Strings Attached

Aria pushed open the heavy bedroom door and let it click shut, sealing away the hollow echo of the apartment below. Retreating into the quiet sanctuary, she walked toward the edge of the mattress and sank onto the duvet. The silence should have been comforting, but before she could even exhale the lingering tension of Dorian's explosive exit, her phone screen illuminated the dim room. A relentless barrage of notifications flooded the glass.

She picked up the device. The messages were from Helena.

*Aria, do you really have to be this stubborn? Are you seriously going to abandon the Vance family? Generations of your father's blood, sweat, and tears. Do you have the heart to watch our century-old foundation just collapse like this?*

*If you do this, how are your dad and I supposed to face the world?*

*I know you have been through hell with this. That Nadia is the one Dorian cannot forget, like a scar on his heart. Can't you just suck it up and tough it out?*

*Men fool around all the time. If you cannot have the love, at least hold on tight to the money, right?*

*Aria, please, I am begging you. Your dad is still in the hospital. If Vance Group goes under for real, I do not know how I would face him or the rest of the family.*

Aria stared blankly at the wall of texts. She could feel the helplessness and desperation laced through every single line. Her mother was pleading with her to close her eyes and endure Dorian's blatant infidelity for the sheer sake of corporate money. Helena wanted her to sacrifice her own dignity to protect her hospitalized father's fragile health.

The guilt-laden words twisted like a jagged knife in Aria's chest. The emotional pressure threatened to crush the breath right out of her lungs. For a fleeting second, the image of her father lying pale in his hospital bed flashed through her mind. But she gritted her teeth and locked her screen. The room plunged back into shadows. She pushed aside the crushing emotional weight. She was not in the right headspace to dive into this toxic logic with Helena right now.

Truth be told, the Vance family's businesses were still tangled up with the Thorne family in far too many ways. Shared supply chains, joint real estate ventures, marketing firms, and even the game studio they had built together made their corporate marriage a sprawling mess. Unraveling it all would not be a fast or easy process.

Her immediate priority was clear. She needed to cleanly and surgically untangle her family's massive joint business dealings from the Thorne family's grip. For now, the best she could do was hustle to slice and separate their joint dealings as fast as possible before Dorian's camp could strike back.

With that determination taking root, Aria scrolled to her corporate assistant's contact. She was just about to hit the call button to set the separation in motion when the device vibrated hard against her palm.

An incoming call took over the screen. It was a number she had not bothered saving, yet one she recognized from his previous calls. Alaric Drexel.

Aria answered the call and brought the phone to her ear. "Yeah, I am here."

"Aria." His low, resonant voice flowed through the speaker. For whatever reason, the way he said her name always carried an unspoken, lingering intimacy.

She waited for him to speak. She knew a man like him did not make calls just to pass the time.

Alaric got straight to the point. "If you need a hand with anything, just say the word."

His meaning did not register at first. Then the reality of his offer hit her all at once. Despite being miles away on a business trip, his extensive network ensured he was well aware of the dramatic fallout between the Vance and Thorne families. His intent was obvious. One word from her, and his overwhelming power would sweep in to sort out the Vance Group's colossal mess. Aria knew his direct involvement would be a massive lifesaver in this crisis.

But Aria hesitated. Her fingers tightened around the phone's smooth edge.

She thought back to years ago, when the Vance family had been on the ropes after a massive financial setback. The Thorne family's help had been like a sturdy raft in a brutal storm. It got them back on solid ground. But from that moment on, their so-called help had mutated into an inescapable leash. The Vance family had been boxed in, suffocated, and controlled by the Thorne family at every single turn.

She refused to repeat history. Trading one tyrannical overlord for a dominating powerhouse like the Drexel family was not freedom. They would still be dancing to someone else's tune, leaning on outsiders to keep the family afloat. She knew better than anyone that in such an arrangement, the Vance family would never possess a shred of true control.

Dorian's betrayal had taught her a permanent lesson. The person you counted on could disappear or turn their back the moment it suited them. In the end, the only one you could truly rely on was yourself. She was determined to rebuild her family's shattered independence with her own two hands.

