He was rewriting my entire existence.
Later, the door opened again.
I quickly shut my eyes, pretending to sleep.
Matteo walked in.
He stopped beside the bed, hands in his pockets, looking at me like I was something he owned.
“So still,” he murmured. “Almost peaceful. I might like you better like this.”
I watched him through the reflection on the tray beside me.
He smiled faintly.
“Don’t worry,” he added, brushing a strand of hair away from my face. “I’ll visit. You’ll get to watch everything from here. Me, Bianca… even Mason. Maybe I’ll bring him sometimes. So you don’t forget what a real family looks like.”
He chuckled softly before turning away.
The door closed behind him.
And I broke.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Just silent, suffocating sobs that tore through my chest while my body refused to move. I wanted to scream, to get up, to destroy something—anything.
But I couldn’t even stand.
My body had become a prison I couldn’t escape.
The next day, she came.
Bianca.
She looked almost angelic—white outfit, soft smile, flowers in her hands. Like she had stepped out of a perfect life that didn’t include betrayal.
“Oh, Aria,” she said gently, setting the flowers down. “You poor thing.”
She leaned closer, her perfume overwhelming, suffocating. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of Matteo now while you recover… for however long that takes.”
Then she tilted her head, smiling faintly.
“Maybe this is for the best. You were never really enough for him anyway.”
My throat tightened, but no words came out.
She left just as easily as she came, humming softly like she hadn’t shattered what was left of me.
That night, the lights dimmed, and I thought it was finally over.
Maybe this was what the end felt like.
Quiet. Empty. Forgotten.
Then—
A click.
The door opened again.
“You’re safe now,” a voice whispered.
Vincent.
He was already beside me in seconds, eyes sharp with urgency. “I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner. We’re leaving. Now.”
He lifted me carefully into his arms.
The hospital vanished behind us as we slipped out through a back exit. A black car waited outside, engine already running. He placed me inside, then drove without hesitation, city lights smearing into long, blurred streaks outside the window.
Later, a small plane waited on a hidden runway, engines humming softly.