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.”

scream. A bitter laugh caught

ounce of pain she’d experienced over the past three years could

Copier

He wasn’t

that evening. Ariana

an Uber, a van screeched to a halt beside her. Before she could. process what was happening,

thought before the darkness claimed her was a desperate prayer: Please let this just be random, not another one of Luigi’s games. Please let him find me.

bound with zip ties.

Beauty’s awake,” the largest one sneered, running a finger down her cheek. “Luigi’s little princess, all wrapped up

do you

whimpered, the fog still clearing from her mind, “Who are you? What do you

reaching for the buttons on her blouse. “That

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

kicking despite her restraints, but in her weakened state, she was

tore at her clothes, tears streamed down her face. Despite everything, in that moment of pure terror, she still found herself desperately

thoughts, the door exploded inward, wood splintering from its

THE FUCK AWAY FROM HER!” Luigi’s voice was unrecognizable–a primal roar of pure rage that made even Ariana freeze in

men scattered like cockroaches, stumbling over each other in their haste to

her body. When she looked up at Luigi, what she saw stopped

that brief moment, it was like seeing an entirely different person.

to her side, bús hands visibly shaking

trauma was too fresh. She flinched away instinctively, a broken seb escaping her lips

black spots dancing atross her vision. The combination of medication, trauma and exhaustion finally overtook her, and the shipped back into unconsciousness.

later. Ariana drifted back to awareness in what

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

but heated tones.

was that?” Luigi’s voice was barely controlled, trembling with rage. “Which one of you geniuses thought hiring men to sexually assault her was part of

two more to go, then you’re free to be with Lella. We were doing

fall silent. “I