Chapter 99 Aria
The moment the door closed behind her, the weight hit me like a fist. I sank onto my bed with my shoulders still trembling. I buried my face in my hands, the tears coming down fast and hot. I didn’t even try to stop them. It wasn’t just anger. It was exhaustion, heartbreak, and confusion that settles deep in your bones and refuses to leave. I had trusted her. I had believed in her and now, I felt like nothing more than a pawn in a game I hadn’t even realized I was playing.
“Aria?”
The voice was soft. I lifted my head to see Max standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable but his eyes full of concern. He didn’t step in at first but waiting for permission.
“I—” I shook my head, trying to speak but finding my throat too tight. Words felt heavy and useless.
Max crossed the room and sat on the edge of my bed without asking, letting the silence stretch between us for a moment. Finally, he reached over and touched my arm gently. “You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to. I get it.”
I swallowed, tears still streaking my cheeks. “Get what?”
“That you feel used,” he said simply. “That you’re hurt. That you trusted someone and they broke it all.”
I let out a bitter laugh that quickly turned into a sob. “Used, yeah. That’s exactly it. I opened my world to her, to Luca, to everythingvand it’s like I was just a tool. Nothing I did mattered.”
Max’s hand tightened on my arm. “Aria, none of that’s true about you. The way she treated you doesn’t change what you’re worth. You’re not a tool. You’re more than she could ever handle.”
I blinked at him, the mix of grief and anger making my chest ache. “Then why does it feel like she did? Like everything I gave was wasted?”
“Because she’s a selfish reckless mess,” he said bluntly. “Not ever because of you.”
I hiccupped, letting his words wash over me, though the ache didn’t go away. It was still persistent and gnawing. I had thought betrayal would come from strangers and enemies but the worst kind came from someone you called a friend. Someone who had known every secret, fear, and every quiet corner of your heart. And yet, she had weaponized it all.
Max leaned back slightly watching me. “You need a distraction just to remind yourself you’re alive. That there’s more than the hurt sitting in this room.”
I gave a small bitter laugh. “A distraction, huh? And what exactly do you suggest?”
“Something ridiculous,” he said, a smirk tugging at his lips. “To make you forget for a few minutes that the world’s been tearing you apart.”
I rolled my eyes. “Like what? Dance-off in the living room?”
“Exactly. Or maybe karaoke. Or—” he gestured broadly with a grin “—we could just run around the block in the middle of the night screaming at the top of our lungs. Trust me, it’s oddly therapeutic.”
For the first time in hours, I laughed. “You’re insane.”
“Maybe,” he admitted. “But sometimes insane is what saves you from feeling completely destroyed.”
I wiped my face with the back of my hand, staring down at the floor. “I just… I can’t stop thinking about everything. About Sienna. About Luca. About me. And how I got dragged into all of this and somehow ended up here alone crying on my bed like a fool.”
“You’re not a fool,” Max reassured quietly. “You’re human. And humans? They cry but that doesn’t make you weak. It makes you, you.”
I closed my eyes taking two deep steadying breaths. It was strange hearing someone say the words I needed to hear rather than what I wanted to hear. I didn’t need nor reasons. I needed acknowledgment and Max gave it to me without a lecture and judgment.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked after a moment. “About everything? Or do you want me to just sit here while you yell at the world?”
I opened my eyes, staring at him, the vulnerability in me raw. “I don’t know.”
“Then we’ll start small,” he said. “Tell me one thing that happened today that made you even slightly forget what a disaster this all is.”
I thought about it. About the texts, the lies, and past Instagram post. About Luca and how I couldn’t untangle my feelings from the chaos. But then I remembered something simple—a ridiculous joke, we’d texted back and forth earlier, and Max had rolled his eyes at me just now.
“Fine,” I said finally, managing a small smile. “You made me laugh. That counts.”
Max grinned, clearly pleased with himself. “Victory.”
And for a moment, the world felt less heavy. Less like it was trying to crush me and like I was entirely alone. But even as the laughter faded, the reminder crept back to the edges of my mind. This wasn’t over. Sienna had moved, Luca was tangled up in things I couldn’t fix, and the pack didn’t know what was coming.
I sat back, letting the blankets wrap around me, and let out a long shaky breath. “I don’t know if I can do this,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to do it alone,” Max stated.
I nodded, letting his words sink in and myself rest in the moment before the storm returned. But deep down, I knew this calm was fragile cause wouldn’t last. And when it shattered, I had a feeling the pieces weren’t going to be easy to pick up.
Outside, the night pressed in against the windows and somewhere out there, decisions were being made, moves calculated, and traps laid. And no matter how much I tried to distract myself, I knew the consequences of one choice or one mistake could change everything.
I closed my eyes and whispered to no one in particular. “I just need to survive this.”
And I had no idea if surviving meant keeping my heart intact, my friends safe, or even making it to the morning.