Chapter 165 The Way You Love Me

Chapter 165 The Way You Love Me
Aria's POV

Marcus's eyes darkened. "Do you remember when we had that car accident while you were working at the hotel? The man who hit us?"

My blood turned to ice. "What?"

"That was Felix. And it wasn't an accident, Aria. He was working for Derek, trying to kill me. Derek's been planning this for years, using your situation, your feelings for me, everything as leverage."

I stared at him, my mind struggling to process what he was saying. "That's... that's impossible. Derek helped me. He gave me a job when I had nothing."

"Because he wanted you dependent on him," Marcus said, his voice gentle but firm. "And he wanted to use you to get to me. Think about it - he always showed up at exactly the right moments, didn't he? Always there when you needed help?"

My hands started shaking as memories flooded back. Derek appearing at the hospital when I was upset. Derek being there when I needed a job. Every moment of kindness suddenly felt calculated, predatory.

"The drink," I whispered. "He gave me something."

Marcus nodded grimly. "Isabella drugged the champagne she offered you. Derek was supposed to take advantage of your condition, create a scandal that would destroy both of us. But something went wrong with their plan."

"What went wrong?"

"Derek couldn't go through with it," Marcus said quietly. "When I found you in that hotel room, he was just sitting there. He said you kept calling my name, even unconscious, and he realized he'd lost. That you'd never love him the way you..." He trailed off.

"The way I what?" My voice was barely a whisper.

Marcus looked directly into my eyes. "The way you love me."

The words hung in the air between us, and I felt like I couldn't breathe. After everything - the engagement, the public humiliation, the months of pain - was he really saying what I thought he was saying?

"But Isabella," I managed. "The engagement party. I saw you put the ring on her finger."

"A performance," he said grimly. "I had to let them think their plan was working while I gathered evidence. Victor and Nathan helped me set up the video that exposed Isabella's past. We knew if we could turn public opinion against her, her family would withdraw their support and the whole conspiracy would collapse."

I shook my head, still struggling to believe it. "So none of it was real? The engagement, the wedding plans?"

"None of it," Marcus confirmed. "I never loved her, Aria. I never wanted to marry her. Every moment of it was about protecting you and Sophia, protecting the Pack, and exposing the truth."

Tears started flowing down my cheeks before I could stop them. "I thought I'd lost you forever. I thought you chose her."

Marcus reached across the table and took my hand. When his fingers touched mine, I felt that same pull that had drawn me to him from the beginning - the one I'd spent months trying to forget, the one that made my chest tighten with hope I couldn't afford to feel.

"I chose you the moment I met you," he said softly. "I've been choosing you every day since, even when I couldn't tell you. Even when it looked like I was choosing someone else."

"Why didn't you trust me?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Why didn't you tell me what was happening?"

"Because I couldn't risk Derek or Isabella finding out that you knew. They were watching everything, monitoring your reactions. If you'd known it was all fake, they would have known too, and they would have changed their plan. This was the only way to expose them completely."

I pulled my hand away, anger mixing with relief. "So I suffered for months thinking you didn't want me, thinking I was nothing to you, all so you could play some elaborate game?"

"Aria—"

"Do you have any idea what that did to me?" I stood up abruptly. "How many nights I cried myself to sleep thinking you were happy with her? How hard it was to watch you with Isabella, knowing I could never compete with what she could offer you?"

Marcus stood too, his face pained. "I know. And I'm sorry. If there had been any other way—"

"There should have been another way!" I was crying openly now. "You should have trusted me. You should have let me help instead of treating me like a pawn in your game."

"You're right," he said quietly. "I was so focused on protecting you that I hurt you instead. I'm sorry, Aria. I'm so fucking sorry."

The raw pain in his voice made me stop. I looked at him - really looked at him - and saw the exhaustion, the guilt, the relief that was warring in his expression. This wasn't the cold, distant Marcus I'd been seeing for months. This was the man who'd held me when I was scared, who'd made me feel safe for the first time in years.

"Felix," I said suddenly. "What happened to him?"

Marcus's jaw tightened. "He's dead. Derek killed him when Felix started asking for more money. Derek needed him gone anyway - Felix was the only one who could directly link Derek to the attempts on my life."

"Derek killed someone?" The world tilted again.

"Derek's been playing a long game, Aria. Much longer than we realized. He's not the man you thought he was."

I sank back into my chair, overwhelmed. The Derek who'd given me a job, who'd been so understanding about my situation, who I'd thought was just a friend - that man had never existed. He'd been wearing a mask this whole time, watching me, using my desperation against the man I loved.

"I don't know what to believe anymore," I admitted.

"Believe this," Marcus said, coming around the table and kneeling beside my chair. "I love you. I've loved you since the day we met, and I never stopped. Everything I did, every choice I made, was about getting back to you. To this." He gestured between us.

I searched his face, looking for any sign of deception, but all I saw was the man I'd fallen in love with - the one who'd been hidden behind months of cold politeness and careful distance.

"What happens now?" I asked.

"Now we start over," he said simply. "Derek's in custody. Isabella's reputation is destroyed, and her family's political support is gone. The threats to the Pack are eliminated. And we can finally be together without anyone trying to tear us apart."

From the bedroom came the sound of Sophia playing, talking to her dolls in that sweet, innocent voice that reminded me why I'd fought so hard to build a life for us.

"Uncle Marcus said we can come home," I repeated Sophia's words softly.

Marcus smiled, the first real smile I'd seen from him in months. "If you'll have us back."

I looked around the small apartment, remembering the brief time we'd been happy here. It felt like a lifetime ago, but maybe - maybe we could find our way back to that feeling. Maybe we could build something even stronger.

"We'll see," I said, but I was smiling too.