ARIA’S POV
I walked through the door of Mira’s house after my shift at the café, with my body so tired but my mind buzzing with thoughts of Zane.
The way he had looked at me, the way he had held my face and promised to protect me, it was all I could think about.
I found Mira in the living room, curled up on the couch with a book, and I dropped down beside her, and let out a long breath.
Mira looked at me with curious eyes and dropped the book she was reading.
“You look like you have something on your mind.
Spill it.” She said.
I hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell her everything.
“Zane came to see me today.
At the café.” I said softly.
Mira’s eyes widened with shock, and she sat up straighter and shouted, “Zane?
The Alpha Prince?
What did he want?”
“He wanted to warn me about Aurora,” I said, keeping my voice low.
“He found out she has been watching me.
She has someone following me, reporting my movements to her.
He offered me a place to stay, a secret apartment on the outskirts of the territory.
He said it is safe, that no one knows about it.”
Mira’s face broke into a wide smile.
Then she nudged me playfully and said, “Aria, that is wonderful!
You should take it.
It is the safest option for you and the pup.”
I shook my head, feeling my heart so heavy and said hurriedly, “I cannot do that, Mira.
If people find out I am staying at my sister’s mate’s house, they will tear me apart.
They will call me names and say I am trying to steal him from her.
I cannot cross that line.”
Mira reached out and took my hand, and said firmly, but with a kind voice.
“Aria, listen to me.
Aurora does not respect you.
She has never respected you.
She has spent your entire life tearing you down and making you feel small.
You need to put yourself first for once.
You deserve to be happy.
You deserve to be safe.
And if Zane is offering you that, you should take it.”
I looked down at my hands, and said in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I am scared, Mira.
I am scared of what people will say.
I am scared of being called the sister who stole her sister’s mate.
I have spent my whole life being second best, and I do not know if I can handle being hated by everyone.”
Mira squeezed my hand tightly and said with a stern voice.
“Zane chose you, Aria.
Not Aurora.
He came to you.
He offered you his protection.
That means something.
Do not let fear stop you from grabbing happiness when it is right in front of you.”
I wanted to argue, to tell her she did not understand, but before I could say another word, a loud knock echoed through the house, and my heart dropped into my stomach.
I knew that knock.
It was sharp and demanding, the kind of knock that expected to be answered immediately.
I looked at Mira, and she looked back at me with wide, worried eyes, and whispered, “Are you expecting anyone?”
I shook my head slowly, and replied, “No.”
Then I walked to the door and pulled it open, and my blood ran cold.
Aurora stood there, with a sweet smile plastered on her face, and her eyes glittering with cruel amusement.
She was dressed in her finest clothes, her blonde hair perfectly styled, and she looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine.
But I knew better.
I knew the monster hiding behind that beautiful smile.
“Aria,” she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness.
“I hope I am not interrupting anything.
I stepped aside, with my heart pounding, and said softly, “Come in, Aurora.”
She walked inside, her eyes scanning the room like she was looking for something to criticize.
Then she glanced at Mira and let out a small, dismissive laugh.
“Oh, Mira.
Still here, I see.
I thought you would have gotten tired of babysitting by now.” She said in a mocking voice.
Mira opened her mouth to respond, but I shot her a warning look.
This was my fight.
Then Aurora turned to me, with her fake smile still plastered on her face and said coldly, “So, Aria, I hear you have been busy.
Working at a café, of all places.
How embarrassing.
Imagine the shame of being the sister of the future Luna and serving coffee like a common servant.”
I kept my head bowed, and my voice soft and apologetic, as I said, “I am sorry, Aurora.
I did not mean to embarrass you.
I just needed to find a way to support myself.”
Aurora laughed coldly, and the mocking sound vibrated off the walls.
“Support yourself?
Please.
You have never been able to support yourself.
You have always relied on others to carry you.
First Father, then Mother, and now Mira.
You are pathetic, Aria.
