Chapter 56 SUMMONS
FALSE SUMMONS
ARIA'S POV
Liars spreading unnecessary news, accusing me.
I was the new witness.
I saw Damian sitting at the edge of the chair,looking at nothing,his eyes darker than before.
“Damian” I whispered, calling him.
He turned and looked at me, like he'd b en waiting for me.
“Aria” he said, “come here” he signalled for me to sit on the couch beside him.
Then he touched my fingers,my hands shivering in an instant.
“Did you sleep?” He asked.
“No”
“Neither did i”
Then he sat beside me, moving his hands absently in my hips.
“What if..” I began.
He cut me off. “ There's no what if here. You did nothing,you didn't agree to anything. Or did you?” He asked.
I shaked my head in disapproval.
He continued. “ You didn't turn against me. There are trying to put an enemity between us.”
“They want you looking at me and panicking.”
“Who issued that?” Damian demanded.
I was in the kitchen cutting apple.
“Sir, I only deliver. It was ordered last night.”
I stepped outside,Damian tried to block me from viewing.
“By whom?” he asked the man.
“Prosecutor’s office.”
The officer handed Damian a clipboard. “Signature required.”
Damian’s jaw flexed dangerously.
He signed. Snatched the envelope. Shut the door in one sharp motion.
Then he turned to me.
Then he turned to me.
His eyes…
Oh God.
They were blazing.
Angry.
Scared in a way I had never seen.
He looked like a man being asked to watch his world burn.
Slowly.
He held the envelope like it was a live grenade.
“Aria,” he whispered. “Don’t panic.”
“How can I not?” My voice cracked. “Damian,..what if it’s real? What if they added me? What if..”
“Stop.” He closed the distance between us and placed a hand on my face. “Just breathe. I’m right here. Whatever this is, we face it together.”
SUBPOENA TO TESTIFY
Aria Blackwood
The People vs. Damian Blackwood
Second Trial Hearing Date: Pending
My blood ran cold.
“No,” I whispered. “No, they can’t, I didn’t, I haven’t spoken to anyone.”
Damian grabbed the paper back, scanning it again.
His breathing got harsher by the second.
“This isn’t from the prosecutor’s office,” he said suddenly.
I blinked. “What?”
“Look.” He jabbed the header. “The signature is a scan. Not original. The stamp is slightly wrong,this is a forged copy.”
I felt my stomach twist. “So… someone faked this to make me think I was being forced to testify?”
Before he could say anything more, Damian’s phone vibrated again.
He pulled it out.
“It’s Viktor.” He answered instantly. “Talk.”
Damian listened, nodding slowly, then shaking his head.
“No,” Damian said. “That plan is too risky.”
“No. We’re not using Aria as bait.”
“I said no, Viktor.”
He ended the call and threw the phone onto the couch.
“What did he say?” I asked.
Damian dragged a hand through his hair.
Damian dragged a hand through his hair.
“Viktor wants to trap whoever is forging these orders. He suggested we use you as baut to lure them,let the person make their move.”
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Damian took my hands immediately.
“I told him no,” he said firmly. “I won’t put you in danger for a tactic.”
I exhaled shakily. “Damian… this is getting worse.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“Then what do we do?”
I stood up heading outside.
“Aria” Damian called me.
“Where are you going”.
“To cool off. I'll be right back.”
“Wait..”
I left.
I lied,I wasn't going to cool off. I was going to face my problem.
Lila.
She has crossed her line.
This needed to end.
She could still be in town after showing up so I drove to her studio.
I was sure to find her there.
By the time I reached the studio, my hands were trembling on the steering wheel. I stepped out carefully, swallowing the panic that kept trying to crawl up my throat.
The corridor to her personal recording room was quiet.
But as I approached the door, I froze.
Lila was speaking.
On the phone.
I quietly listened, my instinct also told me to record.
“…I told you Caleb’s test results were too clean,” she hissed. “Because I switched his food before the samples were taken. Yes. Exactly. I replaced it with the one I prepared. He was supposed to collapse again if he tried to leave that house.”
My stomach twisted violently.
She poisoned him.
I wanted to spit out,drag her hair,strangle her dead.
She actually poisoned him.
My hand flew to my mouth to keep myself from gasping.
“And Damian?” she continued, voice dripping with venom. “He’s easy. Men like him always fall for the same trap. I just need the right girl, the right moment, the right picture… and boom..scandal.”
“ No,they won't find out. Even if he does and try anything. I'm ready for him.”
My heart hammered so loudly I was afraid she might hear it.
Damian.
She was planning to set him up.
Again.
“And don’t worry about the wife,” she said. “Aria is already losing it. She’s cracking. By the time the second trial begins, she’ll distrust him enough to slip. All we need is one mistake.”
I felt fire ignite inside me.
How could she…
How could she talk about us like that?
Like we were toys, pieces on her board?
My whole body shook.
But then..
She said the one thing that made my entire world still.
“And if she doesn’t break,” Lila whispered, voice lowering into wickedness, “then we’ll make it look like she threatened the new witness. The court will eat it up.”
My vision darkened.
Lila kept talking, pacing across the studio.
“I already planted the idea that she’s the unstable one. They’ll believe anything. Honestly, Damian should thank me. I’m giving him a future without that woman dragging him down.”
My breath caught sharply.
She wasn’t just sabotaging us.
She wanted me.