The airport was filled with people....some arriving in the city, others preparing to leave. The constant hum of voices, the rolling of suitcases, and the distant announcements from the speakers blended together.
Amid the crowd, Aria sat quietly on a metal bench. Two suitcases rested beside her, and one of her hands gently cradled her stomach as if shielding it from the world.
She had spent the entire night in a hotel after storming out of the mansion in anger because of her father's cruel words.
It was the first time she had ever argued with him so fiercely.
And strangely enough… she felt a little proud of herself.
For once in her life, she had chosen her own decision instead of bowing to his authority.
Aria slowly rubbed her stomach, her fingers moving tenderly over the fabric of her dress.
"I decided to keep you, little pumpkin," she murmured softly under her breath, a small but determined smile forming on her lips. "I'm sorry that I wanted to abort you earlier, okay? I wasn't thinking straight."
Her voice trembled slightly, but her expression softened with warmth.
"It's not a must for me to get married," she continued quietly, almost as if she was confiding in the tiny life growing inside her. "I can leave home like this and take care of you myself. We'll be fine… I promise."
For a moment, the thought comforted her.
But reality quickly crept back in.
Aria sighed softly before leaning forward to unzip one of her bags. She pulled out her phone, staring at the dark screen for a moment.
She hadn't turned it on since last night.
After everything that had happened, she had simply switched it off and refused to look at it again.
She had already seen enough.
The news playing on the hotel television had been more than enough to tell her everything she needed to know.
Her father was never coming to bring her home.
At first, she had believed that he would calm down after a while. He had always been a strict man, but he was still her father.
She thought he would eventually call her back.
But she had been wrong.
Instead of calling her home, the old man had done something far worse.
He had announced on every single news channel that she was no longer a member of the Wilson family.
Disowned.
Banished.
Just like that.
All because she had decided to keep her baby.
Aria felt her chest tighten as the memory replayed in her mind.
Unable to stop herself, she reached up and adjusted the face mask covering the lower half of her face.
Everyone knew what the Mafia heiress looked like.
And the Mafia world was not a safe place.
Even though she had been cast out of the Wilson family, the Wilson blood still ran through her veins. If one of her father's many enemies happened to recognize her, they wouldn't hesitate to harm her.
Killing the daughter of their enemy would be satisfying enough for them.
Taking a steady breath, Aria finally pressed the power button on her phone.
The screen flickered to life.
And just as she had expected, notifications instantly flooded the screen.
News headlines.
Messages.
Missed calls.
Every single alert was about the same thing.
Her banishment.
Aria frowned and began swiping the notifications away impatiently.
"I get it already," she muttered under her breath. "You don't have to scream it at me."
She quickly opened her banking application, hoping to at least transfer some money before boarding her flight.
But the moment the page loaded, her expression froze.
Her account balance showed nothing.
No access.
Her brows furrowed as she refreshed the page again.
Still nothing.
Her father had blocked it.
Aria let out a dry scoff.
"Seriously?" she murmured under her breath. "I can't access my bank account?"
For a moment she stared at the screen in disbelief before shaking her head.
"Fine," she muttered. "I still have my savings."
Without hesitation, she clicked on her personal savings account...the one where she had been secretly depositing half of her salary for years.
But the moment the page opened…
Her heart dropped.
Blocked.
The word seemed to mock her from the screen.
Aria clenched her jaw.
"Is this old man kidding me right now?" she thought angrily, gripping her phone tightly. "How could he block my personal savings too?!"
Her breathing became slightly heavier as realization slowly settled in.
Her father had planned this.
He had already cut off every financial support she had.
Even before she walked out of the mansion.
"He actually wants me to come crawling back to him," Aria thought bitterly.
She could almost imagine the smug look on his face.
He was waiting for her to beg.
Especially since he hadn't revealed the secret of her pregnancy to the public yet.
He didn't want the world to know that the Wilson heiress was carrying the child of a former slave.
Aria exhaled heavily and leaned back against the chair.
"But that's never happening," she muttered quietly, determination flashing in her eyes. "I'll never beg him just to be accepted back into that house."
Her lips curled slightly with resentment.
"He can keep his precious stepdaughter and his perfect son."
For a moment, she stared down at her stomach again.
Then a small, relieved smile appeared on her face.
"Thank goodness my mother left me those properties before she died," she whispered softly.
Her father didn't have access to them.
He didn't even know they existed.
With that, Aria angrily switched off her phone and let out a long, frustrated sigh.
"How exactly am I supposed to call my nanny in another city and tell her to purchase a house for me if I had actually relied on his money?" she muttered bitterly to herself.
She shook her head slowly.
"I purposely used my mother's money for situations like this," she continued under her breath. "Because living in a house bought with her money… it would feel like she's still there with me."
Her expression softened slightly as she thought about her late mother.
But the moment quickly passed.
Aria inhaled deeply and pushed the thought aside.
"Anyways," she murmured quietly as she placed a hand over her stomach again, "it's time to leave, little pumpkin."
Carefully, she stood up from the chair and reached for her suitcase.
But the moment she took a single step forward...
Something dark suddenly covered her head.
A thick black sack.
"What?!"
Aria froze in shock.
How could something like this happen in the middle of an airport?!
Her heart immediately began pounding violently inside her chest.
"What is going on?!"
She tried to scream, but before she could even react properly, she felt a sharp, dizzy sensation spread through her head.
The world around her began spinning.
Her legs weakened.
And within seconds…
Everything went black.
*******
"Fuck!"
Aria gasped loudly as she suddenly regained consciousness.
A bucket of freezing cold water had just been poured over her body, instantly shocking her awake.
Her soaked clothes clung tightly to her skin as icy droplets dripped down her face.
For a few seconds, she could barely breathe.
I-I'm alive… she thought shakily, swallowing hard as she tried to steady her breathing.
"I'm alive after all."
After a few seconds…
Recognition hit her.
Her breathing suddenly halted.
"This floor…the walls..."
Her eyes widened slightly
"I'm back at the mansion," she realized in shock. "Did he come to get me back?" she wondered bitterly in her mind. "Like seriously?"
But the moment Aria slowly lifted her head to take in more of her surroundings....
Her entire body froze.
The person sitting in front of her was not her father.
It was Damien, her baby daddy.
He sat calmly in the large chair before her, his posture relaxed yet terrifyingly authoritative.
He was dressed in a crisp white shirt and black pants, the expensive fabric hugging his tall frame perfectly.
His curly blond hair fell loosely over his shoulders, framing his cold, emotionless face.
Gone were the ragged clothes he once wore as a slave.
And the icy expression on his face sent a wave of shock and pure terror down Aria's spine.