Chapter 120: Chapter 119: The Breaking Point
ARIA’S POV - Wednesday, 2:47 PM
Aria was reviewing contract amendments when Jennifer’s voice came through the intercom.
"Aria? There’s a Victoria Ashford here to see you."
Her blood ran cold.
Victoria. Here. Again.
"I....I’m busy right now...."
"She says it’s urgent. Personal matter." Jennifer’s tone suggested she was uncomfortable being in the middle of whatever this was.
Aria’s hands clenched into fists. She could refuse. Could tell Jennifer to send Victoria away. Could go straight to Damien and....
No. She’d handled Victoria before. She could handle her again.
"Tell her I’ll meet her in the lobby downstairs. Five minutes."
"Will do."
Aria stood, smoothed down her skirt, and walked to the elevator with her head held high. She would not let Victoria intimidate her. Not this time.
The lobby was mostly empty at this hour....just the security desk and a few people passing through. Victoria stood near the windows, perfectly coiffed in a cream Chanel suit that probably cost more than Aria made in three months.
"Victoria." Aria kept her voice professional, cool. "What do you want?"
Victoria turned, her smile sharp as a knife. "Aria. Or should I say Sarah? Though I suppose we’re past that particular deception now."
"I have work to do. Say whatever you came to say."
"Straight to the point. How refreshingly middle-class." Victoria’s eyes raked over her. "I came to give you some advice. Woman to woman."
"I don’t need your advice."
"Oh, but you do." Victoria stepped closer, her perfume....something expensive and cloying....invading Aria’s space. "You see, I’ve just come from lunch with my grandfather. And he had the most interesting conversation with Richard Blackwood. Damien’s grandfather."
Aria’s stomach tightened, but she kept her expression neutral.
"Richard is coming home in two weeks," Victoria continued, her smile widening. "And do you know what he and my grandfather discussed? A merger. Not of companies, dear. Of families."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about."
"Don’t you? Let me spell it out for you." Victoria’s voice dripped with false sweetness. "Richard Blackwood has given his blessing for Damien and me to marry. Our grandfathers have been planning this for months. A Blackwood-Ashford alliance. The merger of two of New York’s most powerful families."
Aria’s heart pounded, but she forced herself to stay calm. "If that were true, Damien would have mentioned it."
"Would he? Are you so sure?" Victoria tilted her head. "Tell me, has he introduced you to his grandfather? Has he told Richard about you? Or are you just his dirty little secret? The help he fucks in his office when he needs a distraction?"
The words hit like physical blows, but Aria refused to flinch.
"Damien and I...."
"Damien and you nothing." Victoria’s mask of politeness cracked, showing the venom beneath. "You’re a phase. A rebellion. Something to amuse himself with while he works through whatever midlife crisis he’s having. But when Richard comes home? When the family expectations become real? He’ll choose the appropriate match. The woman from his world. Me."
"You’re wrong...."
"Am I? Let’s look at the facts, shall we?" Victoria counted on her perfectly manicured fingers. "You’re his employee. A former maid who lied her way into his life. You have no family name, no social standing, no connections that could benefit the Blackwood empire. You’re nobody, Aria. A pretty face and a convenient body, but ultimately? Replaceable."
"That’s not true."
"Isn’t it?" Victoria leaned in, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "Do you really think Richard Blackwood will approve of you? A woman who infiltrated his grandson’s home under false pretenses? Who stole from him? Who betrayed his trust in the worst possible way?"
Aria’s breath caught. How did Victoria know about the theft?
"Oh yes, I know all about it," Victoria said, reading her expression. "I have my sources. The fake identity. The dying mother. The stolen plant. All of it." Her smile was cruel. "And I’m prepared to make sure Richard knows everything. Every sordid detail of your deception."
"Damien already told him...."
"Did he? Did he tell Richard that he’s fucking the woman who betrayed him? That he’s so twisted up over you he can’t think straight? That he’s jeopardizing his reputation, his company, his family’s legacy....all for a woman who doesn’t even belong in his world?"
Each word was designed to wound, and they hit their marks with devastating precision.
"You don’t belong here, Aria." Victoria’s voice turned almost pitying. "You must see that. You’re out of your depth. This world....our world....it will eat you alive. The society events, the business dinners, the constant scrutiny. You’ll never be good enough. Never be one of us."
"I don’t want to be one of you...."
"Then what are you doing here? Playing dress-up? Pretending you can fill a role you were never meant for?" Victoria’s eyes hardened. "Do yourself a favor. Walk away now. Find someone from your own class, your own level. Date a doctor from the hospital where you used to work. Marry someone who won’t expect you to navigate a world you don’t understand."
"I love him," Aria said, the words bursting out before she could stop them. "I love Damien. And I’m not walking away."
Victoria laughed....a cold, brittle sound. "Love. How quaint. You think love matters in this world? Love is for romance novels and romantic comedies. This is real life, sweetheart. And in real life, people like you don’t end up with people like Damien Blackwood."
