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Chapter 19

Laugh remained frozen, his hand rising slowly to touch his reddening cheek, stunned duele written across his unshaven face.

“You’re… real?” he whispered, staring at her as if she might evaporate

Ariana had reached her absolute limit with this absurd day. She laughed a sharp, brittle sound utterly

devoid of humor.

“Real? Sure. Apparently I’m trapped in a real–life horror movie where my supposed death wasn’t enough to get you out of my life.”

Without deigning to look at him again, she pivoted sharply toward the staircase.

“Ariana, wait–please!”

Luigi lunged after her, alcohol and desperation making his movements clumsy. As he grabbed for her wrist, the combination of his unsteady state and her quick evasion created disaster–her foot slipped on the polished marble step.

“Look out!”

Despite his impaired reflexes, Luigi managed to pull her against him as they fell, positioning his body to take the impact.

Their bodies hit the marble stairs with a sickening thud that echoed through the foyer.

Cushioned by Luigi’s intervention, Ariana escaped with minor disorientation. Luigi, however, wasn’t as fortunate–a crimson stain began spreading across the white marble beneath his head.

“Sir!” Davis’s horrified voice cut through the sudden stunned silence.

as medical protocols were activated. Within fifteen minutes, both were being loaded into separate ambulances.

hospitalized, Ariana decided it was finally

entrance, only to find her path. blocked by two female security staff in business attire.

hardened into glacial contempt.

we have strict instructions that

1121

Swan’s Furuil Revenge Pirouette. The 9976.

the premises without

laugh escap felony choice.”

trying to hold me prisoner?

a response, she attempted to push past them

a clearly unwilling woman, the security team hesitated to use force, instead

reconsider–Mr. Maggiore was

only accelerated Ariana’s determined stride toward

with tinted windows glided to a stop directly in her

Her name emerged with an unsettling combination

me that,” she snapped, actual revulsion contorting her features. “It makes my

She’d recognized the reality that neither she nor her family could match the Maggiore

or influence.

encounter. each

would be misinterpreted. Her silence read as invitation. Her avoidance as challenge.

attended her performances, sending messages she systematically ignored. When blocked, he’d found new channels, seemingly content that she remained somewhere within his orbit.

the pretense of boundaries–attempting

she demanded, years of suppressed

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