Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce!-Chapter 55

Aria’s POV

The apartment door clicked shut behind me.

I made it three steps before my legs gave out.

My back hit the wall. I slid down. The cold floor bit into my bare legs. The altered dress—the one I’d been so proud of hours ago—bunched up around my thighs.

I didn’t care.

The tears came then.

Not the silent, dignified kind. The ugly kind. The kind that racked my whole body. The kind that made sounds I didn’t recognize as human.

I pressed my hand over my mouth. Tried to muffle the sobs. Failed completely.

His voice echoed in my skull. That single word. So final. So gentle. So devastating.

He’d kissed my cheek. Like I was something fragile. Something precious.

And then he’d let me go.

The worst part? He was right.

I knew he was right.

We weren’t the same kind of people. We never had been. He was Blood Crown royalty. I was Shadow Moon trash. He lived in mansions and drove sports cars and dated women like Rebecca. I lived in a crumbling apartment and worked for minimum wage and couldn’t even keep my own daughter’s love.

What had I expected? That he’d suddenly declare his undying love? That he’d sweep me off my feet and make all my problems disappear?

Life wasn’t a fairy tale.

I was twenty-three years old. I should have learned that by now.

But knowing something and feeling it were two different things.

And right now, all I could feel was the ghost of his lips on my skin. The warmth of his hand on my cheek. The way he’d looked at me like it physically hurt him to say goodbye.

The sobs eventually slowed. Turned into hiccups. Then into ragged breaths. Then into nothing but the hollow ache in my chest.

I sat on the floor for a long time. Staring at nothing. Thinking about everything.

About Kael.

About the way he’d saved me from Marcus. The look on his face when he’d told Rebecca they were done. The way his hand had trembled—just slightly—when he touched my cheek.

He cared.

Some part of him actually cared.

I knew that now. Could feel it in my bones. In the place where the mate bond still hummed, even after everything.

But caring wasn’t enough.

It had never been enough.

And look where that had gotten me.

Divorced. Broke. Alone.

With a daughter who hated me and an ex-husband who wanted to throw me in prison.

I laughed. The sound came out broken. Bitter.

This was my life. This was what I’d been reduced to. Sitting on a cold floor in a ruined dress, crying over a man who’d told me we could never be together.

Pathetic.

Absolutely pathetic.

I pushed myself up. My legs shook. My head spun.

The apartment was dark. I hadn’t bothered to turn on the lights.

I stumbled toward the bathroom. Caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Disaster.

My makeup was smeared across my face. My eyes were red and swollen. The cheek Rebecca had slapped was still slightly pink. My hair—the hair I’d spent an hour styling—was a tangled mess.

I looked exactly how I felt.

Broken.

I turned on the faucet. Splashed cold water on my face. Watched the makeup run down the drain in black rivers.

Better. Cleaner. Still a mess, but at least an honest one.

I stripped off the dress. Let it fall to the floor in a heap of navy silk.

I pulled on an old t-shirt. Crawled into bed. Pulled the covers up to my chin.

The pillow was cold. The sheets were thin. The mattress creaked with every movement.

But at least it was mine. At least I had somewhere to hide.

Sleep didn’t come.

Of course it didn’t.

My mind kept replaying the night. Over and over. Like a movie I couldn’t turn off.

Marcus’s hands on my body. Rebecca’s slap across my face. Kael’s voice cutting through the darkness.

*Touch her one more time. I dare you.*

The way he’d said it. Low. Deadly. Like he would have torn Marcus apart with his bare hands.

And then he’d told me we could never be together.

The contradiction made my head spin.

*You’re not like your sisters. You’re different from them.*

Different.

What did that even mean?

That I was a slightly better class of trash? That I was worth protecting but not worth keeping?

I rolled onto my side. Stared at the wall.

The paint was peeling. A crack ran from the ceiling to the floor. Signs of decay that I usually tried to ignore.

But tonight, I couldn’t look away.

This was my life. This crumbling apartment. This dead-end job. This endless cycle of hoping and hurting.

And Kael was right.

He didn’t belong here. In this world. With me.

He belonged in mansions and VIP sections and places where people like me weren’t even allowed through the door.

The mate bond didn’t care about that. Fenrir had recognized me. Called me his. But wolves could be wrong. Fate could be cruel.

Maybe we were destined to be together.

But destiny didn’t always mean happily ever after.

Sometimes it just meant more pain.

I pressed my face into the pillow. Let the fabric absorb the fresh tears threatening to fall.

Why couldn’t I just hate him?

It would be so much easier if I could hate him.

But every time I tried, I remembered something else.

The way he’d looked at me during the mating ceremony. The way he’d held me after Finn attacked me. The way he’d stayed with me that night in the hotel, even when I’d begged him not to leave.

The way he’d kissed my cheek. So soft. So careful.

Like I was something worth being careful with.

Damn him.

The hours passed slowly. The darkness outside my window began to lighten. Gray dawn crept across the sky.

I hadn’t slept.

My eyes burned. My body ached. But my mind wouldn’t stop spinning.

What was I supposed to do now?

Go back to work? Pretend nothing had happened? Serve drinks and smile and act like my heart wasn’t in pieces on the floor?

Probably.

That’s what I always did.

Because what other choice did I have?

My phone buzzed.

I ignored it. Didn’t want to talk to anyone. Didn’t want to explain. Didn’t want to exist.

It buzzed again.

Finally, I reached for it. Squinted at the bright screen.

All from the same number.

Finn.

I opened the message.

*Have you figured out the money situation yet? $200,000 isn’t going to wait forever, Aria. My lawyers are getting impatient.*

*Lilith has been asking about you.*

My heart stopped.

*She’s been having nightmares. Crying at night. The nanny says she keeps calling for her mother.*

*I know things between us are complicated. But she’s still your daughter, Aria. She needs her mother.*

*I hope you’ll consider it, Aria. Lilith really wants to see you. She wants her mommy to take her out and play. It’s all she talks about. You should fulfill your duties as a mother.*