DEAR ARIA
1262 Words
Chapter 6 — Dear Aria
Aria stared at the envelope in her hands.
Her name was written across the front in elegant handwriting.
Dear Aria,
Three words.
Yet somehow, they made her heart beat faster.
She looked at her aunt.
“Aunt Marissa… why did she write to me?”
Marissa lowered her eyes.
“Because she knew you would eventually meet Elias.”
Aria froze.
“What?”
Before Marissa could answer, there was a knock at the door.
Three slow knocks.
Aria immediately looked toward the window.
The same black car from before was parked across the street.
Her aunt’s expression changed.
“Hide the letter.”
Aria quickly placed the envelope inside her bag.
Another knock came.
This time, louder.
Marissa stepped toward the door, but Aria stopped her.
“Auntie, who is that?”
“I don't know.”
Aria reached for her phone and quietly messaged Elias.
Someone is outside my aunt's house.
The reply came almost immediately.
Lock the doors. Don't open them. I'm coming.
Minutes later, Elias's car stopped in front of the house.
He stepped out with two security personnel.
The black car across the street drove away.
Elias looked toward it before entering the house.
“Are you okay?”
Aria nodded.
“My aunt is okay too.”
Elias looked at Marissa.
“What happened?”
Marissa hesitated.
Then she looked at Aria.
“I think it's time.”
She pointed toward Aria's bag.
“The letter.”
Aria pulled it out.
Elias stared at the handwriting.
His face went pale.
“That’s my mother's handwriting.”
Aria slowly opened the envelope.
Inside was a single folded sheet of paper.
She began reading.
«Dear Aria,
If you are reading this, then something happened that I feared would happen.
You may not understand why I am writing to you. You may not even know who I am. But I need you to know one thing: your family was never a stranger to mine.
Your aunt helped me when I discovered something inside Valencia Corporation that could have destroyed the people responsible.
I trusted very few people. Marissa was one of them.
If Elias ever meets you, don't let him face this alone.
There is a file hidden somewhere only Marissa knows about. It contains the truth about what happened to me.
But be careful.
The person who took everything from me is someone Elias trusts.
Don't trust appearances.
— Elena Valencia»
Silence filled the room.
Elias read the letter again.
His hands tightened around the paper.
“My mother knew about this.”
Marissa nodded.
“She discovered financial records that didn't match the company's reports. Money was being moved through accounts that shouldn't have existed.”
“Who was doing it?” Elias asked.
“I never found out.”
“But she did.”
Marissa looked at him sadly.
“She was getting close.”
Elias turned away.
For the first time, Aria saw something beyond his usual confidence.
Fear.
Not fear for himself.
Fear that the truth about his mother might finally be within reach—and that someone might try to take it away again.
“Where's the file?” he asked.
Marissa shook her head.
“I promised your mother I would only tell you when the time was right.”
Elias looked at Aria.
“And now?”
Marissa sighed.
“Now they know Aria has the letter.”
Elias immediately stepped closer to Aria.
“We're leaving.”
Aria frowned.
“Where?”
“Somewhere safe.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Aria held the letter against her chest.
“I’m tired of being told to stay away because it’s dangerous.”
“Aria—”
“I want the truth.”
Her voice was steady.
“I don't want another contract rule telling me what I can and can't do. I don't want you protecting me by keeping me in the dark.”
Elias stared at her.
“You don't understand what you're getting involved in.”
“Then explain it to me.”
He had no answer.
Aria stepped closer.
“You told me you didn't want to control my life. So don't start now.”
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Elias quietly nodded.
“Okay.”
Aria blinked.
“Okay?”
“No more secrets.”
He looked directly at her.
“If we're going to find the truth, we do it together.”
Her heart skipped.
Not because of the contract.
Not because she was pretending to be his girlfriend.
Because, for the first time, Elias wasn't looking at her like someone he needed to protect.
He was looking at her like a partner.
Marissa stood up.
“There is one more thing.”
Both of them turned.
“My sister left something else.”
“What?” Elias asked.
Marissa walked toward an old wooden cabinet.
She removed a small key from beneath a drawer.
“This belonged to Elena.”
Elias stared at it.
“What does it open?”
Marissa handed the key to Aria.
“I don't know.”
Aria looked at the tiny silver key in her palm.
There was a number engraved on it.
17.
Elias frowned.
“Seventeen?”
Marissa nodded.
“Your mother told me never to open whatever it belonged to unless you and Aria were together.”
Elias looked at Aria.
“That doesn't make sense.”
“Maybe it will,” Marissa replied.
The next morning, Elias brought Aria to an old Valencia Corporation storage building.
It had been closed for years.
Dust covered the shelves.
Old documents were stacked inside boxes.
Elias held the key.
They searched until they found a metal cabinet with a tiny lock.
A number was engraved beside it.
17.
Aria's breath caught.
Elias inserted the key.
Click.
The cabinet opened.
Inside was a single black folder.
Elias slowly pulled it out.
On the cover were four words.
VALENCIA CORPORATION — CONFIDENTIAL
Aria looked at him.
“Are you ready?”
Elias didn't answer immediately.
Then he opened the folder.
Inside were financial records, photographs, and several documents.
At the bottom was a photograph of Elena.
Beside her stood three people.
Elias recognized his father.
He recognized Victoria's father.
And the third person—
Elias stopped breathing.
Aria noticed immediately.
“Elias?”
His eyes remained fixed on the photograph.
“I know him.”
“Who is he?”
Elias slowly turned the photograph toward her.
The man was standing beside his mother, smiling.
Someone Elias had trusted for years.
Someone who had access to almost everything inside Valencia Corporation.
Someone who had always claimed to be loyal to his family.
Elias whispered,
“He's my father's most trusted adviser.”
Before either of them could say anything else, Elias's phone rang.
The screen showed an unknown number.
He answered.
A distorted voice spoke.
“You found the file.”
Elias's expression hardened.
“Who are you?”
A pause.
Then—
“Ask your mother why she wrote Aria's name before she disappeared.”
The call ended.
Aria looked at Elias.
“What did they mean?”
Elias stared at the folder.
He had spent years believing his mother's disappearance was a family tragedy.
Now he was beginning to realize—
It might have been a carefully planned secret.
And somehow, Aria had been part of that secret long before they ever met.
The contract had started as a lie.
But the truth was becoming impossible to ignore.
Someone had planned their meeting.
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