Aria’s POV

I took a slow walk through the garden, wondering how everything could change in the blink of an eye. Just a few days ago, I had been excited to accept Damian’s engagement, believing I was finally getting the man I loved. Now, I was his stepmother.

The thought was so absurd that a short laugh escaped my lips. I shook my head, unable to believe how quickly my life had turned upside down.

I drew in a deep breath as the cold wind brushed against my skin. Closing my eyes, I let myself enjoy the peacefulness for a moment. Then I heard my name.

“Aria!”

My eyes snapped open. I slowly turned toward the voice, and the moment I saw who was approaching, my body stiffened.

Damien.

He was walking toward me with his fists clenched at his sides. His jaw was tight, and the anger in his eyes was impossible to miss. He looked as though he had been searching for me, and judging by the storm on his face, he hadn't come to have a pleasant conversation.

When he stopped in front of me, his eyes swept over my face before he looked away, his lips pressing into a thin line.

“Are you happy now?” he asked.

He brought his palms together in a sharp clap. The sound made me glance around instinctively, checking whether any of the maids were nearby. Thankfully, the garden was empty. Damian's nostrils flared as he stared at me.

“Do you think I'm caught up in this game you're trying to play simply because I got engaged to your sister?” His voice dripped with accusation. “Is this your way of getting revenge on me?” He stepped closer, his eyes narrowing.

“I can see where this is going.” I stared at him for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

“That's no way to speak to your stepmother, Damien.” I kept my voice calm, even though I could feel irritation rising inside me. “It seems I'll have to teach you some manners.” His expression changed instantly.

His eyebrows lifted, and for a second, he looked genuinely stunned by my words.

Then he threw his head back and laughed.

“Do you really think my father would want a woman like you as his wife?” His laughter faded into a mocking smile.

“Oh, come on, Aria. Stop dreaming.”

He reached for my hand. I immediately pulled away and stepped backward, refusing to let him touch me.

His hand remained suspended for a moment before slowly dropping.A crooked smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

“It's okay, Aria. I know you're just trying to get my attention.” He gave a humorless chuckle. “Congratulations. You succeeded.” His expression hardened.

“Now enough of this madness. Get out of here.”

He pointed toward the huge gate standing in the distance. I pressed my lips together, fighting the urge to laugh. But as I looked at him, something inside me shifted. For the first time in three years, I saw Damian differently.

I looked at the man standing before me the man whose hand I had once dreamed of holding for the rest of my life and wondered how I had been so blind. The arrogance in his eyes.The contempt in his voice. The way he believed he could still order me around.How had I missed all of this?

For three years, I had devoted myself to him, foolishly believing I had found the love of my life. Now I understood, Damian wasn't the man I had thought he was. He was nothing but a piece of trash.

“Damian,” I muttered, my fingers curling into my palms as I fought to control the rage burning inside me. “I would advise you to leave now. I wouldn't want my husband to return and find you here.”

His face darkened immediately.

“What did you just say?” His eyes widened with disbelief before narrowing into a furious glare.

“Are you for real?” he snapped. “You're telling me that you couldn't hold yourself back, so you decided to crawl straight into my father's bed just to spite me?” He shook his head, his face twisting with disgust as he pointed an accusing finger at me.

“I've always known you were nothing but a whore. All these years, you've been pretending to be virtuous.” My eyes burned, but I refused to let him see me break.

I closed my eyes for a moment and drew in a deep breath. I didn't want to listen to another word. If I stayed there any longer, I was afraid I would lose control. I wasn't the one who cheated.

I wasn't the one who chose my sister over me, yet he stood there acting as though I was the one who had betrayed him. But there was one thing I would always be grateful for, That day, Damian had chosen my sister. If he hadn't, I might never have discovered the kind of man he truly was.

“I'll pretend we never had this conversation,” I said quietly. I turned to leave.

“Aria!” His voice cracked through the garden, I stopped.

“You dare walk out on me?”

I slowly turned around. This time, I wasn't going to hold back. A small, almost amused smile appeared on my lips.

“And if I do, what will you do?” I crossed my arms over my chest and walked toward him until only a few inches separated us.

Damian's eyes flickered with surprise.

His lips parted slightly as he stared at me.

He wasn't used to this version of me.

He had spent three years watching me tolerate his behavior. He had grown accustomed to my silence.But that woman was gone, His expression hardened.

“I'm not surprised.” His lips curled into a cruel smile. “After all, your mother was a whore, so I shouldn't expect anything else—”

My palm struck his cheek before he could finish. The sharp crack of the slap echoed through the garden. Damian's head snapped to the side. He froze. For several seconds, he didn't move.

Slowly, his hand rose to his cheek as he turned his face back toward me. His eyes were wide with disbelief, as though he couldn't understand what had just happened.

I stepped closer.

“For three years, I tolerated your stupidity because I thought you were man enough to be the person I had chosen.” My voice shook with anger. “But what did you do?” I stared directly into his eyes.

“You slept with my sister behind my back for all those years. Then you looked me straight in the eye and called me a gold digger.”

His face tightened. I clapped my hands together and stepped away from him, letting out a bitter laugh.

“You're truly incredible, Damian.” I shook my head.

“You know what? I dodged a bullet.” His expression changed.The amusement was gone.The arrogance disappeared from his face, replaced by raw fury.

I could see that my words had struck whatever little pride he had left.His chest rose and fell heavily.Then he stormed toward me,His hand lifted, My eyes widened.

“Don't you dare, Damian!”

The voice thundered across the garden.

His hand froze in midair. Damian's face drained of color. Slowly, he turned toward the voice.

Vincent stood several feet away. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes were cold as he stared at his son.

