The Maid's Deception-Chapter 76 - 75: Leaving

ARIA’S POV

Aria didn’t know how long she sat on the greenhouse floor after Damien left.

Minutes? Hours? Time had lost all meaning. All she knew was the cold concrete beneath her, the smell of earth and plants around her, and the devastating emptiness where her heart used to be.

Your mother will live. But we’re done. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

He’d saved her mother. Even after everything. Even after the betrayal. Even after she’d stolen from him, lied to him, destroyed everything they’d built together.

He’d made one phone call and saved her mother’s life.

And then he’d walked away.

The greenhouse door opened again, and Aria’s head snapped up, hope flaring painfully in her chest.

But it wasn’t Damien.

Two security guards stood in the doorway, their expressions professional but not unkind. One of them....Marcus, she thought his name was, not her Marcus from medical school but the head of estate security....cleared his throat.

"Miss Chen," he said quietly. "Mr. Blackwood has requested that we escort you from the property."

The words were a physical blow.

Escort you from the property.

Not "help you gather your things." Not "make sure you get home safely."

Escort. Like a criminal. Like someone who didn’t belong here. Like exactly what she was.....a thief caught in the act.

"I need....." Her voice cracked. "Can I just....I need to see him. Just for a moment. I need to explain....."

"Mr. Blackwood was very clear," the other guard said, his tone apologetic. "He doesn’t want to see you. We’re to escort you to collect your belongings and then drive you wherever you need to go."

He doesn’t want to see you.

Of course he didn’t. Why would he? She’d given him every reason to hate her and no reason to ever look at her again.

"Okay," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "Okay."

She tried to stand, but her legs wouldn’t cooperate. Her body was still wrecked from the brutal sex hours earlier, every muscle screaming in protest. And now, with shock and devastation added to the physical exhaustion, she couldn’t make her limbs work properly.

Marcus.....the security guard.....stepped forward and offered his hand. She took it, letting him pull her to her feet. She swayed dangerously, and he steadied her with a hand on her elbow.

"Are you hurt, Miss?" he asked, concern in his voice. "Do you need medical attention?"

Yes. No. I don’t know.

Her body was hurt, battered, marked by Damien’s possession. But that pain was nothing compared to the agony in her chest.

"I’m fine," she lied. "Just...just tired."

They walked her through the greenhouse in silence. Every step was agony. Every breath felt like broken glass in her lungs.

As they exited into the predawn darkness, Aria couldn’t help but look back at the mansion in the distance. Lights were on in what she knew was Damien’s study. Was he there? Was he watching her leave? Did he feel anything at all, or had she killed every emotion he’d ever had for her?

The walk to the staff quarters felt endless. Her legs trembled with every step. The guards walked on either side of her...not touching, not restraining, but present. Making sure she didn’t try to run back. Making sure she left.

They entered the staff wing, and Aria’s heart sank when she saw Lucy standing in the hallway, her face pale and horrified.

"Sarah?" Lucy’s voice cracked on the fake name. "Oh my god, Sarah, what happened? I heard....someone said you were being escorted out by security and I thought...." She stopped, taking in Aria’s appearance. The rumpled clothes. The way she could barely walk. The tears streaming down her face. "What did he do to you?"

"Nothing," Aria said quickly, not wanting anyone to think Damien had hurt her. "He didn’t.....this isn’t...." She couldn’t finish.

"This is my fault," Lucy said, tears filling her own eyes. "I told you he was different. I told you to trust him. I encouraged you to...."

"No." Aria grabbed Lucy’s hand. "No, Lucy. This isn’t your fault. This is all me. I did this. I..." Her voice broke completely. "I destroyed everything. That’s all me."

"Miss Chen needs to collect her belongings," Marcus said gently but firmly. "We’re on a schedule."

Lucy looked like she wanted to argue, but Aria squeezed her hand. "It’s okay. I need to go. I need to....." She couldn’t say it. Couldn’t admit that she was being thrown out. That she’d lost everything.

They continued to her small room, and Aria stood in the doorway for a moment, looking at the space that had been hers for these strange, wonderful, devastating weeks.

The narrow bed where she’d slept alone most nights. The small desk where she’d planned her heist. The closet where she’d hidden her real identification, her mission phone, all the evidence of her deception.

And there, on the bedside table.....the necklace and earrings Damien had given her. His marks. His claims. His gifts.

She couldn’t take them. Couldn’t keep them. Didn’t deserve them.

She’d already packed a bag earlier, before she’d gone to Damien’s room, before she’d given him her virginity, before everything had fallen apart. It sat in the corner, ready for the escape she’d planned.

Now it would serve a different purpose. Not escape.....expulsion.

Aria moved mechanically, adding the few items she’d left out. Her maid’s uniform was gone....already taken to be laundered, she supposed. She’d never wear it again anyway.

She paused at the bedside table, her hand hovering over the jewelry.

"Miss Chen?" Marcus prompted gently.

"I can’t take these," she whispered. "They were...he gave them to me when I....." She couldn’t finish. "Please make sure he gets them back."

"Are you certain? Mr. Blackwood didn’t say...."

"I’m certain." She picked up the necklace, feeling the weight of it one last time. Remembering the night he’d fastened it around her throat. The way he’d looked at her. The way he’d said, "You belong to me."

She’d belonged to him. And she’d thrown it away.

She set the jewelry carefully on the pillow and stepped back.

"I’m ready," she said, even though she’d never be ready. Never be okay with leaving. Never be able to accept what she’d done.

They walked out of the room.....her room, not her room anymore.....and back through the hallways. Other staff members were starting their morning routines, and they all stopped to stare as she passed with her security escort.

She saw Mrs. Chen standing near the kitchen entrance. The older woman’s face was carefully neutral, but something in her eyes looked almost like disappointment. Or maybe pity. Or maybe just understanding that this had always been inevitable.

"Mrs. Chen," Aria started, needing to say something, needing to apologize to everyone she’d lied to.

But Mrs. Chen just shook her head once. A small, definitive gesture. Don’t. There’s nothing to say.

And she was right. What could Aria possibly say? Sorry I lied about who I was? Sorry I infiltrated your staff to commit theft? Sorry I fell in love with your employer and destroyed him?

None of it was enough. None of it would ever be enough.

They exited through the service entrance....not the grand front doors she’d walked through on her first day, but the back way. The servants’ exit. Appropriate, she thought bitterly. She’d come in as a servant under false pretenses. Now she was leaving the same way, only the pretenses had been stripped away.

A black car was waiting.....one of the estate vehicles. Marcus opened the back door for her.

"Where do you need to go, Miss Chen?" he asked.

"Mount Sinai Hospital," she said, her voice hollow. "ICU ward."

She needed to see her mother. Needed to make sure the treatment was really happening. Needed to see with her own eyes that Damien’s promise.....his final gift....was real.

The drive into the city was silent. Aria sat in the back seat, her bag on the floor, her hands clenched in her lap, and watched the estate disappear behind them.

The mansion where she’d worked. Where she’d planned her heist. Where she’d fallen in love. Where she’d given her virginity to a man who’d known she was lying the entire time.

Where she’d destroyed the best thing that had ever happened to her.

The sun was starting to rise as they entered Manhattan, painting the sky in shades of pink and gold. A beautiful morning. The start of a new day.

Except for Aria, it felt like the end of everything.