Chapter 59
(Aria’s POV)
“We’re enemies because my mother killed his Father.” I said, cleaning a tear.
I hadn’t planned to cry or break down in front of Lily but I couldn’t help it. The pain pressed so hard against my chest.
I took a deep breath and stared at the stars “It all started when I was ten years old…”
I could still see it- the white hospital walls, the people flocking in, my little legs swinging from a plastic chair. My mother had taken me to work that day. She was a nurse and since my school was on holiday, there was no one else to watch me and so she brought me along.
My mom looked so serious in her uniform, her eyes scanning every chart, her fingers moving quickly as she helped the other staff. I was used to seeing her like that. My dad wasn’t in the picture.. So, it was always just me and her. I thought she was strong… fearless.
But everything changed the day the man came. He was wheeled through the hospital doors on a stretcher. He was in so much pain, and I could feel it just by looking at him………
A woman with blonde hair clutched his hand. Behind her, a boy about my age trailed closely, his eyes wide and worried.
When the woman locked eyes with my mother. There was a flicker of recognition.
His mother told the boy to wait. I was sitting in the corner with my drawing book when he came over and I asked him if he wanted to color with me. He said yes.
We became friends, just like that.“,
I never got his name then, but I liked being around him. His smile was soft, a little sad and I understood that it was possibly because of his father.
However, his father kept coming back to the hospital. One day, I heard the grown–ups whisper things like,
“The silver and wolfsbane dosed in his body during the war was too much… He had always been sick, and now, he isn’t healing.”
The boy’s mother always came with him, and once I overheard her begging my mother in a hushed voice.
“Please, I know you can help him. I know you’re a healer and worked with King Pison’s men… but please help my husband, you’re our only hope in this place,”
My mother just nodded, and promised to do what she could.
But that was when things began to change. The strange packages Mom received at the front desk, the way her hands shook when she opened them. I didn’t understand any of it, but I knew my mother was scared.
One day, while sitting beside my new friend, he told me, “Today’s my dad’s surgery. Mama said he’ll be okay.”
He smiled like he believed it.
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Chapter 59
But not long after, the operating room door slammed open. My mother burst out. Her face pale, her hands stained.
She grabbed me by the arm and ran.
I remember looking back. The boy sat there, stunned, unmoving. His eyes locked on me, confused.
I didn’t know what happened, but after that day, my mother wasn’t the same. Not only did we move to a new neighborhood, she became reserved and quiet. Like she was drowning, but never reached for air. I’d find her sitting in the dark, staring at nothing. And no matter how much I begged her to talk to me, she wouldn’t.
Three years later, I came home from school and found her lying in the living room. An empty bottle was on the table.
She was cold. Gone.
There was a letter beside her, and a diary.
EXOTY
Tears blurred my vision as I opened the letter first. It was for me.
“I’m sorry, Aria. I can’t keep pretending. I’m not strong enough.
I thought I could carry the guilt, but it’s eating me alive. I failed you. Maybe… maybe if I leave, your life will be safe.
Forgive me.
Love, Mom.”
I didn’t even know how to scream. I just… sat there holding her hand, whispering her name over and over like it would bring her back.
When I opened the diary. I saw her scrambled, frantic handwriting.
Date: 18th Elantrius
“He came today.
8
The boy. He’s older now, and looks like his father. But his eyes… His eyes were full of hate.
He couldn’t kill me even though he wanted to. His words ‘You’re the monster who killed my father‘ tore me apart.”
I flipped more pages.
“The Inner Circle reached out to me. I thought they were gone after the war. I was wrong… they still had intentions to rule, and infiltrate the palace.”
Another page:
“They gave me a choice.
Kill him… or they’d kill Aria. My sweet, innocent Aria.
I didn’t have time to think. I did what they asked. I let him die on that table.”
I dropped the diary.
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Chapter 59
I couldn’t breathe.
My mother, whom I loved and admired, had taken a life. Not out of cruelty, but for me.
To protect me.
And that boy? That boy whose father never came out of that hospital was Lucien.
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