A familiar warmth washed over her with a force that had her back crashing against the door harshly.
His body pressed against hers, then his lips came down on hers, devouring her mouth like he owned it.
“What took you so long?” Aria heard the same deep rasped voice from her past, the same hot breath that made her shiver.
“Hng.” Her body reacted to his touch.
His hands moved around her like they knew her.
His touch was soft but firm.
Wait!
What the hell?
This was the night everything shattered for her.
Her sex tape was all over the internet at the time and everyone mocked her.
This was her chance to change everything.
But she was too intoxicated to do anything.
Before she could even think, he lifted her, carrying her effortlessly, tossing her onto the bed.
“W…
Wait.” Aria said, trying to stay sane but he started ripping her wedding dress like paper under his hands.
She panicked, struggling against him but he didn’t stop.
“Relax, my butterfly, I won’t hurt you.” he whispered.
The words slithered through her mind, poisonous and hypnotic.
Her body betrayed her, confusion twisting into shame, shame into unwanted heat.
But if she was giving in, she wanted to know one thing.
Who her destroyer was.
She dragged the mask on his face and his paused.
Those grey eyes met hers.
She thought he would stop, but he didn’t, he leaned down on her and continued his actions.
Aria dragged the pillow to her face and kept it there.
She’ll never give them the news they so crave.
Her moans filled every corner of the room as he devoured her even more than she had remembered from the past.
Darkness claimed her, and when she jolted awake, it was morning again.
She checked the side of her bed and there was no one in the room with her.
He was gone.
And worse of all, she hadn’t recognized him when she met him last night.
She couldn’t think of seeing such person in her former love either.
She pushed the thought off and immediately got out of bed.
Her heart pounding like war drums.
This was the same time the reporters had arrived in her past life.
They had swooned in like flowing waters capturing every movement.
This time, she got off the bed quickly, knowing she had only just two minutes till they arrived.
She searched for something to wear since her wedding dress had been ripped apart, and her eyes caught the beautiful black dress hanging in a corner.
Perfect.
She was an artist and her artist hands worked fast, slipping into the fabric as if she were backstage at a show, changing before the curtain rose.
Heels clicked into place.
Her pulse thundered louder.
She grabbed the scattered clothes, shoving them beneath the bed.
She still felt a heavy ache as proof of her betrayal, her body felt like it had been hit by a truck, but she didn’t let that affect her.
She has been given a second chance at life, this time, she’s here to correct her mistake and make things right.
Just as she threw the clothes beneath the bed, the door flew open with reporters flooding in just like in the past.
They captured every little movement.
In her past life, they had taken her unaware and that had left so many headlines that ruined her life.
People still blamed her for hurting her husband the way she did.
They called her unfaithful and said that she was lucky Caspian still chose her.
In this life…
“Mrs Graves, how could you sleep in a hotel on the night of your wedding and without your husband?” The first question landed and just as she opened her mouth another came.
“Mrs Graves, Mr Graves has been your childhood sweetheart, we know how much you embarrassed yourself online to be married to him, how can you betray him like this?” Another came.
“Mrs.
Graves, why couldn’t you wait for your husband since it’s already your wedding night?
How shameless,” another question came.
Aria could tell their mission was to force a scandal and create stupid headlines against her.
Lydia, her slutty little sister, must have paid tons to have them there this early.
She couldn’t wait to see the look on her sister’s face when her plans failed today.
“Why are you all begging for a scandal?
I haven’t done anything wrong,” Aria said calmly.
“Is that hickeys, Mrs.
Graves?
Did you have sex with someone?” Their eyes moved around the room, capturing anything they could use as evidence.
It was almost as if she was being accused of murder and they were there to investigate.
“You had sex with another man on your wedding night?” another reporter asked.
“Oh my God, this is bad.
She cheated on Mr.
Graves.”
“Mrs.
Graves, what will happen now between you and Mr.
Graves?” Their camera lights kept flashing on her face, blinding her eyes.
They were too rude and had no bottom line.
They were hellbent on finding something wrong, on painting her as the bad guy.
Aria pulled her hair from her neck, and they all saw her bare neck.
There was no mark, just her usual fair skin.
She had used foundation to cover up the hickeys that bastard left on her.
She’s been in this game for seven whole years with experiences no one else knew of, she could play their industry games so well.
“Show me any hickey and I’ll give the finder a million dollars.” She said and all they could do was murmur.
Then she smiled.
“First you barge into my private suite uninvited, and now you dare to harass me with gutter talk?” she barked.
“Can’t a woman fucking have her privacy without being labelled a whore?”
“I’ve memorized every one of your faces.
By tomorrow morning, my lawyers will have your names, and I’ll make sure each of you answers in court.”
At that, they all started dropping their cameras one after another.
They had all recieved information about the scandal and had come to be the first people to witness it, only for the information to be fake.
“W…
We were only doing our job.”
“It’s not that deep, Mrs.
Graves.”
“Please forgive us.” They started walking away hurriedly.
“Aria,” Lydia called immediately as she pushed past the reporters.
“What happened to you?
We’ve searched everywhere for you,” she said like a concerned sister, but Aria knew her words were meant to create more news for the reporters.
Seeing her in this life, all she felt like doing was strangling her to death.
This stupid naive bitch had killed her over a man.
What happened to all the trainings she gave her?
In her past life, this little slut had been her world, the one person she loved more than herself.
Aria had taken good care of her since she was seven.
Back then, Aria was only ten when their parents died.
They lived with their poor grandparents, so they had to fend for themselves and for them.
Aria spent all her savings on Lydia’s education, worked part-time jobs just to keep them afloat, and all she got in return was betrayal.
Her little sister had been fucking Caspian since the beginning of time, and last night was her way of making him hate Aria since he wouldn’t be with her.
Aria had been a fool to think Lydia loved her, back then.
“After the party, you just disappeared.
Did you go with…
that man?” Lydia asked innocently.
“Which one dear sister, the one you set me up with?” Lydia immediately paused her lips at her sisters words.
She couldn’t tell how Aria knew about it.
“Let me guess, you came to make me beg Caspian because he’s threatening to divorce me?” Aria masked and Lydia’s eyes turned wide.
“Don’t worry about that, I’m not interested in the marriage anymore.”
“Aria, what has gotten over you?” Lydia asked, her eyes wide.
“Nothing.
I just have better things to do.” She opened the door and walked away.
In this life, she had the face of the man that had defiled her.
Once she finds out who he is, she’ll make sure she deals with him.