Chapter 177
Aria’s POV
I spotted his headlights in my rearview mirror. Of course he was following me. Of course he couldn’t just let it go.
Fine. Let him chase.
I took the next turn sharply, then another, weaving through the downtown streets with the kind of reckless speed that would have horrified my younger self.
The Aria from two months ago would have pulled over, would have tried to de-escalate, would have worried about causing a scene.
That Aria was dead.
After four quick turns and one technically illegal shortcut through a hotel parking lot, I finally lost him. I watched his headlights disappear in the opposite direction and allowed myself one small, vicious smile.
Then I headed for Meridian Tower.
The gate guard recognized my car and waved me through without question.
I followed the winding drive past manicured lawns and expensive landscaping, the warm glow of pathway lights casting everything in soft gold.
This was supposed to be my sanctuary. My fresh start. The place where I could finally breathe without the weight of Ethan’s lies crushing my chest.
I pulled into my garage and killed the engine, letting the silence wash over me. My hands were still trembling slightly from the adrenaline, my heart still racing.
I was reaching for my purse when I heard it—footsteps echoing in the garage.
Fast. Getting closer.
Before I could react, hands grabbed my shoulders and slammed me back against the car door. The impact drove the air from my lungs.
“So you had it all planned out, didn’t you?” Ethan’s face was inches from mine, his eyes bloodshot and wild.
“Was I just too good to you these past two years? Did I bore you? Is that why you got bored and went looking for someone else p>
His fingers dug into my shoulders hard enough to bruise. In the dim garage lighting, he looked half-crazed, all pretense of civility completely stripped away.
“Tell me!” His voice cracked. “Who is he? Why would you throw yourself at someone else so quickly? How can you do this to me—to everything I’ve given you, to my family? Aria, do you even have a heart p>
Then, just as quickly as the rage had come, I watched it morph into something else. His expression crumpled, voice dropping to something almost pleading.
“I don’t understand. Help me understand. What did I do wrong p>
There it was—the manipulation I knew so well. The switch from anger to victimhood, designed to make me feel guilty, to make me comfort him, to make me forget that *he* was the one who’d wronged *me p>
It had worked for two years. Kept me trapped in a maze of self-doubt and gaslighting, always wondering if I was the problem, if I was being unreasonable, if I should just try harder to make him happy.
But I’d seen behind the curtain now. I knew the truth about Clara, about Marcus, about the fake marriage certificate and the real mate bond he’d hidden from me.
So this time, when he looked at me with those wounded puppy eyes, all I felt was cold, pure disgust.
I stopped struggling. Just looked up at him with all the ice I could muster, letting him see exactly how empty my eyes were when I looked at him now.
“Ethan,” I said quietly, “stop acting like you’re the victim here. Don’t you find it nauseating p>
“What are you talking about?” His grip loosened slightly, confusion flickering across his face.
Good. Let him be confused. Let him feel even a fraction of what I’d felt.
“Do you really need me to spell it out for you? Or would you prefer to keep living in your little fantasy world where you’re the devoted husband and I’m the ungrateful wife p>
“Aria, what p>
“You want to know what you did?” I cut him off, my voice sharp as broken glass. “Fine. Let’s go through the list. You pursued me under false pretenses from day one.
You used me as a human shield for two years to hide your real relationship with Clara. You had me raise another woman’s child while lying to my face about every single aspect of our ’marriage.’ Should I go on p>
His face drained of color.
“Oh, and thank you, by the way,” I continued, each word precisely calibrated to cut. “Thank you for the elaborate performance. Thank you for spinning your web of lies so convincingly.
Thank you for making me believe I was going insane when I was actually just seeing the truth you were desperately trying to hide. Really, Ethan—your dedication was truly impressive p>
Each word I spoke hit him like a thunderclap, one more devastating than the last.
Ethan’s hands suddenly went slack, releasing me. His entire body seemed to freeze, shock rippling across his features.
I straightened, pulling away from the car.
Sure, I was shorter than him—I always had been—but right now, standing here in this dim garage with the truth finally out in the open, I felt ten feet tall.
“I…Aria.” The endearment died on his lips as he stumbled backward, his shoulder blade connecting hard with a support beam. “What are you talking about? Clara and I could never p>
Cold sweat had broken out across his forehead, but he was still trying to deny it. Still trying to gaslight me even now.
I’d had enough of playing games.
“Our marriage certificate was fake, Ethan.” My voice came out flat, clinical. “You and Clara are the real married couple. The legal one p>