Absolutely pathetic.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced myself to stay calm.
“I know I have made mistakes.
I am sorry if I have upset you.” I bowed my head and said softly.
Then Aurora stepped closer, and dropped her voice into a low, venomous whisper.
“Upset me?
You have done more than upset me.
You have disrespected me.
You have been sneaking around behind my back, trying to steal what is mine.
I know you have been seeing Zane.
I know you have been trying to take him away from me.”
I kept my head down, and my voice trembling.
“I did not mean to.
I am sorry.
I know he is yours.
I know you are his mate.
I would never try to take him from you.”
Aurora laughed again, louder this time and hissed, “Sorry?
You are sorry?
That is rich.
You have never been sorry for anything in your life.
You have always been weak and pathetic, and you have always tried to take what is mine.
But not this time, Aria.
This time, I will make sure you pay.”
She paced the room, her voice rising with each word.
“You think you can just waltz in and take my place?
You think you can be Luna?
You are nothing, Aria.
You have always been nothing, and you will always be nothing.
You are a shadow.
A ghost.
No one will ever choose you over me.
Not Gavin.
Not Zane.
No one.”
Then she leaned in close, and smiled sharply with a cruel expression on her face.
“Zane will never want you.
Why would he, when he can have me?
I am beautiful.
I am charming. Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
I am everything you are not.
You are just a desperate, pathetic little girl who cannot accept that she will always be second best.” She said disdainfully.
I felt the sting of her words, but I kept my head down, and my voice barely audible.
“I am sorry, Aurora.
I did not mean to make you angry.
Please forgive me.”
She laughed coldly and shook her head.
“Forgive you?
There is nothing to forgive.
You are not even worth the effort.
I came here to see you, to remind you of your place.
And now that I have, I am done with you.”
She turned toward the door, then paused and looked back at me, wity still that same wide and cruel smile on her face, and scoffed, “I will see you at the palace, Aria.
When I am Luna.
And you are still here, serving coffee and crying over your miserable little life.”
Then she walked out, laughing softly to herself, and the door slammed shut behind her.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Mira turned to me, her face flushed with anger and shouted, “Aria, why did you let her speak to you like that?
Why did you not fight back?
You just stood there and took it.
You even apologized to her!”
I lifted my head slowly, with a smile spreading across my face, and said softly, “I let her speak to me like that because that was the plan.
She expected me to fight back.
She wanted me to react.
But I gave her nothing.
I let her believe she had won.”
Mira stared at me, with confusion flickering in her eyes and stammered, “You…
you did that on purpose?”
I nodded, and replied in a steady voice.
“I have no desire to exchange words with Aurora.
She feeds on conflict.
She wanted to see me break.
But I did not give her the satisfaction.
She thinks she is in control.
She thinks I am still the weak, pathetic sister she has always bullied.
But she is wrong.”
Then I picked up my phone and scrolled through my contacts until I found Zane’s name.
I pressed the call button and waited.
He answered on the second ring.
“Aria?”
I took a deep breath and spoke calmly, my voice sounding sure.
“I have decided.
I will stay at your private apartment.
I accept your offer.”
There was a pause, and then I heard the relief in his voice.
“I will come pick you up tomorrow.
I promise.”
I ended the call and turned to Mira, with my heart pounding with a new kind of fire, and said softly, “I have never fought for anything in my life.
I have always let Aurora take whatever she wanted.
But not this time.”
I felt a strength I had never felt before, a strength that had been buried deep inside me for too long.
I looked at Mira, with determination in my eyes and continued, “Aurora likes Zane.
And I like him too.
This time, I am not backing down.”
I paused for a moment, with a slow, confident smile spreading across my face.
Then I took a deep breath, looked up at the sky and said, “May the best one win.”
“Aurora likes Zane….I like him too.” This is the beginning of sister’s rivalry.
A ruthless sister and a cunning one.
Yes, Aria is cunning.
“May the best one win!”