50. CHAPTER 50
ARIA
H ow I managed to make it home without breaking down or killing someone on the tube, I will never know.
I threw my bag on the living room floor, the contents spilling everywhere.
What a complete fucking asshole. How dare he speak to me like that?
I sat on the sofa, curling up in the corner of it.
That burning soon turned cold, numbing my body from the inside out.
I could feel my heart breaking all over again.
I blinked, letting the tears flow down my cheeks.
I was reminded daily of what he did to me from my scar; I didn’t need to see everything else again.
I jumped at the fireworks being set off outside, people shouting. It was a year ago today that I’d survived. A year of struggling to find myself again. I thought I had. I thought my life was going well.
Jason told me he would change every time he raised his hand to me. And I believed every word, until that night a year ago.
I didn’t remember much. Maybe it was my mind blocking it out.
The pure rage in his eyes as he pinned me up against the wall by my throat.
I swallowed, touching my neck, trying not to feel his hand around me again.
The knife coming at me. Then a burning, sharp pain along the inside of my arm.
I pulled my sleeve up, feeling the pain on my scar.
I stood up, starting to pace, shaking my arm to remove that feeling.
If Callum hadn’t arrived when he did, I didn’t think I would have survived that night.
Don’t do this to yourself, Aria .
I thought Sebastian was different. I never thought he’d be so cruel. I thought he cared about me like when we were younger. Maybe he just felt sorry for me, after looking in that file.
I picked my phone up and started pacing, wondering if I should call Sebastian as my palms felt sweaty.
We’d lied to each other. It was both our fault. I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone in my life. He was the only one I ever wanted and would ever want.
We just needed to get past this.
I placed my phone on the table and curled back up on the sofa. I should leave him for a bit to calm down, then I’d call him. I lay my head down on the pillow, staring at the phone in silence as tears fell from my eyes again. The fireworks banged outside the window now and then, causing me to jump.
There was a faint knock at the door.
Sebastian.
I got up, wiping my eyes, making my way over and opening it.
No—not Sebastian.
Jason.
His dark, forest-green eyes stared straight at me.
They weren’t the kind of green that grew, but poison ivy that killed everything it touched.
I pushed the door with all my strength, but he grabbed it, forcefully pushing it back at me, causing me to stumble.
I gasped, trying to catch my breath. My eyes darted to my phone, and I made a dash for it.
I grabbed it, bringing up Sebastian's number and pressing dial. I didn’t know if it rang, but Jason soon snatched it from my hands, flinging it across the room.
“That was stupid,” he said in a low voice.
He grabbed me by my neck, slamming me back against the wall. I gasped, trying to breathe, as I pulled at his hand around my neck. He smirked, letting out a venomous laugh, eventually releasing his grip on me. I took a deep breath to try and fill my lungs with the air he had removed.
“Did you really think I’d let you get away with this?” He tilted his head, stepping closer. “I’m going to make you bleed,” he whispered in my ear.
My body froze. I couldn’t move. I blinked, releasing the tears that had formed in my eyes, warm against my cold cheeks.
He was going to kill me, and there was nothing I could do.
“Don’t kill her here. Sebastian could turn up.” A familiar voice came from the doorway.
Nicholas.
What was he doing here?
He pulled a cigarette out of his packet and lit it, taking a drag and exhaling a cloud of smoke. He strolled towards us, two other men following, stopping next to Jason.
“Trash it,” he told the men.
The two men did as they were told and started breaking anything they could see.
The photo of me and my mum was thrown to the floor, and one of the men stamped on it, the screeching of the glass grinding together piercing my ears.
They kicked over the table, coffee spilling to the floor.
Then the crystal butterflies in the bell jar that my dad had sent me on my sixteenth birthday.
The last thing he sent me before I never heard from him again was broken, shattered into a million pieces against the wall in one fell swoop.
“I really thought she’d put up more of a fight,” Nicholas said, running his finger down my face.
I felt sick from his touch as I pulled my head away as best I could.
“She never was one to fight back.”