The rain had a way of making everything blur together—the city lights, the honking cars, the faces of strangers passing by. To Ariana Vale, it felt almost merciful. If the world could blur for just a little longer, maybe it wouldn't notice the cracks forming inside her.
Her heels clicked against the pavement, slower and slower, until she stopped under the pale glow of a flickering streetlamp. The hem of her pale blue dress was soaked, clinging to her legs, but she didn't move. She couldn't.
Somewhere behind her, laughter spilled from the grand hotel ballroom—the laughter of people who belonged to a world she had just been cast out of.
Her engagement party.Correction: her former engagement party.
The words still echoed in her head, cruel and final.
"I'm sorry, Ariana. I can't marry you. I should have told you sooner."
Her fiancé's voice had been steady, rehearsed, as if he'd practiced breaking her heart in front of a mirror. He hadn't even looked guilty. Just… relieved.
And why wouldn't he be? The whispers had already begun before she even walked out—snickers behind fans, pitying looks, the glittering eyes of people who thrived on another's downfall.
Ariana's family name, her reputation, everything she had been raised to uphold—ruined in the span of a single announcement.
She laughed bitterly, though the sound cracked midway."Congratulations, Ariana. You've officially become tonight's entertainment."
A sudden gust of wind blew, carrying with it the faint scent of cigarettes and rain. She stiffened. Someone was there.
"Standing alone in the rain," a low voice drawled behind her, "you'll catch a cold, you know."
Ariana's grip on her purse tightened. She turned, half-expecting a nosy reporter or a gossiping guest. Instead, her eyes met a stranger's.
Tall. Dark coat draped carelessly over broad shoulders. A cigarette between his fingers, its ember glowing faintly in the night. His hair was damp from the rain, but his eyes—sharp, amused, and a little too knowing—were fixed on her.
She swallowed."I don't recall asking for company."
He smirked, tilting his head as if her defiance intrigued him."And yet here I am."
She hated how his presence unsettled her, how his voice seemed to drown out the noise of the city. He was the kind of man her parents warned her about: dangerous not because of who he was, but because of how easily he could make a woman forget herself.
A silence stretched between them, broken only by the rain. Finally, Ariana turned back toward the street."If you're here to mock me, get in line. You'll have to wait your turn."
"Mock you?" His tone sharpened, curious now. "Why would I do that?"
She laughed humorlessly. "Because that's what people do when the Vale family's precious daughter gets dumped in front of half the city."
He didn't answer right away. Instead, he stepped closer, his cigarette burning low, his presence warm despite the chill."Let me guess. You're the type who thinks this is the end of the world."
Her jaw tightened. "And what would you know about my world?"
"Nothing," he admitted smoothly, his eyes glinting. "But I know that anyone who looks at rain like it's their executioner isn't just sad. They're furious."
Her breath hitched, because he was right. Sadness was bearable. Anger wasn't. Anger demanded to be fed, to be released.
But before she could respond, a black car rolled up to the curb. A luxury sedan. The driver got out, umbrella in hand."There you are, Miss Vale. Your father sent me."
Ariana's stomach knotted. Of course. Damage control. Her father must be fuming by now, already plotting how to salvage the family's image. She was no longer a daughter to him tonight. She was a liability.
The stranger flicked his cigarette into the puddle, the ember sizzling out."Looks like your rescue has arrived," he said casually. Then, leaning in just enough for only her to hear:"Tell me, Ariana Vale… when you finally get tired of being their pawn, will you dare to play your own game?"
Her breath caught, but before she could ask what he meant, he was already walking away—disappearing into the rain, as if he'd never been there at all.
The driver opened the umbrella over her head. "Miss, please. Your father is waiting."
Ariana forced her legs to move, each step heavier than the last. But even as she slid into the car, her heart wasn't with her family, or with the man who had humiliated her tonight.
It was with the stranger whose eyes had seen straight through her—and whose words lingered like a promise she wasn't ready to admit she wanted to keep.
That night, Ariana Vale lost everything she thought she was.And unknowingly, she also gained the one thing that would change her life forever: him.