No More Apologies

Aria slid into the driver's seat and gripped the steering wheel, leaving the quiet emptiness of her apartment behind. She merged onto the highway, pressing the gas pedal to speed up the swift drive back to the sprawling Vance family home. The silence inside the car offered a rare moment of peace, but it shattered the second her phone vibrated against the center console. The caller ID flashed Dorian's name. She tapped the screen to answer.

"Aria, get your ass to the hospital right now and apologize to Nadia."

Dorian's furious voice exploded through the speaker before she could even say hello. Through the receiver, Aria could hear Nadia's faint, calculated sobs echoing in the background. The familiar sound painted a crystal-clear picture in her mind. Dorian was pacing the sterile hospital room, aching to unload his towering anger on his fiancee just to soothe his fragile lover. He needed a punching bag, and Aria was supposed to play the part.

Without a second of hesitation, she hung up the call and stared at the dark screen. The phone buzzed again a moment later. Dorian was launching a nonstop barrage of calls, determined to harass her until she broke down and rushed over to grovel. She tapped the block button, severing his digital lifeline. The relentless ringing stopped. She finally breathed a sigh of deep relief as true silence settled in the car.

The massive wrought-iron gates of the Vance family estate loomed ahead. Aria parked her car in the circular driveway and walked through the heavy double doors into the grand foyer.

"Did you upset Dorian again? Aria, I told you, no more being stubborn. Just smooth things over with him. Why do you have to be so immature?"

Helena Vance ambushed her daughter the second she crossed the threshold, marching across the marble floor with her face flushed red from frantic anger.

"He just called me, saying you blocked him. Call him back this instant and apologize. Come on."

Helena reached out, attempting to snatch the phone right out of Aria's hand. Aria stepped back, gripping the device tight.

Years ago, Helena would never have pushed her own daughter to debase herself. Before the Vance family's fortunes tanked, they stood on equal footing with the mighty Thorne family. But three years ago, Aria's father, Gideon, made a catastrophic business decision. The resulting fallout nearly bankrupted the Vance Group and landed Gideon in a hospital bed with a severe stroke. The Thorne family stepped in and threw them a massive financial lifeline. That influx of cash saved the company, but it mutated Aria's romantic relationship into a lopsided, suffocating trap.

Whenever Dorian grew even slightly miffed, Helena panicked. She forced her daughter to swallow her pride and beg for forgiveness, utterly terrified of losing the Thorne corporate funding. Aria had played the obedient daughter for years, sacrificing her self-respect to keep her father's legacy afloat and to dodge her mother's endless meltdowns. But that era was over. She was done playing the martyr for a man who mercilessly bulldozed over her feelings. No amount of groveling would make Dorian care about her.

Aria laid her final cards flat on the table, keeping her voice steady and clear. "Mom, I am breaking up with Dorian."

The words lit Helena's explosive fuse. She dropped her outstretched hand and stared at her daughter with wide, manic eyes.

"Aria, what the hell did you just say? Who said you could break up? I will not allow it. Quit joking around. I told you to apologize to Dorian, so do it!"

Helena shrieked the command, her shrill voice echoing off the high ceilings. She lunged forward and clamped down aggressively on Aria's wrist, her nails digging deep into the skin.

"I will go with you to the hospital right now. We will apologize together and get him to forgive you. You little brat, I warned you not to let your moods take over, but you never listen."

Helena tugged at her arm, trying to drag her toward the front door. Aria forcefully wrenched her arm free and took another solid step back to create distance.

"Mom, let go. I did not do anything wrong. Why should I apologize? I have said it before. Dorian does not care about me. I do not want to drag this out anymore."

She had brought up splitting before, only for Helena to deploy tears and hysterics to shut the conversation down. But today, Aria stood her ground.

"Aria, what kind of nonsense is this? How is the Vance family supposed to survive without the Thorne family's support? If Dorian did not have feelings for you, why would he have dated you for so long? It is just that he forgot about you at the city hall yesterday and did not show up, right? Be more forgiving. He had important things to take care of. How can you be so unreasonable?"

Helena pointed a trembling finger at Aria's face, the brutal admission hanging in the air.

Helena had known all along that Dorian had cruelly stood Aria up at the altar yesterday. She had known her daughter was left waiting alone in her wedding dress, yet she had not bothered to call and offer a single word of comfort. Instead, she stood here demanding Aria take the blame for a nonexistent mistake. Aria met her mother's frantic, calculating gaze with cold calm.

