The Black Swan's Final Revenge Pirouette: The 99th Game Was Mine All Along by Kylie Homme

Chapter 4

Within seconds, the messages disappeared from the chat, as if they’d been nothing but a hallucination.

Ariana stared at her phone, her hand trembling so violently she nearly dropped it. The realization hit her like a physical blow, driving the air from her lungs. The cold truth spread through her veins like poison.

Everything–her “accident” at the pool, her fever, the “medicine“-had all been meticulously orchestrated as part of their sick game. The pills Luigi had so tenderly given her, pretending to care, were specifically designed to intensify her suffering.

She’d known they were using her, had heard it with her own ears at the hospital, but experiencing it firsthand made the betrayal infinitely more devastating. The calculated cruelty of it all made her physically ill.

Her phone lit up with Luigi’s name.

“Where the fuck are you?” His voice was sharp with urgency, almost angry. “Why aren’t you at the apartment?”

Ariana took a deep, steadying breath, forcing herself to sound detached: “My fever got worse. I had to go

to the ER.”

The line went dead silent before Luigi responded, his tone suddenly softer: “I’m coming over. Which hospital?”

“Don’t,” she cut him off, her voice eerily calm. “They’re just giving me fluids and keeping me overnight. You seem busy with your… other priorities. Don’t let me interrupt.

Her controlled tone seemed to quiet something in him too. After several seconds of silence, he asked carefully: “Did you check your phone at all?”

So that

1. it. He wasn’t worried about her health–he was terrified she’d seen those messages, that their

game was exposed.

“No,” she lied, “The doctor said my temperature was dangerously high. I’ve been a little preoccupied with not dying to scroll through social media.”

Another weighted silence before Luigi spoke, his voice carrying an emotion she couldn’t quite identify. “As long as I’m around, nothing bad will happen to you. I promise.”

made her want to scream. A bitter laugh caught in her throat.

Every ounce of pain she’d

Copier

him. He wasn’t her protector–he

Ariana was

van screeched to a halt beside her. Before she could. process what was happening, three men jumped out

this

room, wrists and ankles bound with zip ties. Four rough–looking men

sneered, running a finger down her cheek. “Luigi’s little princess, all wrapped up like a present.”

do you want?”

fog still clearing from her

one laughed, reaching for the buttons on

take some pictures for your boyfriend,” a third one said,

twisting and kicking despite her restraints, but in her weakened state, she was no match for them. They laughed

in that moment of pure terror, she still found herself desperately hoping Luigi would somehow find her–that he would burst through that door and save

door

HER!” Luigi’s voice was unrecognizable–a primal roar of pure rage that made

like cockroaches, stumbling over each other in their haste to escape the murderous. fury

violent tremors wracking her body. When she looked up at Luigi, what she

it was like seeing

rushed to her side, bús hands visibly shaking

broken seb

to spin, black spots dancing atross

later. Ariana drifted back to awareness in what she recognized as a hospital room.

the heard voices just outside her door–Luigi and his friends, speaking in

but heated tones.

one of you geniuses thought hiring

voice was dismissive. “We thought you wanted to speed things up. Ninety–seven down. just two more

making the others fall silent. “I never authorized anyone to fucking touch her like