Damien immediately lowered his hand.

“Father…” He hurried toward Vincent, his anger suddenly replaced by desperation.

“Father, she's not the right woman for you.” His voice trembled with frustration. “Divorce her. Is that really too much for me to ask?” But Vincent didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on me.For a moment, fear crept into my heart.

Did he hear everything? My heart began to pound as the thought crossed my mind. Had Vincent heard Damian’s insults? Had he heard the accusations he had thrown at me? I swallowed hard, suddenly nervous beneath Vincent’s unwavering gaze. What if he believed Damian?

“Did I raise you to raise your hand against your stepmother, Damian?” His voice was calm. Damian froze.

His mouth opened, but nothing came out.

Vincent took a slow step toward him, his eyes hardening. The atmosphere seemed to change instantly.

“Touch my wife again…” He paused. His gaze dropped briefly to Damian's raised hand before returning to his face. “…and I'll break those hands of yours.”

Damian's eyes widened.

“You—”

“From this moment on,” Vincent continued, his voice leaving no room for argument, “you're banned from coming into my house until you learn how to accept her as your stepmother.” Damian's face contorted with disbelief.

“What?” His voice rose as he grabbed his hair with both hands.

“Father!”

He stared at Vincent as though he couldn't believe the man standing before him was actually his father. But Vincent didn't move, He simply stood there, his expression cold and firm. I couldn't stop the smile that slowly spread across my lips.

For the first time since this marriage began, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. I looked at Damian as he stood there completely humiliated. A quiet satisfaction settled in my chest. This was only the beginning.

Aria’s POV

It had been a few days since the incident between Damien and me, yet Vincent seemed to have grown distant. I could barely see him, let alone start a conversation with him. Whenever I asked his secretary about him, I was always given the same answer—that he was busy.

At this point, I had started wondering why I was even here in the first place. Why had I accepted his offer, knowing full well that I was going to be nothing more than a piece of furniture kept in his house for decoration? Still, it was better than going back.

My phone had been buzzing all day with calls from my parents, but I refused to answer. I knew exactly what they wanted to discuss. They wanted to talk about what had happened between Damien and me.

I wasn't going to give them the benefit of the doubt. If my sister was good at taking what belonged to me, then so was I. She had chosen her side first, and I wasn't going to sit back and explain myself to anyone. But despite everything, my mind remained troubled.

What if Vincent had heard what Damien and I were talking about? Perhaps I should have told him myself. Maybe that was the reason he had suddenly become so distant from me.

I was still lost in my thoughts when a knock on the door jolted me back to reality.

I quickly got up and opened it. The butler stood outside. He smiled, bowed his head respectfully, then straightened his back.

“My lady, Boss, requests your presence in the dining room.” I didn't have time to change or fix myself properly. I hurried out of the room and headed straight for the dining room.

The moment I stepped inside, I saw Vincent sitting at the far end of the table.

For a moment, I froze.

“Come. Eat with me.”

His cold voice echoed through the room.

I slowly made my way toward him and took my seat. When dinner was served, we ate in silence.

Neither of us spoke. With every passing second, my nerves grew worse. I couldn't keep hiding the truth from him. I didn't care how he would react; I just had to tell him before Damien got to him first and twisted everything around.

“I have something to tell you,” I finally muttered, breaking the awkward silence.

Vincent slowly raised his head, his gaze meeting mine. He placed his cutlery down and intertwined his fingers on the table.

Waiting, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes for a moment, trying to figure out how to put the words together without making everything sound worse than it already was.

“Damien and I were together before he cheated on me with my sister.” The room fell silent, I waited for him to say something. His expression didn't change. the longer he remained silent, the more frustrated I became.

“Aren't you going to say something?” I asked. A faint smirk appeared on his lips.

“I know.” My jaw dropped.My hands began to tremble beneath the table.

“You knew?” I stared at him in disbelief.

“You knew all this time, yet you said nothing? You didn't even ask me about it.”

“There's no need to ask. You're my wife.”

He shrugged as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. I still couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Vincent picked up his glass of wine and took a slow sip before gently placing it back on the table. His gaze remained fixed on me.

“Now, to the reason I wanted us to have dinner.” My stomach tightened.

“I've been thinking about something. I think it's time I have a child to take over my business empire. Since you're my wife, it would be improper to have one outside this marriage.” I froze.

A child?

What was he talking about?That had never been part of the agreement we made.

“Why is he suddenly talking about having a child?” My thoughts raced.

“I... I...” I stammered, completely caught off guard.

I didn't know what to say or how to react. Was he trying to put me in a difficult position? I couldn't believe this was happening.

I was already dealing with Damien trying to create a scene, and now Vincent was asking me to give him a child. A child who would be Damien's half-sibling.

“Mr. Vincent, I hope you don't have a child in mind as part of the agreement?” I asked, keeping my voice as low as possible. I wasn't ready to lose my mind just yet. Vincent's expression remained unchanged.

“It seems you didn't really look through the contract before signing it. Regardless, I want a child from you. You can choose whether it will be through surrogacy or the normal way.” My eyes widened, He said it so casually.

His gaze remained fixed on mine as he picked up his cutlery and took another spoonful of soup. I swallowed hard and tried to look away. Why did he have to look this good? My thoughts were becoming ridiculous, and I quickly pushed them aside.

“If you don't feel safe, we don't have to do it ourselves. You can simply hire a surrogate to carry the child.” I blinked twice and stared at him. His expression was unreadable.

“That isn't what I'm talking about,” I said, my voice tightening. “What about Damien? You can't be angry if he's being replaced, can you?”

The smirk on Vincent's lips widened slightly. He shook his head.

“Damien is not my son.” I froze.