Chapter 145
Chapter 145
She stared at Aaron's merciless face—and suddenly laughed.
The laughter grew louder and louder, echoing through the empty hospital room with the unhinged abandon of someone who had nothing left to lose.
"You want me to get out?" Clio bared her teeth, glaring at him, her eyes brimming with venom. "Aaron, what gives you the right to stand there and play the noble victim?"
She clawed her way off the bed and jabbed her finger in his face, every word a knife to the chest.
"You really think you're innocent in all this? You're a blind fool! You soaked up every bit of Hestia's devotion while lapping up the helpless little act I put on for you. You're nothing but a greedy, two-timing piece of trash who wanted it all!"
Aaron's face turned ashen. His fists clenched until the knuckles went white.
Clio ripped away his last shred of dignity without mercy. "You think if you crawl back to Hestia now, she'll forgive you? Keep dreaming! She saw through you a long time ago! A selfish man like you—she can't even stomach the sight of you. She will never take you back. You're going to die alone, and you deserve every second of it!"
"Get out!" Aaron roared, the vein at his temple throbbing violently.
"Face reality, Aaron!" Clio shrieked with laughter. "We're two of a kind—neither one of us gets to call the other dirty!"
They tore into each other like rabid dogs in that hospital room, every trace of past tenderness rotted into the ugliest mutual destruction.
Aaron couldn't take another second of the suffocating revulsion.
He spun around, kicked the door open, and stormed out.
The door slammed behind him with a deafening crash, cutting off Clio's manic laughter.
---
Hospital parking garage.
Aaron dropped into the driver's seat of his Maybach.
No lights inside. Dark and suffocating. He slammed both fists against the steering wheel, pressed his forehead to the leather, breathing in harsh, ragged pulls.
Clio's words lashed across his spine like a barbed whip.
Five years blind. He'd taken the woman who only had eyes for him and pushed her into someone else's arms with his own hands.
Overwhelming panic and regret crashed over him, dragging him under.
He pulled out his phone. His fingers trembled as he dialed Hestia's number.
It rang for a long time.
So long that Aaron was sure she wouldn't answer—until that cool, detached voice came through.
"Talk." One word. No name. No emotion.
"Hestia." Aaron's voice was raw, thick with congestion and an unmistakable tremor. "I know. I know everything now."
Silence on the other end.
"Clio was never sick. The allergy incident, all the things she framed you for—it was all her. I have proof." Aaron's words tumbled out in a disjointed confession. "I'm sorry. I was blind. I blamed you for everything. Five years of putting you through hell—"
"You called just to waste my time with this?" Hestia cut him off, her tone so calm she might have been listening to a stranger's problems.
"Hestia, please—give me one more chance." Aaron gripped the phone like a drowning man clutching driftwood. "I know I was wrong. We can start over. Everything the Harvey family has is yours. I'll only be good to you. Just one more chance—"
"Aaron." Hestia's voice came through the receiver with absolute clarity and absolute cruelty. "You still don't get it, do you? You never loved me."
Aaron's breath seized. "No—I do love you, I really—"
"You only love yourself." Hestia stripped his selfishness bare without a flicker of hesitation. "You feel regret right now—not because you feel guilty about what I suffered, but because you found out Clio played you. Your ego took a hit. You realized that after I left you, I didn't fall apart—I thrived. You can't stand the loss of control."
Aaron opened his mouth. His throat locked. No sound came out.
"You were just addicted to my devotion. What you wanted was an accessory—someone who'd orbit around you forever, available on demand." Hestia's voice was utterly flat. "Too bad. I stopped being that person a long time ago."
"Hestia..."
"Stop calling me." She left him no room to breathe. Her next words were calm and unhesitating. "I've fallen for William."
The sentence drove through Aaron's chest like a blade.
"He gives me absolute respect. He gives me real protection. With him, I don't have to guess, and I don't have to endure. He's a real man. And you—you're nothing but a selfish coward."
Aaron's eyes went red instantly. A tearing agony ripped through his heart.
"Face reality, Aaron." Hestia's final words landed. "Take your pathetic regret and get out of my life. Don't bother us again."
The line went dead.
Nothing but the cold, rhythmic beeping of a disconnected call.
Aaron sat in the dark cabin, phone in hand, swallowed whole by silence.
---
The night sky hung over the city like a vast sheet of black velvet, heavy and suffocating.
Aaron sat in the Maybach's driver seat, eyes bloodshot, staring at his phone screen.
Dozens of long messages he'd sent—every one dripping with desperate, humiliating pleas.
[Hestia, I was wrong. Please give me one chance.]
[Come back and everything the Harvey family has is yours. I'll do whatever you say.]
Every message ended the same way—a single gray checkmark glaring back at him.
He'd been blocked completely. Not just calls—every social media platform, every messaging app. Every connection severed.
Panic and regret gnawed at his heart like a nest of vipers.
He refused to accept it.
The engine roared like a caged beast. The car shot forward like an arrow, hurtling toward the only road leading to the Marshall Estate.
The streets at this hour were deserted.
Half an hour later, a black Cullinan glided smoothly into view.
Aaron threw open his door and charged into the middle of the road, arms spread wide, blocking its path.
Tires shrieked against asphalt, shattering the silence. The Cullinan ground to a halt less than two feet from his body.
"Hestia! Let me explain!" Aaron rushed to the rear window, pounding on the bulletproof glass, his voice shredded raw. "I know everything now! Clio lied to me! Please—just see me once!"
Inside the cabin, the light was dim. Hestia leaned against the leather seat. She didn't even lift her eyelids.
She looked at the shattered, dignity-stripped man outside her window with nothing in her eyes. Not anger. Not pity. Nothing—as if she were gazing at a pile of worthless refuse.
"Drive." Hestia's order to the chauffeur was cold, toneless.
"But Ms. Sharp, he's right in front of—" The driver hesitated.
"Go through him or go around him. Just get him out of my sight." Her voice was absolute.
The driver didn't hesitate again. He cut the wheel hard and floored the accelerator.
The black Cullinan let out a deep, guttural growl, swerved mercilessly around Aaron, and surged into the night.