"Mom, snap out of it. Dorian is in love with Nadia. Yesterday was the third time he ditched me for her. Three separate occasions he chose her over our wedding. Mom, I am exhausted."

Aria laid out the brutal facts, hoping sheer logic might pierce the panic. Her cool logic fell on completely deaf ears. Helena shook her head, jabbing a finger at her own temple in deep frustration.

"Aria, if you cannot hold on to a man yourself, who else are you going to blame? Either way, I will not let you break up with Dorian. The Thorne family would never accept Nadia anyway. Even with that in your favor, you still cannot make him forget her and marry you? Why do you not take a good look at yourself and figure out why you cannot keep him satisfied?"

Helena spat the words, her frustration boiling over into absolute madness. The Vance Group was teetering on the edge, and Helena needed this alliance to survive. To her, Aria was failing at her one and only job.

Aria let out a bitter laugh. "Mom, I—"

"Do not call me Mom! Aria, if you still consider me your mother, you will listen to me. You are not breaking up with Dorian. I forbid it."

Helena screamed at the top of her lungs, stepping closer with her face contorted in sheer rage.

"Listen to me carefully. If you split up with him and it causes the Vance Group to collapse, I will kill myself right here in front of you. And even as a ghost, I will never forgive you."

Helena delivered the severe emotional blackmail with lethal conviction, glaring unblinkingly at her daughter. A bleak, hollow emptiness filled Aria's chest. The air in the foyer felt stagnant and heavy. She stared at the woman standing in front of her. To Helena, her own daughter's happiness and dignity paled in stark comparison to the company's financial survival. The obsession with the Vance Group overrode any trace of maternal care.

Before Aria could formulate a response to the threat, Helena grabbed her wrist again. This time, the grip was like a steel vise, fueled by the manic strength of a woman possessed. Helena physically dragged Aria out the front doors and forced her down the stone steps. The cool afternoon air did nothing to chill the blazing tension between them. Helena shoved her into the passenger seat of her sedan and slammed the door shut.

The drive to the hospital was a nightmare of relentless scolding, with Helena gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white. Aria sat in silence, staring out the window as the city streets blurred past. The suffocating mix of familial betrayal and utter exhaustion drained the remaining fight right out of her bones. She let herself be led through the automatic sliding glass doors of the medical center, marched like a prisoner all the way down the sterile white corridors.

They arrived outside Nadia's private suite. Helena stopped in the hallway to smooth down her designer blazer, preparing to put on an ingratiating smile for Dorian. Aria stood outside the sterile white ward, her sense of bitter vindication sharpening as she looked through the rectangular viewing glass on the door. She watched the sickening scene unfold inside.

Dorian was leaning affectionately over the hospital bed. He held a small tube in one hand and a cotton swab in the other. He gently dabbed medical ointment on the minor scratch on Nadia's cheek. The exact same man who had screamed at Aria over the phone moments ago was now the picture of delicate devotion.

"Dorian, it hurts." Nadia whimpered dramatically, her face scrunching up in exaggerated pain.

"It will not hurt. Let me blow on it for you." Dorian coaxed her with tender whispers.

He leaned down, blowing a soft breath against her skin. Nadia managed a fragile, victorious smile. Dorian's gaze softened, melting into a look of pure adoration. He leaned down further and pressed a deeply affectionate kiss to her forehead. Blushing under the attention, Nadia threw her arms tightly around his neck.

"Dorian, it is so good having you here." Nadia sighed, pressing her body against his chest.

Dorian chuckled, reaching up to stroke her hair with profound care. Without missing a beat, Nadia tilted her chin up, leaned in, and kissed Dorian directly on the lips. Dorian did not pull away. He stayed bent over the bed, accepting the intimate kiss as his hands rested on her waist.

Helena aggressively pushed the door open. The heavy wood swung inward with a loud thud against the stopper. She walked straight into the room, hauling Aria behind her.

The romantic tableau inside the ward froze. For a split second, a sharp sense of intense awkwardness washed over the older woman. Helena stared at Dorian and Nadia's locked lips, the stark reality of the situation slamming into her chest. That brief, paralyzing awkwardness quickly mixed with a sudden, sinking hint of deep unease taking root in her stomach.