Our Entwined-Fate

Aria's POV

I didn't plan to come back home earlier, cause I wanted to branch over at my dad house, I miss that man so much.

Being the only child, I get to be babied a lot.

The grocery bag cut into my fingers as I pushed the door open with my shoulder, already rehearsing the lecture I'd give Jasmin about eating the last of my cereal again. The apartment smelled awful when I walked in, Just... unfamiliar.

'Did Jasmin bring another guy in?' Only one way to find out.

laugh filled the hallway, im starting to get pissed at jasmin already.

My feet stopped moving before my brain could process what it just witnessed.The bag slipped from my hand, oranges rolling across the floor like they were fleeing the scene before I could witness the crime.

Then I heard my name, 'do you think she would be back by now? She went to her dad's place silly'. my boyfriend said followed by another laughter.

My heart didn't break. It paused. Completely. As if it wanted proof before it shattered.

I walked, each step felt heavy as if it's expecting the worst.

The bedroom door was half open.

That's where I saw them.

Jasmin my best friend since university was on my bed. My bed. Her legs were wrapped around Ethan's waist like she had every right to be there. Her nails were digging into his back, her head thrown back in a way I recognized far too well.

Ethan.

My boyfriend of three years was just there fondling her as he say shitty words about me.The man who used to kiss my forehead before work is so relaxed with another woman on his lap.

The man who once told me he couldn't sleep without my breathing beside him.

He was inside her.

I turned to walk away with a heavy heart, but somehow they noticed me.

Jasmin screamed first. Ethan turned, panic scrambling his face as if I was the intruder.

"Aria...wait"

I didn't, i ran down the stairs, barefoot i just don't want to be here.

The cold slapped my face, but it didn't hurt as much as the pressure building in my chest. My lungs burned, my vision blurred, and still I kept going until the city swallowed me whole.

I didn't stop until my legs go weak.

That was when I heard him.

"Aria!"

I turned just as Ethan grabbed my arm.

"Let go," I said, my voice shaking.

"Baby, listen to me." His grip tightened. "This isn't what it looks like."

I laughed. A sharp, broken sound. "You were naked inside my best friend in my bed. What else is there to see?"

"You've been distant," he snapped, frustration replacing guilt far too easily. "You're always tired. Always working. You never have time for me anymore."

I was shocked, 'so I'm to be blamed?'

"So you cheated?" I whispered.

"I made a mistake," he said quickly. "And if you hadn't pushed me away"

I ripped my arm free.

"Don't you dare," I said, tears spilling freely now. "Don't you dare turn this into my fault."

He scoffed. "You're overreacting."

That word ended it.

'Overreacting?' I slapped him hard in the face. He stood there shocked.

I stepped back, my chest heaving. "You don't get to touch me. You don't get to explain. And you definitely don't get to gaslight me into staying."

I turned and walked away before he could say another word.

I didn't know where I was going.

I just knew I couldn't stay sober.

The hotel loomed like it was going to dry up my pain.

Tall. Gold-lit.

I stumbled into the bar like a ghost, my eyes scanning for the strongest thing they had. The bartender raised an eyebrow but said nothing when I ordered a double. Then another. And another.

That's when I felt it. Someone has been staring at me, I might be drunk but my mind is still with me. I looked up.

He was sitting at the far end of the bar, dressed in black like the shadows had tailored the suit themselves. Broad shoulders. Calm posture. The kind of man who didn't need to look around to know the room already belonged to him.

His eyes met mine.

Dark. Assessing. Amused.

My stomach twisted.

I took another sip, heat flooding my veins, courage rising recklessly. "Has anyone ever told you," I slurred slightly, "that you look like the kind of man women regret loving?"

One corner of his mouth lifted.

"Only the smart ones," he replied.

His voice was low. Controlled. Dangerous in a quiet way.

I laughed, turning fully toward him now. "You're handsome. Like... unfairly handsome."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It is." I squinted at him. "You own this place, don't you?"

His eyebrow lifted. "What makes you think that?"

"The way everyone avoids you," I said bluntly. "And the way you're watching me like you already know how this ends."

Something unreadable flickered across his face.

"I'm Luca kings," he said.

"Aria." I raised my glass. "Recently unemployed girlfriend."

"Recently?"

' yea, about an hour ago."

He studied me for a long moment, then signaled the bartender. "Put it on my tab."

I blinked. "Thank you, but I didn't ask"

"You didn't have to."

The alcohol hit harder then. My body swayed, and I felt stupidly aware of how close he was now, how warm. Safe in a way that terrified me.

"You're trouble," I murmured.

"Yes," he agreed calmly. "And you're drunk."

"I can still make decisions."

"Can you?"

I looked at him. Really close enough.

"I want to forget," I said softly.

His gaze darkened, "Be careful what you ask for, Aria.''

The room tilted.

The last thing I remember was his hand hovering near my back, ready to catch me if I fell. Such a gentle man I thought, my love life hasn't been to smooth for me, I guess I love too much.

''I want to speak with my daddy,'' I said drunkly.

And the way his voice cut through the noise as he spoke to someone behind me.

"Take her upstairs," he said. "Carefully."

You will call him tomorrow when you are in your right senses.

That was the last thing I heard before everything went black.