Chapter 218
POV: Aria
I woke up to silence. Not the kind that wraps around you gently, but the kind that hovers. Heavy. Careful. Like the air itself was waiting for me to move
The ceiling above me was cream–colored, plain, with a small crack near the light. I stared at it for a while. My eyes didn’t hurt anymore. My head will felt like it was stuffed with cotton, but thinner now. Not as dense. I blinked slowly. Once. Then again. The light through the curtains was soft, golden, almost sleepy.
I didn’t sit up.
I just… listened.
The sheets were tucked too neatly around me. Clean. Crisp. I could smell lemon and detergent. Someone had cleaned this room. Hard. Like they were trying to erase something. Maybe blood. Maybe memory. I didn’t know.
What I did know was that something in me had shifted. I could feel it in the way my fingers curled slightly when I flexed them. In the way my thoughts moved. Slower, but clearer. Like fog lifting to reveal something sharp underneath.
I was awake. I was alive.
But I was not the same.
I turned my head on the pillow. It took effort. Everything did. My body ached in places I didn’t remember getting hurt. My ribs felt tight. My arm stung. My legs were sore. But the pain was manageable. Bearable. Almost grounding.
I didn’t cry. I didn’t feel panic rising in my throat. There was no wild heartbeat. No spinning. Just this… stillness. Like all the noise inside me had drained out in my sleep and left something else behind. Not peace. Not really. But control.
Pieces of the night before came back in fragments.
A hand reaching for me.
The sharp edge of betrayal.
Valentina’s voice, trembling.
Someone shouting.
Then… nothing.
But there was more. I felt it. Not in my mind. In my bones. Something I’d seen. Something I’d felt. It hadn’t made sense at the time, but now, it was like a string tugging at the corner of my memory.
The door creaked open. I didn’t jump. Just turned my eyes toward the sound.
It was Enzo.
He stepped inside like I was sleeping, even though my eyes were open. He held a tray in his hands. Tea. Crackers. Son.
“You’re awake,” he said gently.
light.
I nodded. My voice felt stuck, so I didn’t speak right away. He came closer and set the tray down on the small table near the bed. Then he sat beside me, but not too close. Careful, Always careful now.
‘How do you feel?”
1/4
Chapter 218
I could lie. I could say tired. Or sore. Or numb.
Instead, I said, “Different.”
He looked at me, and I saw something flicker in his eyes. Worry. Relief. Something else too. Maybe fear, Not of me. But for me,
‘I remember some things,” I said quietly. “Not all. Just… pieces.”
He nodded slowly, hands clasped together.
I’m glad you’re remembering. But you don’t need to push yourself.”
I smiled a little. Just a small lift of my lips.
“I’m not pushing. I’m… sorting.”
He didn’t answer right away. Then he told me about Valentina.
How she confessed.
How she took money.
How she planned it..
How she said she was sorry.
I listened without blinking. Every word felt like another nail in something I hadn’t realized was already buried. It didn’t surprise me. Not really. But it still hurt. Not like a blade. More like a bruise you didn’t notice until someone touched it.
When he finished, he looked at me, waiting.
I only nodded. Once.
“You’re not shocked?” he asked.
“I think I already knew,” I said. “Maybe not the details. But my body knew. My mind just caught up.”
He let out a slow breath and looked down at his hands.
“The doctor said you should rest.”
I shifted a little under the covers. My body disagreed, but I said, “I want to go downstairs.”
Enzo tensed. “Maybe wait a bit. Just until you’re steadier.”
‘I’m fine.”
‘You can barely move.”
“Then help me.”
He stood reluctantly and offered his arm. I pushed the blanket off and swung my legs over the bed. My toes touched the i when I stood, but I didn’t fall.
He hovered beside me like I might collapse at any second. I gave him a small look.
“You look like my grandmother when I told her I was going to a party in a crop top.”
He laughed. It was soft. Surprised. His eyes warmed for a second, and it made me feel like myself again. Just a little.
Id. Real. My knees trembled
4
Chapter 218
You’re impossible,” he murmured.
“I’ve been told.”
The walk downstairs was slow. My hand clutched the railing. Each step was a small war. But I didn’t stop. I didn’t ask for help. When we reached the bitin I saw them.
Dante.
Matteo.
Luca.
They were scattered around the living room like shadows. When they saw me, they all froze.
It was the way people look at something broken. Like they were trying to guess where the cracks were.
I hated it.
I sat on the couch. Slowly. Carefully. I didn’t groan or wince. I just… settled.
“You can stop staring now,” I said quietly. “I’m not made of glass.”
Matteo looked away first. Dante sat in the armchair opposite me, eyes steady. Luca leaned against the wall like he always did, arms crossed but tense.
They said things like “you should be resting” and “do you need anything” and “we’re just glad you’re okay.”
I nodded through them. But inside, I was measuring.
Not them. Me.
I wasn’t sure who I was anymore. Not exactly. But I knew I wasn’t weak. Not anymore.
‘I remembered something else,” I said softly, sipping the tea.
Dante leaned forward. “What was it?”
I looked down at the liquid in my cup. Then back up.
“Funny how the ones you trust most are always the first to offer you tea with their left hand.”
The silence that followed was loud.
They all stared. Waiting.
But I didn’t explain.
Instead, I set the cup down and said, “Can someone pass the toast?”
No one moved at first. Then Matteo cleared his throat and handed it over.
I took a bite. Chewed slowly.
The taste was bland. But real.
‘I’m fine, I said after a while. “I just don’t want to waste another day pretending I’m not.”
