Ariana's fingers trembled as she held the file. Her heart pounded so loudly that it almost drowned out everything around her.
"Open it," Adrian said quietly.
There was no anger in his voice this time. No coldness.
Only… something heavier. Something dangerous.
Fear.
Ariana swallowed hard and slowly opened the file.
Her eyes scanned the documents—
Medical reports.
Dates.
Names.
And then—
Her breath hitched.
"No…" she whispered.
Her grip loosened, the papers slipping slightly in her hands.
"This… this isn't possible."
Adrian stepped closer, his gaze locked on her face, carefully watching every reaction.
"But it is," he said.
Ariana shook her head, tears already forming in her eyes.
"This says… this says I was never—"
"Pregnant," Adrian finished for her.
Silence.
Heavy. Suffocating silence.
Ariana felt like the ground beneath her had vanished.
Her mind replayed everything—
The pain…
The blood…
The loss she believed had destroyed her…
All of it—
A lie?
"Then what happened to me?" her voice broke, barely audible.
Adrian clenched his jaw.
"That's what I've been trying to find out."
Ariana looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion, anger, and heartbreak.
"You knew?" she demanded.
"You knew all this time and you said nothing to me?!"
"I wasn't sure!" Adrian snapped, his patience finally cracking.
"I didn't want to destroy you with something that might not be true!"
Ariana let out a bitter laugh, tears streaming down her face.
"Destroy me?" she repeated.
"You think this—this is better?! Living in a lie? Mourning a child that never existed?!"
Adrian went silent.
Because she was right.
Every word… was right.
Ariana stepped back, shaking her head.
"Who did this to me?" she whispered.
Adrian's eyes darkened.
"There's only one person who had both the motive… and the power."
Ariana froze.
Her lips parted slowly.
"No…"
But deep down—
She already knew the answer.
Adrian said the name anyway.
"Victoria."
The air turned cold.
Ariana's chest tightened painfully.
Victoria…
The woman who always smiled sweetly in front of her…
Who pretended to care…
"She… she made me believe I lost my baby?" Ariana's voice trembled.
Adrian nodded grimly.
"The reports were manipulated. The hospital staff—some of them were bribed."
Ariana's legs almost gave out.
"This can't be real…"
But it was.
Every piece of her past—every pain she carried—
Was built on deception.
Suddenly, something inside her snapped.
The sadness in her eyes slowly faded…
Replaced by something darker.
Stronger.
Rage.
"She destroyed me," Ariana said, her voice now cold and steady.
Adrian watched her carefully.
"And now," she continued, wiping her tears,
"I'm going to destroy her."
A dangerous silence followed.
For the first time—
Adrian didn't try to stop her.
Instead, a faint, almost terrifying smile appeared on his lips.
"Good," he said softly.
Because the woman standing in front of him now…
Was no longer the broken Ariana he once knew.
She was something else entirely.
And Victoria…
Had just made the biggest mistake of her life.
Cliffhanger:
That same night, Ariana receives an anonymous message—
👉 "If you want the full truth about your 'pregnancy', come alone… midnight."
And when she looks at the sender—
Her blood runs cold.
Because the number… belongs to someone who should be dead.