Chapter 318: Ugly truth
(This Chapter will start with Aria but end with Kael’s POV... Explanation will be at the end.)
Aria’s POV
He didn’t move. He just stood there, drenched in the same water crashing down on me, fear etched into his face so vividly I almost wanted to ask him what he was seeing. Was I really that ruined in his eyes?
I dropped my gaze and finally noticed the clinging weight of my clothes. My blouse plastered to my chest, sleeves dripping. My skin cold and heavy, so heavy it felt like my bones couldn’t hold me up much longer. Yet somehow, I was still on my feet.
My fingers fumbled weakly at the first button of my blouse. I just needed the weight off. The fabric, the water, the ache in my chest, it was too much. But before I could get past the first button, Kael was already there.
Towering. Close enough that his presence filled every inch of the tiled room. His hand closed gently over mine, firm but careful, and he took the button from my fingers like I wasn’t even capable of it.
Then... he did it himself.
He stood there under the water with me, his dark hair soaking through, droplets streaming down his sharp cheekbones, jaw set in that way he wore when he was holding himself together by threads. His eyes stayed on the buttons, fingers working them loose one by one. And I just stared at his face. The wet lashes framing his eyes. The faint purple shadows beneath them. He looked exhausted. Terrified.
My chest tightened with an urge I didn’t understand, to reach up and touch him, to hold his face like maybe that would anchor me to something that wasn’t breaking.
But then he slid the blouse from my shoulders, and the question slipped out of me before I could stop it, low and bitter.
"Won’t she be angry."
The words slipped from me like a ghost, barely louder than the hiss of the water. But I felt his body jolt, his hands froze against me.
And my stomach dropped.
That flicker across his face... for the smallest, sharpest second, I thought, it’s true. What I saw that night was real. His fear confirmed it.
But then, just as quickly, his expression shuttered back into that impenetrable mask. Stone cold, unreadable Kael. "What are you talking about?"
I scoffed under my breath, brittle and tired. "You don’t have to pretend."
His jaw twitched. The flicker was back, then gone again as he stepped closer. "What do you mean?"
I peeled the drenched blouse from my shoulders myself, water slapping against the tiles, and turned away from him trying not to shiver from the cold. My voice wavered, but I forced the words out anyway. "I saw you, Kael. Kissing that young girl. That night."
Silence. Then his voice again, low, too calm. "What do you mean?"
"The bar," I said, finally looking back at him. "I saw you. Her. You were holding her face..."
He exhaled, sharp. A muscle jumped in his jaw as he moved closer, eyes locked on mine. "It’s not what you think. Not in the slightest. Her name is Erin. She was never... never... like that to me."
I searched his face, the grave seriousness in his eyes, and still... my chest burned with disbelief. "You looked cozy together. Don’t tell me you weren’t."
"She was drunk," he cut in, voice rising for the first time. "A mistake. On her side."
My lips curled in a bitter smile. "But you didn’t pull away. You held her like she mattered. If anyone walked in, they’d think you were lovers of something....."
"Aria—" His voice cracked on my name.
"Don’t worry about me," I interrupted, turning away again. "Have your lover. I don’t care."
But his hand shot out, closing around my wrist. His grip trembled with restrained desperation as he dragged me back to face him. His eyes were burning now, raw, demanding.
"Then what about you? Don’t act innocent yourself." His words came like a snarl. "That same night, you kissed Sylas didn’t you?"
KAEL :
Her face changed In an instant, shock bleeding into her exhausted features, as though I’d ripped a secret straight out of her chest. Her lips trembled around a whisper I almost missed.
"How... did you know?"
I froze. The question cut through me sharper than anything. She hadn’t expected me to know. Which meant... she never planned on telling me. My chest tightened, and frustration rose in me like a storm, choking out the thin line of patience I’d been clinging to.
I didn’t even know if Sarah had a hand in this also. Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t. None of it mattered. What mattered was that now, at last, the ugly truth sat between us in the open.
I forced my voice out, low, rough.
"I know I’m selfish. I know I’m cruel, a heartless bastard, not some golden boy like Sylas. And if that’s who you want... then say the word, Aria. If you want me gone, if you want to never see my face again... say it. I’ll walk away."
The words nearly strangled me, because I knew if she ever said them, it would be the end of me. But I had to give her that choice.
My throat worked, and I pressed on, heat flooding my chest.
"But don’t..." my voice cracked, rough with anger and grief... "don’t stand there and speak like you weren’t the one who looked the other way first. It was supposed to be just us. Just us. I’ve been clinging to you greedily, I know that, but even then... you could’ve let me down softer. Not like that. Not with him."
Her breath hitched, and then she snapped back, her voice trembling but sharp, breaking me in half.
"You were the one who kissed someone else first!"
Her tears came fast, cutting down her cheeks, words spilling like a confession she couldn’t stop.
"The way you looked at her... Kael, I’d never seen you look at anyone like that. I thought... I thought you’d found someone else, and I didn’t know what to do!"
Her chest heaved, sobs wracking her until her breathing fractured, shallow and uneven. Hyperventilating.
My stomach dropped.
"Aria—"
Her knees buckled beneath her before I could get another word out, and I lunged, catching her just as her body started to fold. She was shivering violently, the weight of her frame so light it terrified me.
"Fuck," I rasped, turning toward the shower controls with one arm still holding her tight. The water had been pouring on her this whole time, cold, relentless. I twisted the knob hard, killing the spray.
Her body clung to mine, trembling, her voice breaking as she tried to push the words out through sobs.
"I hated it...I hate it... I regret everything... that night, the kiss, the alcohol.. Kael, I wished you never left when I told you to. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry."
Her apologies stabbed at me, each word worse than a knife. I shook my head, trying to keep my voice steady as I pulled her closer.
"No. Don’t—don’t say it like that. I should be the one... Aria—"
But before I could finish, I felt it.
Her body slackened against me.
Her head dropped against my chest, eyes slipping shut, her small frame going completely limp in my arms.
"Aria."
My voice cracked open with panic.
I shook her gently, then harder, my chest constricting so tightly I could barely breathe.
"Aria, look at me. Open your eyes. Don’t you do this to me..."
But she didn’t stir.
"Aria!"
Her name tore out of me, raw, desperate, as fear unlike anything I’d ever known swallowed me whole.