"You’re wrong."
"Am I? Then prove it. Stay. Try to fight for him. Watch as Richard comes home and systematically dismantles every hope you have. Watch as Damien realizes what everyone else already knows....that you’re a liability he can’t afford." Victoria’s smile was vicious. "Or save yourself the humiliation and leave now. It’s your choice."
She turned on her Louboutin heels and walked toward the exit, pausing at the door to deliver her final blow.
"Two weeks, Aria. That’s all the time you have left. Enjoy it while it lasts."
Then she was gone, leaving Aria standing alone in the lobby, her hands shaking, her breath coming in short gasps.
You don’t belong in this world.
Nobody.
Replaceable.
Out of your depth.
The words echoed in her mind, each one a poisoned dart finding its mark.
Because wasn’t Victoria right? Wasn’t she out of her depth? She was a former maid, a woman who’d lied and stolen and betrayed the man she loved. What business did she have thinking she could survive in Damien’s world?
Her phone buzzed. A text from Damien.
Where are you? Need those contracts reviewed.
She stared at the message, her vision blurring with unshed tears.
She couldn’t go back up there. Couldn’t face him right now. Couldn’t pretend everything was fine when Victoria’s words were ripping her apart from the inside.
She typed back with shaking fingers.
I need a few minutes. Be right there.
Then she fled....not to the elevator, but to the stairwell, climbing up and up until she reached the roof access.
The door was supposed to be locked, but Aria had learned months ago that the magnetic lock didn’t fully engage if you pulled it just right. She slipped through and emerged onto the rooftop, the cold January wind hitting her like a physical force.
Fifty-three stories up. The city sprawled below her, indifferent to her pain. The Hudson River glinted in the afternoon sun. Tiny cars moved through the streets like ants.
Aria walked to the edge....not too close, but close enough to feel the height....and let the tears finally fall.
Victoria was right about one thing: she was out of her depth. She didn’t belong in this world of board meetings and society dinners and family alliances. She was a girl from a middle-class background who’d gone to medical school on scholarships, whose mother cleaned houses to make ends meet before getting sick.
What was she doing thinking she could fit into Damien’s life? Into a world where grandfathers arranged marriages and family legacy mattered more than love?
But I love him, she thought fiercely. That has to count for something.
Did it, though? Damien hadn’t told his grandfather the full truth about her. Hadn’t defended her to Victoria. Was still punishing her with this endless cycle of claiming and control instead of actually forgiving her.
Maybe Victoria was right. Maybe she should walk away. Find someone from her own world. Someone who wouldn’t make her constantly prove herself. Someone who could actually trust her.
Except....
Except she didn’t want someone else. Didn’t want easy or simple or uncomplicated.
She wanted Damien. Wanted his darkness and his control and his twisted need for dominance. Wanted the way he looked at her like she was oxygen. Wanted the man behind the walls, the one who was terrified of being hurt again but was trying anyway.
I’m trying, he’d told her. This isn’t just punishment.
Was he, though? Or was Victoria right....was Aria just a phase? A rebellion? Something he’d discard when family expectations became real?
The wind whipped her hair around her face, and Aria closed her eyes, letting it all wash over her. The fear. The doubt. The crushing weight of Victoria’s words.
And then....
Something shifted inside her.
A spark. A flame. A core of steel she’d forgotten she had.
She’d infiltrated Damien Blackwood’s fortress-like mansion. Had stolen a priceless plant from under his nose. Had survived losing him, had endured a month of cold distance, had submitted to his control and punishment and still come back for more.
She was Aria Chen. Brilliant hacker. Underground artist. Medical prodigy. A woman who’d done the impossible to save her mother’s life.
And she was not going to let Victoria fucking Ashford make her feel small.
You don’t belong in this world, Victoria had said.
Maybe she didn’t. But she’d make her own place in it anyway. Would fight for it. Earn it. Prove that love did matter, that she was strong enough for this life, that she belonged at Damien’s side.
And if Damien couldn’t see that....if he was still so twisted up in trust issues that he couldn’t recognize what they had....
Then she’d make him see it.
No more passive acceptance. No more just taking whatever punishment he decided to dish out. No more waiting for him to decide when he was ready to trust her.
It was time to fight back.
Aria opened her eyes, and the world looked different. Sharper. Clearer.
She wasn’t going to let Damien keep her in limbo forever. Wasn’t going to accept this half-relationship where he claimed her body but kept his heart locked away.
It was time for an ultimatum.
He either trusted her or he didn’t. Either forgave her or he didn’t. Either wanted a future with her or he didn’t.
But this middle ground....this torture....it ended today.
She stood up, wiped her tears, made sure she doesn’t look like she had just cried.
Then she headed for the stairwell, her heels clicking against the concrete with new purpose.
Victoria thought she was nobody? Replaceable? Out of her depth?
She was about to show everyone exactly who Aria Chen was.
And if Damien Blackwood couldn’t handle it....
Then he didn’t deserve her.
