Chapter 177
Aria
6301
First Person POV
I didn’t even mean to answer it.
The phone just buzzed again. Same unknown number. Same silent scream pressing against my chest. And before I could think too hard about it, my finger moved,
I picked up.
“Hello?”
At first, nothing. Just a long, stretched silence that made my skin prickle. I almost thought it was a mistake. Or some scam. I was about to hang up when I heard it.
“Aria… Aria, sweetheart. It’s me. Your mother.”
My whole body locked up.
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t move. The phone felt heavy in my hand, like it was made of stone. My heart was pounding so loudly that I could barely hear anything else.
“Aria?” she said again. “Are you there? Can you hear me?”
I opened my mouth, but no sound came out.
She kept calling my name. Her voice wasn’t sharp like it used to be. It wasn’t loud or angry. It was soft. Shaky. A little too careful, like she didn’t want to scare me off.
“Aria, please. Just say something. I need to know you’re okay.”
I blinked. Swallowed hard.
“I’m here,” I whispered.
She let out a breath. I could hear it through the phone. Relief. Maybe something else too. Guilt. Pain. I couldn’t tell.
“Oh thank God,” she said. “You’re okay. I didn’t know if I didn’t know if I’d ever hear from you again.”
I stayed quiet.
My chest felt tight. My fingers were starting to go numb from how hard I was gripping the phone. I sat down slowly on the edge of the couch, one hand pressed to my stomach like that might calm the storm inside me.
“Where are you?” she asked. “What happened? You just left. You didn’t even say goodbye.”
I closed my eyes.
She kept going.
“We’ve been worried sick. You haven’t called. You haven’t written. Nothing. You didn’t think we’d care?”
Still, I said nothing.
1/4
Chapter 177
“Aria,” her voice cracked a little. “You can’t just disappear like that. We’re your family. We raised you. Do you have any idea how that feft?”
I felt something twist deep inside me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to say, You didn’t raise me. You tolerated me. You ignored me. You blamed me. But the words got stuck in my throat. They choked me before I could speak.
She let out a shaky breath. I could almost picture her, sitting in that same kitchen with the cracked tile floors and the fading curtains, Holding the phone like it might break her if she squeezed too tight.
“Victor’s in trouble,” she said suddenly. “A lot of trouble.”
That got my attention.
I sat up straighter. “What kind of trouble?”
She paused.
I waited.
“What kind of trouble?” I asked again, louder this time.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said quickly. “Just come home. Even if it’s just for a while. Just come back, Aria.”
My stomach dropped.
“I can’t,” I said, too fast. “I’m not safe there. I can’t just go back.”
She sniffled. “So what then? You’re just gone? You’ve forgotten us already?”
“No,” I whispered. “I haven’t forgotten.”
“You act like you don’t care,” she said, her voice rising a little. “Like we never loved you. Like we were nothing to you.”
That’s when I almost said it.
Because you never treated me like you loved me.
I wanted to shout it. I wanted her to hear how badly she’d huft me. How invisible I had felt growing up. How unwanted. But instead I stayed quiet. I bit my tongue and let the guilt settle over me like a thick, heavy coat.
She started crying.
She didn’t stop. “You don’t understand, Aria. Things are bad. Victor’s been running with the wrong crowd, saying stupid things, acting like some kind of hero. Now he’s gotten himself caught up in something bigger than he can handle. And he’s still your family. I don’t care what happened between you two, you don’t turn your back on blood.” I squeezed my eyes shut. My throat tightened. “You have no idea what you’re asking me,” I said, my voice low. “Actually, I think I do,” she snapped, suddenly sharper. “I’m asking you to stop being selfish for once. You think you’re the only one who’s ever had a hard time? We were all struggling. But you ran. You left us. You left me, Aria.” Her voice cracked again, like she was trying not to cry. “I’m your mother. Why does it feel like you hate me?” The words hit me hard, right in the chest. I blinked fast. My heart was pounding. I wanted to yell, to scream that it wasn’t hate – it was hurt. It was years of silence, of her brushing me off, of pretending I didn’t matter as much as Victor. Of letting things slide. Of never once fighting for me. But I swallowed it. All of it. I clutched the phone tighter and forced my voice not to break. “I don’t hate you,” I whispered. And in that moment, I wasn’t even sure if it was true or not. I just knew she needed to hear it. And part of me still needed to say it.
“Just come home,” she said again, softer this time. “Please. For me. For Victor. Just for a little while.”
I pressed my fingers to my temple.
I felt tired.
2/4
Chapter 177
So, so tired.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.”
She sniffled again. “I knew you wouldn’t forget your family.”
I couldn’t even answer that.
I just nodded, even though she couldn’t see me.
“Okay,” she said. “Thank you.”
I ended the call.
I sat there for a minute. Maybe two. Staring at the phone like it had just cursed me.
My hands were shaking.
My throat hurt.
I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt the wetness on my cheek.
I sighed, wiped it quickly, and stood up. I was about to head to my room, maybe splash water on my face or pretend none of it happened.
But then I turned.
And froze.
All three of them were there.
Dante.
Enzo.
Matteo.
Standing in the hallway, eyes locked on me, faces like carved stone.
They had heard everything.
The phone slipped slightly in my hand.
None of them spoke.
They didn’t need to.
I felt the heat rise to my face. Shame. Fear, Guilt. All of it at once.
“Oh,” I whispered.
Then louder.
“Oh fuck.”
