. The De Lucas are here. We have a problem._ I wiped my nose. What? Before I could reply, the phone rang. Dad. His voice was panicked, low. "Aria? Thank God. Where is Chloe?" "I don't know, Dad, I just —" "She ran. She left a note. Aria, listen to me. The De Lucas are downstairs in the living room right now. Alessandro De Luca is here. If Chloe didn't come down in ten minutes, he said he would take everything. The house, the company, everything. And he will —" His voice cracked. I stood up slowly, coffee dripping from my socks. "Wait, what? What are you talking about? What, De Lucas?" "Aria, please. You need to come home. Now. Put on a white dress. Any white dress. Just come home and pretend you are Chloe. Please. I'm begging you." My heart stopped. Chloe, my perfect step-sister, who was supposed to marry some billionaire mafia guy to pay off Dad's debt — she ran away? And now Dad wanted ME to take her place? Outside my window, New York was noisy and alive. Inside my apartment, it smelled like spilled coffee and betrayal. I looked at myself in the mirror. Messy hair, red eyes, heart socks covered in coffee. I had just lost a boyfriend. And now I was about to be sold to a monster.