Aria had begun staying over at Frederick's penthouse more frequently. At first, it had been out of curiosity… then comfort… and now, addiction.
Every morning began with his arms around her.
Every night ended with his lips on her skin.
And somewhere in the quiet hours between dusk and dawn, she forgot who the villain was supposed to be.
> "I think I could get used to this," she murmured one morning, curled against his chest.
> "You already have," he replied, pressing a kiss into her hair.
But reality was not far behind them.
It came in the form of a knock on the clinic door.
---
It was a Monday afternoon. Patients were waiting. The receptionist was sorting files.
Then… the glass door opened.
And she walked in.
Tall. Elegant. Dressed in a blood-red trench coat and black heels. Her scent preceded her — jasmine and sin.
She had eyes like fire and lips like silk — but her expression was carved from stone.
> "I need to speak with Dr. Frederick," she said, voice calm, sharp.
> "Do you have an appointment?" the receptionist asked nervously.
The woman smiled faintly. Not kindly.
> "Tell him… Lucia's here."
Frederick froze when he heard the name.
Lucia.
A ghost from a chapter he thought was sealed. His hands trembled slightly as he closed the door to his office and whispered to himself.
> "Why now…?"
When she walked in, the air shifted.
She didn't greet him.
She stared at him with the weight of a thousand unspoken memories.
> "Still playing doctor?" she asked.
> "Still trying to burn me?" he replied coldly.
> "I didn't come to burn you. I came to warn you."
> "Warn me?"
She stepped closer, her heels echoing in the room.
> "You've let someone in again… haven't you? You never learn, Frederick. Women like Aria—"
"Don't say her name," he growled.
> "She's going to ruin you."
> "Maybe I deserve it."
Lucia chuckled, but there was no humor in it.
> "If she finds out what you did to me, she won't just leave. She'll bury you."
> "She already knows enough."
> "No," Lucia said, eyes narrowing. "She knows your lies. I have your truth."
She dropped a flash drive on his desk.
> "Watch it. Or don't. Either way, she will."
And with that… she turned and left.
Later that evening, Aria noticed something off.
Frederick was quieter. Distant. His touch was still soft, but his mind was clearly somewhere else.
> "Is something wrong?" she asked.
> "Just a long day."
> "Frederick… if something happened, I want to know."
He kissed her forehead and lied:
> "Nothing happened."
But Aria felt the shift. The way he held her tighter, as if afraid of losing her. The way his eyes avoided hers just a little too long.
And she felt something stir in her gut.
Fear.
Or worse… truth.
Two days later, an anonymous tip landed in the inbox of a rising news outlet known for exposing powerful figures.
Attached to it was a video — timestamped four years ago.
In it, Frederick was seen with Lucia.
They weren't just lovers.
He was coercing her.
Manipulating her into something she clearly didn't want.
> "Say you want it," his voice growled in the recording.
> "Frederick, I'm scared," Lucia whimpered.
> "Then scream it louder."
It wasn't just romance.
It was predation.
The video didn't go public yet. But Lucia made sure it reached Aria… first.
She received the link via text.
No sender.
No caption.
Just:
"Watch. Then ask him if love is still enough."
Aria clicked it.
Watched it.
And her world cracked open.
She felt like she'd been sleeping in a bed of wolves, and only just now heard them growl.
She confronted him that night.
-
He was in the kitchen, preparing dinner, humming softly — as if the world hadn't just caught fire.
> "Frederick," she said coldly.
He turned, smiling — until he saw her face.
> "What happened?"
> "Lucia," she said.
His smile dropped.
> "Where did you hear that name?"
> "Where do you think?"
She threw the flash drive on the table.
> "You lied to me."
> "I didn't lie."
> "You didn't tell me you broke her. That you made her say things. That you—"
> "She was different," he said quickly. "It wasn't like with you. You… you had control. She—"
> "No," Aria interrupted. "You don't get to compare scars. You don't get to pick which woman gets to forgive you."
Silence stretched.
> "So what happens now?" he asked quietly.
> "I don't know," she whispered.
Because part of her still loved him.
But another part… finally understood the monster she was trying to fix.
The air in the clinic had changed.
Patients still came.
Appointments were still booked.
But the staff noticed it — the way Frederick moved with a cold edge again. The way Aria had stopped smiling. And the lingering scent of a storm waiting to break.
Lucia had stirred waters that had long been poisoned.
And she wasn't done.
It was a rainy Wednesday evening when Aria stepped out of the clinic for fresh air — and found Lucia waiting beside a black town car, umbrella poised perfectly over her red curls.
> "I thought we should talk," Lucia said, as if they were old friends.
> "I've seen what you wanted me to see," Aria replied, arms crossed.
> "No," Lucia said, stepping closer. "You've seen what he let you see. I want to show you the rest."
> "Why? So I'll leave him?"
Lucia smiled coldly.
> "So you'll realize why I stayed."
> "Stayed?" Aria blinked. "You weren't just another girl, were you?"
Lucia leaned in, voice low and sharp.
> "I wasn't another girl. I was the first. The test subject. The experiment. The one who turned him into what he is now."
Lucia drove Aria to an old art studio on the edge of town. Inside, she pulled back a dust-covered curtain to reveal canvases, journals, and photos — all centered on one subject:
Aria.
> "What… is this?"
> "His obsession with you didn't start when you walked into that clinic," Lucia said. "He's been watching you. Following your psychology papers. Even sending patients to your lectures. He planned this."
> "That's not possible…"
> "Oh, sweet girl," Lucia whispered, "you still think you're in control?"
She handed Aria a worn-out notebook.
Inside were sketches of Aria's face, body, imagined scenes of her in various states of undress… years before she ever met Frederick.
Aria dropped it, her hands trembling.
> "He stalked me."
> "He built this fantasy long ago. You were just the final chapter."
--
That night, Aria waited for him in his penthouse. Her heart ached. Her fingers were clenched. Her mind — a hurricane.
When Frederick walked in, soaked from the rain, she didn't move.
> "Where were you?" he asked gently.
> "With Lucia."
The silence that followed was deadly.
> "You lied to me," she said. "About everything."
> "I didn't lie. I protected you from a truth that would ruin us."
> "You watched me. For years. You chose me like a hunter picks prey."
He stepped closer.
> "I chose you because I knew you'd be different. You'd survive me."
> "I didn't come to survive you," she snapped. "I came to expose you."
His face twisted.
> "And now?"
> "Now I don't even know who I am anymore."
He took her hands.
> "You're mine."
She yanked free.
"I'm not your possession. I'm the girl who's going to burn this all down."
Lucia sat in her car, watching the building from across the street.
She had everything now.
The photos.
The evidence.
The obsession.
But she didn't just want Frederick's career ruined.
She wanted Aria shattered too.
Because deep down, the one thing Frederick never did for Lucia… was fall in love.
And with Aria, he had.
So now, Lucia wasn't playing for justice.
She was playing for vengeance.
"Let's see what happens when I make her choose… between saving herself or saving him."