Sweet Hatred-Chapter 446: "Soon"

SARAH

The apartment smelled like rot and desperation.

Peeling wallpaper. Water-stained ceiling. A single mattress on the floor with a threadbare blanket. A flickering overhead bulb that buzzed incessantly like an insect trapped in amber.

This was where I’d ended up.

The outskirts of the city. A place where people came to disappear.

And that’s exactly what I needed to do.

Disappear.

At least until I figured out what to do next.

I sat cross-legged on the mattress, my laptop balanced on my thighs, the screen glowing in the dim room.

The livestream played.

Ewan Roman’s will reading.

I’d stumbled across it by accident... scrolling through news sites, looking for any mention of my name, any sign that the wolves were closing in.

And there it was.

Live coverage of the Roman family drama unfolding in real time.

I watched as the lawyer.... Whitmore something... read through the will with that pompous, self-important tone lawyers always had.

Item after item. Asset after asset.

All going to Kael.

Everything.

The company. The properties. The billions.

All of it handed to that bastard on a silver platter.

I scoffed, the sound harsh in the empty room.

"Serves Andrew right," I muttered.

That pathetic excuse for a man. Thinking he could control me. Thinking he could use me and then toss me aside when I was no longer useful.

He’d sent people after me. I knew he had.

Ever since that night at the club... when I’d smashed his head with his own gun and run—I’d felt them hunting me.

His bodyguards. His private investigators. His network of hired thugs.

I’d tried using my bank card once. Just once. At an ATM on the edge of the city.

Within an hour, there were men in suits asking questions at the store across the street.

So I’d learned. No cards. No digital footprints. Cash only, and even that was running dangerously low.

My parents were useless.

They were being brought in for questioning about Cain’s murder. About the bribes they’d paid to make problems disappear. About every skeleton they’d buried on my behalf.

They couldn’t help me even if they wanted to.

Which they probably didn’t.

I was on my own now.

Surviving on scraps. Stealing food when I could. Rationing the little money I had left.

All while trying to figure out how to get back to Aria.

Because that was all that mattered.

Aria.

Always Aria.

The camera panned across the conference room, and my breath caught.

There she was.

Sitting beside Kael, her hand in his, looking so fucking radiant it made my chest ache.

She was wearing a navy dress. Simple but elegant. Her hair fell in soft waves around her shoulders. Her golden eyes were clear and bright.

Beautiful.

Always so beautiful.

But different somehow.

There was a confidence in her posture that hadn’t been there before. A strength.

Like she’d found something... or someone... that made her feel safe.

My heart squeezed painfully.

I remembered our last encounter. The café.

The way she’d looked at me. Not with love or understanding or even pity.

With disgust.

Like I was something dirty. Something broken. Something that needed to be fixed or discarded.

She’d hit me.

Slapped me so hard my head had snapped to the side.

The memory made my face burn with humiliation even now.

"Why did you do it?" she’d asked.

Like I was the villain. Like I was the one who’d ruined everything.

When all I’d ever done was love her.

Protect her.

Try to keep her safe from people who would hurt her.

But she didn’t see it that way.

She saw me as the enemy now.

And it was his fault.

Kael’s.

Him and Ash and that bootlicker Niko and everyone else who’d poisoned her mind against me.

They’d all worked together to tear us apart.

To make Aria believe I was some kind of monster.

When the truth was so much simpler.

I loved her.

I’d always loved her.

More than anyone else ever could.

The camera focused on a reporter shouting questions at Kael.

"Mr. Roman, can you confirm the nature of your relationship with Miss Thorne?"

I leaned forward, my nails digging into my palms.

Kael’s voice was clear and confident when he answered.

"Aria Thorne is the woman I love. We’re together. That’s all you need to know."

The woman I love.

We’re together.

Something inside me snapped.

I grabbed the nearest thing—a cheap ceramic mug I’d stolen from a diner—and hurled it across the room.

It shattered against the wall, pieces scattering across the stained carpet.

"No!" I screamed. "No, no, no!"

My voice echoed in the empty apartment, raw and broken.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Aria was supposed to come back to me.

She was supposed to realize that everyone else was lying to her. Using her. Manipulating her.

She was supposed to understand that I was the only one who truly cared.

The only one who would never leave her.

But instead, she was with him.

Smiling beside him. Holding his hand. Letting him claim her in front of the entire world.

Like I didn’t exist.

Like our years together meant nothing.

I stood, pacing the small room, my mind racing.

They’d poisoned her. All of them.

Filled her head with lies about me. Made her think I was dangerous. Unstable. Wrong.

But I wasn’t wrong.

I’d never been wrong.

Everything I’d done... every single thing... had been for her.

To protect her. To keep her close. To make sure she’d never leave me the way everyone else had.

My parents had left me. Locked me away in that institution like I was some kind of animal that needed to be caged.

My classmates had left me. Called me weird. Strange. Broken.

Everyone always left.

Everyone except Aria.

She’d chosen me. Back in college. When she’d saved me from that thief. When she’d dragged me to parties and study groups and movie nights.

She’d chosen me.

And I’d made sure... made absolutely sure... that no one could take her away from me.

But somehow, Kael had done it anyway.

He’d wormed his way into her life. Into her heart. Into her bed.

And now he was parading her around like a trophy.

Like she belonged to him.

When she belonged to me.

She’d always belonged to me.

I stopped pacing, an idea forming in my mind.

Clear. Simple. Perfect.

I had to take Aria.

By force if necessary.

She wouldn’t come willingly. I knew that. She’d been too thoroughly brainwashed by Kael and his people.

But that was okay.

Once I had her away from them... once it was just the two of us again... she’d remember.

She’d remember how good we were together. How much she needed me. How much I loved her.

She’d understand eventually.

It might take time. She might fight at first. Might scream and cry and try to escape.

But I’d be patient.

I’d show her.

I’d prove that I was the only one who truly cared. The only one who would never abandon her.

And once she understood... once she really saw the truth... everything would go back to the way it was supposed to be.

Just the two of us.

Forever.

I sat back down, my mind already working through the logistics.

I’d need money. A car. Supplies.

And I’d need to get close to Aria without anyone noticing.

Kael would have security around her now. Probably Niko and a whole team of bodyguards.

But I was smart. I’d always been smart.

Smarter than all of them combined.

I’d find a way.

I always found a way.

My eyes drifted back to the laptop screen, where the broadcast had moved on to other news.

But I wasn’t seeing it anymore.

In my mind, I was already planning.

Already preparing.

Already imagining the moment when I’d have Aria back in my arms.

Where she belonged.

Where she’d always belonged.

And nothing... not Kael, not his money, not his power, not his fucking love, would stop me.

I’d burn the whole world down if I had to.

As long as Aria was mine in the end.

That’s all that mattered.

That’s all that had ever mattered.

I smiled to myself, feeling the familiar cold clarity settle over me.

The mask I’d worn for so long was gone now. Shattered. Unnecessary.

This was who I really was.

Someone who knew exactly what she wanted.

And would do anything.... absolutely anything... to get it.

Aria thought she could leave me.

Thought she could move on. Build a new life. Forget about me.

But she was wrong.

So terribly, beautifully wrong.

Because I was coming for her.

And when I found her, I was never letting go again.

Not ever.

"Soon," I whispered to the empty room. "Soon, Aria. I’ll save you from all of them."

And this time, nothing would stop me.