Chapter 139 One thirty nine

Chapter 139 One thirty nine
Aria POV

“What are you doing with him?!”

I froze.

The way she stared at Damien made my chest tighten. It wasn’t just a surprise. It was as if she was looking at a ghost, someone she never expected to see again. Someone who wasn’t supposed to exist in her world.

Before I could even process what was happening, Damien’s hand wrapped firmly around my wrist.

“Let’s go,” he muttered, his voice low and controlled, but his grip was anything but calm.

“Damien, wait—” I tried to protest, my brows knitting together in confusion, but he didn’t stop.

He dragged me toward the car without another word.

My heart pounded as I glanced back. Auntie Gianna was still standing there, her expression twisted with rage.

“Leave my house!” she shouted after him. “And you…Aria! Get away from him! Do you hear me?!”

Her words hit me like a slap.

Get away from him?

Why?

My mind raced with questions, none of them making sense.

“Damien, what’s going on?” I demanded, trying to slow my steps, but he didn’t even look at me.

He opened the car door abruptly.

“Get in.”

His tone wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t gentle either. It was final.

Confusion swirled inside me, thick and suffocating. Still, I slid into the car, my movements stiff, my thoughts louder than the sound coming from outside.

Auntie Gianna hadn’t stopped.

She turned toward the gateman now, her voice rising even higher.

“Don’t open that gate! Do you hear me?! Don’t let them leave unless he lets her out!”

My heart clenched.

This wasn’t normal. This wasn’t just overprotectiveness. This was something else.

I leaned out slightly, my voice urgent.

“Auntie, please! Calm down!” I called. “I’ll come back, okay? I’ll come back and you can explain everything!”

Her eyes snapped to mine.

For a brief second, the anger in them softened… but only slightly.

“Aria…” she whispered, her voice cracking with emotion. Then her gaze shifted back to Damien, and whatever softness had been there disappeared instantly.

She shot him a glare so cold it sent a chill down my spine.

Then, without another word, she turned and walked back into the house.

Just like that.

The gate creaked open.

And we drove off.

The ride was suffocating.

No one spoke.

Damien kept his eyes fixed on the road, as if he didn’t want to exist in the same space as whatever tension filled the car.

Damien sat there, his posture rigid, his jaw clenched so tightly I could see the muscle ticking.

He didn’t look at me.

Not once.

I turned my head toward the window, watching the world blur past, but I wasn’t really seeing anything. My thoughts were tangled, replaying everything that had just happened over and over again.

The way Auntie Gianna reacted.

The fear in her voice.

The warning.

Get away from him.

My chest tightened.

What did she mean?

And why did Damien look like he already knew?

By the time we got back to the villa, the silence had become unbearable.

The car came to a stop.

Damien stepped out immediately, not even waiting for me.

That was it.

I wasn’t letting this go.

I got out quickly, my heels clicking sharply against the ground as I moved to stand in front of him, blocking his path before he could walk inside.

“Stop.”

He halted, his eyes finally meeting mine.

“You’re not going anywhere,” I said firmly, my heart racing but my voice steady. “Not until you tell me what that was.”

His expression didn’t change.

“Move, Aria.”

“No.”

The word came out stronger than I expected.

His gaze hardened slightly.

“I said move.”

“And I said no,” I shot back, crossing my arms, refusing to step aside. “What just happened back there? Why did Auntie Gianna react like that? Why did she tell me to stay away from you?”

Silence.

Heavy. Pressing.

For a moment, I thought he might actually answer.

But then he exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair as if trying to control something simmering beneath the surface.

“It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

I stared at him, disbelief flashing across my face.

“Nothing?” I repeated. “She looked like she’d seen a ghost, Damien! She practically begged me to stay away from you! That’s not nothing!”

His jaw tightened again.

“I said I’ll handle it.”

“That’s not an explanation!” My voice rose despite myself. “You don’t just drag me out of there and expect me to forget everything!”

He stepped forward, clearly intending to walk past me.

I moved with him, blocking him again.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You don’t get to walk away from this. Not this time.”

His patience snapped.

“Aria—”

“No!” I cut him off. “I deserve to know! If there’s something going on, if there’s something I’m missing…”

“Enough.”

The word came out low. Dangerous.

But I didn’t back down.

“Tell me the truth,” I insisted, my voice softer now but no less firm. “What is she hiding? Or better yet… what are you hiding?”

That did it.

Something in his eyes darkened.

He reached out, placing his hands on my shoulders as if to move me aside.

I stood my ground.

“I’m not moving,” I said quietly.

For a second, we just stood there, locked in a silent battle.

Then he tried to push past me.

I resisted.

“Aria…”

“No.”

“Move.”

“I won’t.”

His grip tightened slightly.

“Don’t make this difficult.”

“Then stop making it a secret!”

The tension snapped like a stretched wire.

And them…

He roared.

The sound was sudden. Raw. Explosive.

“ENOUGH!”

I froze.

Every part of me went still.

My breath caught in my throat as I stared at him, shock crashing over me like a wave.

I had never seen him like this.

His chest heaved, his eyes blazing with an intensity that made my heart stutter.

For a moment, neither of us moved.

Neither of us spoke.

And in that silence, something shifted.

Because whatever Damien was hiding…

It wasn’t small.