"Really, it is fine. I can take care of it. Thank you for the offer, Mr. Drexel." Aria murmured into the receiver, keeping her tone respectful but firm.

A deep, amused chuckle drifted through the encrypted line. "Suit yourself. But I am right here whenever you change your mind."

Even after her clear refusal, his confidence remained unshakeable. He left the door wide open.

Aria pressed her lips together. After a long beat, she murmured a soft thanks.

A thick, tense silence settled between them. She could hear the faint, steady sound of his breathing through the speaker, a grounding contrast to the chaotic noise in her own mind. The heavy corporate conversation seemed to have reached its natural end, but neither of them disconnected.

Alaric cleared his throat first. It was a subtle change in his rigid demeanor. "So… any thoughts on the wedding? Anything you want?"

He had given her seven days to decide whether to register the marriage, but a quick trip to the city hall and nothing more was never part of his plan.

Aria blinked at the wall, her mind blanking. The sheer concept of a wedding had not even crossed her exhausted mind. Even when she and Dorian had discussed the future, the Thorne family had shot down the idea of a public ceremony from day one. Dorian had manufactured endless excuses to avoid it. He used to brush it off, claiming extravagant weddings were exhausting spectacles designed for strangers, not the couple. He would insist he would rather just travel somewhere remote and romantic, keeping their commitment private.

Back then, she had bought his lies. She thought he simply hated the fuss. Now the bitter truth was obvious. He had never wanted Nadia to find out, or perhaps he had never planned on marrying her at all. He had left her expectations for marriage barren and nonexistent.

A wry smile tugged at Aria's lips as she shoved the pathetic memory aside. "I do not really care. We do not have to have one." She answered with a shrug in her voice, treating the event as a mere formality.

The temperature of Alaric's tone dropped several degrees in an instant. "Absolutely not. You are marrying me, Alaric. We are doing this with style, or not at all."

Aria froze. The sharp command in his voice caught her off guard. For a fleeting second, she almost reminded him that the seven-day deadline was not up yet. She had not signed the paperwork. The words hovered right on the tip of her tongue, but she sensed his genuine, simmering annoyance radiating through the silence of the line. She swallowed her sarcastic reminder.

Now was not the moment to provoke him.

Sensing her silence, Alaric took charge of the situation. "Fine. I will plan it my way. Once I am back, we will sit down and go over all the luxurious details together." He paused, his voice turning stern and unwavering. "And while I am gone, think about what you actually want. Because, Aria, I do not do secret marriages, and I definitely do not shortchange my wife."

His commanding tone left zero room for debate. He was staking his claim, and his protective nature was an unexpected shock to her system.

Unsure whether it was her fault or not, she rushed to placate his sudden flare of temper. "Okay. Whatever you decide is fine."

Her quick surrender seemed to soothe his irritation. His tone softened a fraction. "Good. Talk soon."

He ended the call before she could offer another word.

Aria stared at the darkened phone screen, shaking her head with a helpless sigh. A resilient determination to remain independent warred with a mild surprise at Alaric's demanding, protective nature.

Barely a second later, her phone buzzed again in her palm. The screen lit up with a new text message from Alaric. It contained his exact private flight details. He would be back in Oakhaven in exactly five days.

It was not a polite request. It was a clear, unyielding instruction to be there to pick him up.

Aria read the timeline twice, a faint smirk touching her lips. She typed a simple, compliant response.

*Got it.*

She hit send, locking in her agreement to his rigid schedule. Setting the lingering thoughts of the Drexel powerhouse aside, she refocused on the massive crisis looming over her own legacy. Without wasting another second, she dialed her assistant's number. The line rang twice before the connection was made, and Aria committed herself to the daunting task of dismantling the Thorne partnership.

"Hello, Ms. Vance," her assistant's voice came through, sharp and ready for instruction.

"We need to begin the separation process," Aria stated, her voice cool and authoritative, shedding the last remnants of her exhaustion. "We are going to review all joint assets with the Thorne family. Pull up the files on the conglomerate first."