Aria’s POV
Rowland’s tone held a tone of ache, like he wasn’t really asking , but the woman he once knew.
I glanced sideways at him. “Why?”
My voice ca out lighter than I intended, almost teasing.
It surprised how easily I tolerated Rowland calling by na.
When Richard did it, every hair on my neck stood on end. But with Rowland... I felt strangely patient as if sothing unseen kept nudging toward him.
Rowland didn’t answer right away.
His fingertips brushed the wall, then drifted to the fra of the painting in front of us.
“What do you think of these?” he asked.
I shifted Lana in my arms and studied the artwork.
They were stunning. Soft, delicate strokes forming vivid images with impossible ease...each painting pulsing with life, emotion, soul. The artist wasn’t just skilled... they were gifted, quite xtraordinary.
But what caught my attention wasn’t the beauty, It was the signature in the corner.
My heart skipped.
“Anna?” I asked slowly. “Is that the artist’s na?”
Rowland’s eyebrows lifted. He didn’t confirm... but he didn’t deny it either.
Then he said, his voice quiet and trembling with aning:
“I ca here for her.”
I didn’t understand Rowland, but watching him stand there, so focused, so lost in whatever mory haunted him... I couldn’t bring myself to interrupt.
My lips parted on their own.
“Anna...”
The na slipped out like a sigh, soft and strangely familiar. It felt like a tug in my chest, a whisper at the edge of mory, just out of reach.
But no matter how hard I stretched my mind toward it, the familiarity dissolved like mist.
Rowland blinked rapidly, as if waking from a trance.
“I’ll have Hunter take you ho,” he said quietly.
His expression was sincere. There was no hidden motive, no pressure. Just an honest suggestion.
My gaze drifted down the long corridor behind him. The pristine white walls faded into a shadowed corner ahead.
Sothing in that darkness made my wolf lift her head, her hackles prickling. A strange heaviness wrapped around the villa, it was unsettling yet... calling.
What is this place?
Why does it feel like it knows ?
But since Rowland insisted, I didn’t argue.
Lana, on the other hand, wasn’t pleased that we were leaving so soon. She clung to my shoulder.
Still, I got into Hunter’s car, confusion swirling through like a rising fog.
As we drove off, I glanced back once.
Rowland stood rooted in front of the villa, his expression unreadable in the dim light.
His aura had changed. It was cold, almost feral.
My wolf shivered.
Inside the villa, he had been watching the whole ti... studying ... as if hoping for sothing.
By the ti Hunter dropped us off at Hemsworth Villa, my head was pounding with unanswered questions. But none of that mattered compared to the pressing reality in front of .
This place... it wasn’t mine.
Not anymore.
Before I inherited the estate, I’d lived like a stray wolf.
Now, I finally had a place where Lana and I could breathe. And since I was determined to divorce Nathan, it was beyond inappropriate to remain in his ho.
I set Lana on the bed. She imdiately curled up, settling peacefully.
I wasted no ti, I began packing.
My hands moved faster the more I thought about it, especially when Sandra ca to mind.
She’s been gone this whole ti.
It has almost been a week since I’d returned here... and not once had she appeared.
The truth clicked hard enough to bruise.
Nathan had kicked her out long ago, that’s the only reason she now works at a shopping mall.
The mory of begging Sandra for help after my release from prison burned through my chest. I packed faster.
I didn’t take the clothes Nathan bought Lana and . I didn’t take the jewelry, the handbags, and all he gave us. I didn’t even bother looking at anything that reminded of him.
I left everything.
Holding Lana with one arm and dragging the suitcase with the other, I marched straight to the gate.
“Luna Aria—wait!” the security guard stamred, his eyes widening when he saw the suitcase. “Wh-Where are you going? Should I call a driver for you?”
He stepped in front of , panicking.
“Why are you carrying luggage? I’ll call a maid to help—”
I stopped dead, cold anger rippling off my wolf so sharply the guard froze mid-step.
I stared him down, my voice low.
“Move.”
He swallowed, his throat bobbing, sweat gathering at his temples.
The guard finally backed up and took out his cellphone. I could practically hear him anxiously calling Nathan again and again.
I walked past him, hauled the suitcase outside, and slipped into the taxi that had been waiting.
The engine started and soon sped off. I was finally attaining freedom.
I didn’t look back.
I held Lana closer as the villa disappeared behind us.
This ti, I wasn’t leaving quietly.
I was leaving for good.
User Comments
0 comments from readers