Chapter 77 Chapter 77

Chapter 77 Chapter 77
Aria’s Pov.

The rest of the school day went by in a blur.

More classes. More corridors. Teachers whose words I heard and didn't retain. The particular fog of an afternoon that had already spent everything it had before lunch.

By the time the final bell rang I was running on nothing but muscle memory.

I found Adrien near the main exit, his  blazer off, bag on, looking more alive than he had any right to after the day we'd had.

"Hey." He fell into step beside me. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm okay." I pushed through the door into the afternoon. "Actually… do you want to go somewhere? Just decompress. Get food.”

He looked at me.

Something moved through his expression.

"I would," he said. "I really would, but…" He exhaled. "Elodie texted earlier. She needs help with the History module, asked if I'd go with her to the library. I said yes before I knew what today was going to be."

I kept my face easy.

"That's fine," 

"Aria…”

"Adrien. It's fine." I smiled at him. "Go. Genuinely."

He looked at me for a second longer than comfortable.

"I'll make it up to you," he said. "This week."

"You really don't need to…"

"I want to." He stepped forward and kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry about today."

"You were great today," I said.

He looked at me.

Then he nodded once.

"I'll text you later," he said.

"Okay."

He headed off.

I stood on the steps and watched him go and kept my smile in place until he turned the corner.

Then I dropped it.

Of course she did.

I picked up my bag and went to find the car.

The Limo smelled like pine air freshener and something underneath it that wasn't quite pine.

I sat in the back and watched Saint Claire disappear in the rear window and let myself think it properly for the first time.

Of course Elodie had managed it. Of course she had. One calculated text at exactly the right moment, when Adrien would’ve felt guilty enough to say yes without thinking twice.

Of course she’d found a way.

I pressed my head back against the seat.

I didn't want to call Camille. She'd been through enough today,  saying that thing out loud for the first time, sitting in that office, all of it. She needed space to process. Not Aria's Elodie problems on top of it.

I looked out the window.

Paris moved past.

The car turned through the gates.

And that's when I saw him.

Valentin's car was pulling out of the main drive  fast, faster than he usually moved, like someone who had somewhere to be and was already late getting there. 

The driver was already in the car but Valentin was still on the steps, his phone pressed to his ear, walking quickly toward the open door.

The limo slowed to let his pass.

I watched through the window.

He was talking. His head slightly down, one hand moving as he spoke,  His usual composure was gone. There was something urgent beneath every movement.

The cars were level for one second.
Just one.

And I heard it through the gap in my window,  his voice, low and fast, carrying just far enough:

"...she is becoming a problem. Handle it."

Then his door closed.
And his car pulled forward through the gate.

Gone.

I sat very still in the back of my car as the driver pulled up to the front steps.

She is becoming a problem.

Handle it.

I got out.

Walked up the steps, through the front door.

The entrance hall was quiet. The staffs  moving somewhere in the  distance 

She is becoming a problem.

Who?

Me?

Cecilia?

Someone else entirely?

I went upstairs.

Sat on the edge of my bed and reached for my phone.

Find out something. Tell Lucien. That was the rule. Not to figure it out myself. Not to sit with it. Just tell him and let him cross-reference with the investigator and decide what it meant.

As I opened his contact, my  phone rang.

I stared at the screen.

L.
What a coincidence,

I picked up.

"I was about to…"

"Aria." His voice stopped me.

I sat up straighter.

"Lucien. What's wrong?"

"We found her," he said.

The room went completely still.

"I know where my mother is." His voice was very quiet. "I know where she is."

I didn't say anything.

I just held the phone.

"Aria?" he said.
"I'm here,"

The line was quiet.

And I didn't push.

I just stayed.