Chapter 81 Chapter 81

Chapter 81 Chapter 81
Aria’s Pov.

Camille finally stood.

"Come on."

I looked down at the drink in my hands.

The ice had melted and the raspberry soda tasted flat.

I took another sip anyway and  we headed down together.

Students were already filtering away from the courts, conversations bouncing across the afternoon air.

Basketballs still echoed somewhere behind us

Neither of us spoke until we reached outside, Then Camille nudged my shoulder.

"So."

"yeah..."

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

She gave me a look.

"You’re fine as in actually fine..."

She tilted her head.

"...or the kind where I should buy emergency chocolate?"

I laughed quietly.

"The second one."

"I knew it."

We kept walking.

"He did say he'd make it up to you."

"I know."

"And technically he didn't know she'd show up."

"You’re right."

"And he did look guilty."

"Well..."

Camille sighed dramatically.

"I hate when you overthink."

She looped her arm through mine.

The parking area came into view, It was filled with parents, drivers and cars already pulling away.

Camille stopped beside her family's car, then she looked at me carefully.

"Don't let her ruin your mood."

I looked at her.

"Elodie?"

Camille nodded.

"She's trying to ruin your mood."

"I know."

"And don't let Esme get into your head either."

That surprised me.

"You noticed?"

"Aria."

She smiled.

"I notice everything."

I smiled back.

She squeezed my arm once.

"You've got a bowling date with him eventually."

I laughed.

"I do."

"So stop looking like someone cancelled Christmas."

"I wasn't..."

"You were."She said as she opened her car door.

"I'll text you later."

"Okay bye!"

"Bye girl."

Then she climbed into the car.

I stood there for another second before my own driver opened the limousine door.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hart."

"Hi."I replied as I climbed inside.

The city swallowed the school almost immediately.

I rested my head against the cool glass, watching  the afternoon traffic crawl through Paris.

People crossed streets, cyclists slipped between cars. Someone walked three enormous dogs that somehow all managed to head in different directions.

My phone rested in my lap, My mind drifted back to Lucien.

I unlocked it and opened Lucien's contact.

My thumb hovered over the keyboard.

How are you?

Too formal.

Are you okay?

Better.

Simple.

I sent it before I could overthink it.

The message delivered instantly.

No reply.

I hadn't expected one anyways, he was probably studying.

I locked my phone again.

Switzerland.

The word floated back into my head.

His voice from last night.

"I don't know what to do."

It still sounded wrong, Lucien always knew what to do.

Always.

He'd spent years becoming the person everyone else leaned on.

Last night, for a few minutes...

He'd leaned on me.

The limousine turned onto our street and I watched the Montclair estate appear through the trees.

The driver pulled to a stop beneath the front steps.

"Have a lovely evening, Miss Hart."

"Thank you."

I climbed out.

The front doors opened before I reached them, and one of the house staff stepped aside.

"Good evening, Miss Hart."

"Evening."

Inside...

Footsteps softened.

Voices lowered.

Two maids crossed the entrance hall carrying flowers.

The house looked exactly the same.

But the moment I stepped inside something felt wrong.

The entrance hall was unusually quiet and the staff moved through it almost silently.

Marie crossed the corridor carrying folded towels.

She smiled when she saw me.

"Good afternoon, Miss Hart."

"Hi, Marie."

She kept walking.

Normally someone would've been polishing something, or dusting.

Someone would've been talking quietly in the kitchen.

Today...

Everyone seemed careful like they were trying not to make too much noise.

I went upstairs and I was half-way  down the first-floor corridor...

When I  heard it.

The sound was so quiet I almost missed it.

I could here muffled inhales and…

Someone crying?

I stopped walking.

The sound came from Cecilia's room.

I stared at her door and walked over to her room.

Then I raised my hand and knocked gently...

No answer.

I knocked again.

The crying stopped immediately.

Silence.

Then...

"Come in."

Her voice sounded composed, way too composed for someone who i just overheard crying.

I turned the handle and walked in.

Her room smelled faintly of perfume and lavender.

Cecilia stood beside the window.

She'd clearly wiped her face already.

But not quickly enough.

Her mascara had smudged slightly beneath one eye and her cheeks were still pink.

She looked surprised to see me.

"...Aria."

"I just got back." I moved closer to her. "Are you okay?"

"Of course." She set the tissue I hadn't realized she was holding down. "Something got in my eye."

I looked at  the redness at the edge of her eyes. She had definitely been crying. 

"Cecilia," I said.

"I'm fine…"

"You were crying."

She looked at me, but she didn't argue.

I crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Where were you yesterday?" I said. "You and Valentin."

She reached for her glass of water on her drawer. Then she took a slow sip.

"We went away for a night," she said. "He had business."

"What kind of business?"

"Aria."

"I'm just asking."

"I know what you're just asking." She set the glass down. "And I'm telling you it was business. That's all."

I looked at my hands.

"Why were you crying?" 

"I told you. Something got…"

"Please don't." My voice came out quieter than I'd intended. "Please don't lie to me. I know something's wrong… I've known for a while." I looked up at her. "And I don't understand why you keep trying to hide it from me when we both know…"

"Aria." Her voice was sharp.

I stopped.

"I need you to stop," she said her face full of concern. "What you're doing? trying to figure things out, looking for things… I need you to stop."

"Why?"

"Because it isn't safe." She said it plainly, like she'd been holding that specific sentence for a while and had finally decided to say it out. "Whatever you think you've found or understood or pieced together, it isn't safe. And I'm not saying that to control you. I'm saying it because people I care about could get hurt."

"People like who?"

She looked at me.

"You," she said. "And your father."

The room went very still.

"What does my dad have to do with…"

"Aria." She stood up and moved to the window. She turned her back to me for a moment. "Please. Just study, just go to school and  let adults handle the things that are for adults."

"You're not handling it," I said. "That's the problem. Nobody is handling it and in the meantime I'm living in this house and I'm supposed to just…"

"Yes," she said. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm asking you to do."

I stood up.

"I don't know why you think you have to protect him," I said. "Or protect whatever this is. If you just told me what was actually happening I might actually be able to help."

"You can't help." She turned back to me."You can't help, Aria. Not with this."

I walked to the door.

"Whatever it is," I said, "I'm not leaving until it's done."

She didn't say anything.

I rolled my eyes and left.