The sound of crystal shattering on marble echoed across the penthouse.
Aria stood frozen, her hand still hovering mid-air, her breath caught in her throat. The wine glass had slipped—she hadn't even realized she'd picked it up. Damon didn't flinch.
"You think this is just about revenge?" Her voice cracked as she spun to face him. "He's trying to destroy everything—your company, your name, me."
Damon's gaze was calm, almost too calm. "And I'll handle it."
"You can't keep handling it alone," she whispered. "He's coming for us, Damon. Not just you."
Silence stretched between them, heavy and painful. Damon finally moved, crossing the space and stopping in front of her.
"You want to fight him with me?"
She lifted her chin. "I want to fight for us."
And just like that, something shifted.
---
The next morning brought more than sunrise—it brought strategy.
Damon handed her a tablet. "We're going public. I've arranged a live interview. They'll ask questions—some cruel—but I want them to see you. The real you."
Aria blinked. "You trust me to do that?"
"I trust you with everything."
Her fingers curled tighter around the tablet.
---
The interview room was sleek, icy, intimidating. The host was known for being ruthless. Damon sat beside Aria, his hand a steady warmth on her thigh beneath the table.
The questions came fast.
"Is it true your marriage started as a contract?"
Aria inhaled. "Yes."
Gasps. A pause.
"And you expect people to believe it's love now?"
Aria turned, locking eyes with Damon. Then back to the host. "I don't expect people to believe anything. But I know what I feel. Damon didn't buy my heart. He earned it."
The camera zoomed in. Viewers worldwide leaned closer.
"And the recent leaks from your ex?"
Her eyes flashed. "My past doesn't define my future. Ethan can spin whatever story he wants. But he's not in this marriage. I am."
For a second, even the host was speechless.
---
The clip went viral.
Comments exploded online:
> "That's how you defend your love!"
"CEO Knight picked a queen."
"Contract or not—this is real."
The publicity gave Damon's business a temporary boost. Investors stopped pulling out. But peace never lasted long.
That night, Aria received an anonymous message:
"Your truth is cute. But we both know it's built on lies. I wonder how Damon will react when he finds out what you're hiding."
She reread it three times.
What did Ethan know?
She wasn't hiding anything… was she?
---
Back at the penthouse, Damon reviewed security footage, his jaw clenched. "Ethan's getting bolder. He was outside your salon two nights ago. We didn't catch it until now."
Aria's stomach dropped. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
"I didn't want to scare you."
"I'm already scared, Damon. Keeping secrets makes it worse."
His shoulders stiffened. "I'm trying to protect you."
Her voice rose. "Then trust me enough to include me!"
The silence was different this time—wounded.
Finally, Damon stood. "Fine. No more secrets. But that goes both ways."
She nodded slowly.
Then froze.
Because she remembered something. A lie she had told. A name she'd never spoken to him.
---
The next morning, she sat across from him, fingers trembling.
"There's something I never told you," she began. "Before Ethan… there was someone else. Someone dangerous."
Damon's jaw ticked. "Go on."
She swallowed. "I think he's back."
He stared at her for a long, long moment.
And then: "Then we find him first."
---
But they weren't prepared for the name that would come next.
Not Ethan. Not an ex.
A man tied to Damon's past too.
---
Later that day, Damon's private investigator returned with a file—he dropped it on Damon's desk.
"New lead. Surveillance picked this up near your downtown property."
Damon flipped open the file. His fingers froze.
A photo.
Of a man he thought had died five years ago.
"Victor Vale."
Aria looked up from the couch. "You know him?"
Damon nodded slowly, each word heavy. "He was my mentor. Until he
tried to kill me."
---
And now… he was back. Watching. Planning.
And he wasn't after Damon. Not this time.
He was after her.
💨💨Episode 8: A Storm We Didn't See Coming💨💨
The name rang in Aria's head like a warning bell.
Victor Vale.
Damon's mentor. A man who once built empires. A man who betrayed them all.
A man who was supposed to be dead.
"He's not just watching," Damon muttered, scanning the surveillance footage again. "He's planning something. He always does."
Aria stood behind him, arms crossed tightly over her chest. "Why me? Why now?"
"Because he knows," Damon said. "He always goes for what matters most."
Aria's heart thudded.
---
Later that evening, Damon made a call. His voice was clipped, direct.
"Put every security measure in place. Full lockdown on the penthouse and all secondary properties. Have Luca fly in from Italy—I want our best on this."
Then he turned to Aria.
"We're leaving tonight."
She blinked. "What?"
"I'm not taking chances. I've lost too much already. I'm not losing you."
Her throat tightened. She wanted to fight it. She didn't want to be hidden away like a fragile treasure.
But she also didn't want to die.
---
The private jet lifted off just before midnight, slicing through the sky like a silent dagger. Aria sat near the window, staring into the clouds, silent.
Damon poured them both a drink. "Paris will be safer. For now."
"Safe from him?" she asked quietly.
"For the moment."
Their hands brushed. His fingers curled around hers.
"Aria…"
She turned to him.
"You can still walk away. I wouldn't blame you."
Her eyes hardened. "I didn't sign up for safety. I signed up for you."
---
Paris was grey and rainy when they landed. The safe house Damon owned was hidden in the 7th arrondissement, an unassuming luxury flat tucked behind old iron gates and stone walls.
The silence of the city mirrored the tension between them.
That night, they didn't sleep.
They laid side by side, eyes open in the dark.
"I was twenty when I met Victor," Damon said quietly. "He made me believe I could rule the world. He taught me everything. Then he tried to sell me out to rivals for a quick win."
Aria reached for his hand.
"I didn't kill him. But someone else did—or so we thought. If he's alive, he's dangerous in ways Ethan never could be."
---
Two days passed in uneasy calm.
Until a single red envelope appeared beneath their door.
No address. No seal. Just her name in sharp calligraphy:
ARIA.
She opened it with trembling fingers.
Inside was a photo. An old one.
Her, at eighteen. With a man she hadn't thought of in years.
Victor's younger brother.
On the back was written: "How well do you really know the man beside you?"
---
She didn't sleep that night either.
The next morning, she found Damon on the balcony, coffee in hand, his eyes locked on the skyline.
"Why didn't you tell me about him?" she asked, holding out the photo.
He froze.
"I didn't know you knew Leo Vale."
Her voice shook. "He wasn't just a friend. We… we were close. I didn't know who he really was. He disappeared before I found out."
Damon turned slowly, studying her. "Victor's brother is dead."
She stared at him. "What if he's not?"
Their eyes locked.
Suddenly, everything felt fragile again.
---
That night, someone broke into the Paris flat.
Aria woke to the sound of shattering glass and Damon's roar as he leapt from bed.
"Stay down!" he barked.
Gunshots. Screams. A struggle.
Aria crawled across the floor, heart pounding, eyes wide. Damon fought two men in black masks with brutal efficiency.
One tried to grab her. She slammed a lamp into his head.
Another pulled a knife—until Damon knocked him unconscious with the butt of a pistol.
Ten seconds. That's all it took.
But it felt like forever.
---
When the dust settled, the men were tied, bleeding but alive.
Damon crouched next to one, ripped off his mask.
"Who sent you?" he demanded.
The man spit blood and smiled.
"Le
o sends his regards."
Damon went still.
Aria felt the air leave her lungs.
He was alive.
Leo Vale.
And he'd just declared war.
[To Be Continued…]