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

Chapter 17

Just as Ariana turned to leave, a loud thud stopped her mid step.

Turning back, she found Michael Luigi’s executive assistant–staring at her with shock etched across his face, his dropped briefcase scattered across the hospital floor.

“Mrs… Maggiore?” he stammered, face draining of color. “Is that really you?”

Escape, it seemed, wouldn’t be so simple. Michael recovered quickly, positioning himself between Ariana and the exit with newfound determination.

“Please,” he implored, lowering his voice. “You can’t just disappear again. You have no idea what he’s been through since the fire. The man hasn’t slept through a single night in a year. Even if you want nothing to do with him now, at least stay until he’s out of surgery. He literally just took a car impact for

you.”

Ariana regarded him coolly, her expression betraying nothing of the calculations happening behind it.

“First,” she stated with clinical precision, “I am not Mrs. Maggiore. That person died in a fire last year–a fact your boss publicly confirmed.”

“Second, I’ll stay until he’s stable, but I’m leaving immediately after. My company has a performance

tomorrow.”

“Third, I have zero interest in rekindling any connection with Luigi Maggiore. Our relationship ended the moment he orchestrated my death.”

With each statement, Michael’s professional facade cracked further, revealing genuine distress, but he eventually nodded in reluctant agreement to her terms.

They settled into the antiseptic waiting room chairs, silence stretching between them as surgery continued behind closed doors.

three hours had elapsed–the operating room doors finally swung open.

gurney, his head heavily bandaged, but surprisingly conscious. His unfocused gaze swept the waiting area until it found her, his eyes immediately sharpening with recognition.

The word escaped like a prayer.

for her the moment the medical staff departed, his trembling hands gripping hers with desperate

17:23

Revenge Pirouette: The

12.24

hallucinated you. I kept telling them to make sure you were here when I woke up, but they thought it was the concussion talking. You’re actually

as if expecting

her voice devoid of emotion: “Your

clouded his features.

from his

everyone believed I died.” Her tone was conversational, as if discussing the weather. “It gave me the freedom to build a life

“Not many people could experience ninety–eight calculated humiliations from the person they trusted

surgical precision. Luigi’s face drained of color as the full implications registered–she had known. All

his injuries, he struggled upright, nearly tearing out

her. “It wasn’t–it started that way, but things changed–1

glancing at her watch. “I have a performance tomorrow that requires my complete

wrist. “I can’t lose you again. Not when I’ve just found you.”

go of me.” Her voice remained level.

frantically, his grip

shifted subtly, taking on a weariness that penetrated his desperation.

Twenty–eight dancers