Chapter 117
A R I A N A
My legs moved on their own, one step back then another, as I tried to log me breath so they don’t hear me.
I had come to Angelo’s apartment to seek comfort just like I did the other time when we had a fight.
After what happened in the office, I didn’t have anywhere to go soI came here.
Seeing them both together made my heart crunch in pain, it made my blood went cold. It couldn’t be.
Angelo’s voice was smooth and approving.
This was all part of their plan… how stupid could I be?
“I told you I could handle him. Dante and I… we have a history p>
Melissa’s voice.
I had listened to every single word.
The plan.
The lies.
The manipulation.
The divorce papersa “masterstroke.” The children—a cruelty she decided on because she didn’t care.
She wanted Dante miserable.
I stumbled back and back into my hip hit a small side table a vase wobbled but I was quick to grab it, my fingers fumbling, and it settled with a soft clink.
Had they heard?
Panic, pure and electric, shot through me.
I didn’t wait to find out.
I turned and ran.
I didn’t stop until I was far away from his aprtmwner my heart hammering over its rib cage.
I leaned against a brick wall, dragging in ragged breaths that hurt my lungs.
The pieces, the horrible, twisted pieces, were crashing together in my mind.
It was all a lie.
Angelo and Melissa were working together.
How could it be?
Dante… Dante had been their puppet all this while, the coldness, the dead eyes. The flat voice. “I love Melissa. I want my real family back p>
Had he been acting? Had they threatened him? Drugged him? Brainwashed him? No… the guilt on his face in my office when Angelo first said it… that was real.
Dante was being used.
But regardless, he lied to me about Melissa. He should have told me. I would never judge him based on his past.
And… he didn’t deserve this. He didn’t deserve to be manipulated like this by his own nephew and a disgusting ex wife.
But why was he dancing to their tunes?
What did they have against Dante?
After everything he did, after the papers, after saying he would take my girls… I felt sorry for him.
Dante couldn’t just stop loving me. Not that fast. Not that completely. He was drowning, and instead of throwing him a rope, I had been sobbing on the shore.
“Everything is so messed up,” I whispered to myself. My voice sounded small and lost. “Where do I even begin p>
Marcus!
Yes! Marcus could help.
My fingers were numb but I pulled my phone from my pocket. I scrolled through the contacts before finding his number.
My thumb hovered over the call button.
What would I even say? ’Hi Marcus, my life is a mess, your best friend is being blackmailed by his nephew and ex-wife, and I think I’m losing my mind p>
I pressed call.
It rang three times.
I almost hung up.
“Ariana?” His voice was warm but surprised. “Hey. Is everything okay p>
Just hearing a normal kind voice almost undid me. I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Marcus. Hi. No. No, everything is… everything is very much not okay p>
“Whoa,” he said his tone shifting to concern. “What’s going on? Is it Dante? The girls? Asher p>
“It’s… it’s everything. I can’t… I can’t explain it over the phone… it’s too much” My words were tumbling out fast. “But I need to talk to someone I need help please, I have nowhere else to go p>
There was a pause on the other end. I could picture him, probably sitting in his home office running a hand through his hair. “Okay,” he said finally his voice firm. “Okay Ariana… Where are you? I’ll come get you p>
The relief was so sudden it made my eyes water. “Uhm p>
“tell me where you are p>
I looked around, giving him the cross streets. “I’m just… on the street near the east side”
“Stay right there,” he said. I could hear the sound of keys jingling, a door closing. “Get inside a store or a café if you can, somewhere public. Don’t stand out in the dark. I’m leaving now. Fifteen minutes, tops. I’ll be there okay p>
“Thank you Marcus,” I whispered, the tears finally spilling over. “Thank you p>
“Just stay put,” he said. “I’m on my way p>
The call ended and I slid down the brick wall until I was sitting on the cold sidewalk my arms wrapped around my knees as I watched the traffic go by.
It’s official, my life was so fucked up.