Chapter 4: Echoes of the Past

Three weeks into her new life, Aria was beginning to understand the rhythm of being theirs. Mornings often found her in the penthouse kitchen, sharing coffee with Seraphina while Caden handled overseas calls. Afternoons were her own—time to paint, to explore the city without the constant weight of financial worry, to simply breathe. Evenings belonged to all three of them, whether in passionate embrace or quiet conversation that stretched long into the night.

It was a strange sort of paradise, and Aria was finally allowing herself to believe it might last.

She was returning from an art supply run when she saw him.

Marcus stood near the entrance to her luxury high-rise, his familiar bulk unmistakable even from a distance. Her ex-boyfriend looked exactly the same—broad shoulders that had once made her feel safe now seemed threatening, his square jaw set in the stubborn line she remembered all too well. His clothes were wrinkled, his dark hair unkempt, and there was something desperate in his posture that made her blood run cold.

Aria's steps faltered, her art supplies suddenly feeling impossibly heavy in her arms. She considered turning around, finding another way in, but Marcus's head turned and their eyes met across the courtyard.

"Aria!" His voice boomed across the space, drawing curious glances from other residents. "Aria, wait!"

She quickened her pace, her heart hammering against her ribs. The doorman—a kind older man named James—stepped forward with professional alertness as Marcus approached.

"Miss Evans, is everything alright?"

"It's fine, James," she managed, though her voice shook. "He's... we used to date."

Marcus pushed past the doorman's restraining hand, his face flushed with anger. "Used to date? Jesus, Aria, we lived together for two years! You can't just disappear like that."

"I moved out six months ago, Marcus. We've been over for—"

"Bullshit." He grabbed her arm, and Aria winced at the familiar pressure of his grip—not quite painful, but insistent enough to leave marks. "You think I don't know what this is? Some rich bastard's sugar baby arrangement?"

"Let go of me." Aria tried to pull away, but his hold tightened.

"I saw you, you know. Getting out of that fancy car, wearing clothes that cost more than I make in a month. What did you have to do for all this, Aria? What did you sell?"

The ugly accusation hit her like a slap, and suddenly she was twenty-two again, small and afraid and letting Marcus's jealousy dictate her choices. The old Aria would have apologized, would have tried to explain, would have let his anger make her feel guilty for wanting more than the toxic relationship they'd shared.

But she wasn't that girl anymore.

"I said let go." Her voice carried a new authority, one that seemed to surprise them both.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." James moved closer, one hand discreetly reaching for his radio.

"Like hell." Marcus's grip shifted to her wrist, and Aria saw the familiar flash of possessive rage in his eyes. "She's my—"

"She's what?"

The voice that cut through the tension was silk over steel, and Aria's knees nearly buckled with relief. Caden emerged from the building's entrance, moving with the predatory grace she'd come to know so well. In his perfectly tailored suit, he looked like he'd stepped from the pages of a magazine, but there was something deadly in his grey eyes that made the air itself seem to crackle.

Marcus's head snapped up, and Aria watched his face cycle through confusion, recognition, and finally, fear. Even someone like Marcus—arrogant and prone to violence—could recognize a apex predator when he saw one.

"I asked you a question." Caden's voice remained conversational as he approached, but Aria caught the subtle shift in his posture, the way his hands hung loose at his sides. "You were about to tell me what she is to you."

"His ex-girlfriend," Aria said quickly, sensing the potential for violence in the air. "Marcus, this is—"

"I know who he is." Marcus's grip on her wrist tightened unconsciously. "Caden Thorne. The billionaire tech mogul." His voice dripped with bitter resentment. "So this is how it is? You're just another rich man's whore now?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Caden moved. One moment he was ten feet away, the next his hand was locked around Marcus's wrist with surgical precision.

"You're going to let go of her now," Caden said quietly. His tone was almost conversational, but Marcus went white as pain flared across his features. "And then you're going to walk away and never come near her again."

"You can't just—" Marcus started, but whatever he saw in Caden's eyes made the words die in his throat.

"I can do anything I want," Caden replied with the calm certainty of a man who had never encountered a problem money couldn't solve. "The question is whether you'd prefer to walk away intact, or whether I need to involve people who are significantly less pleasant than I am."

Marcus released Aria's wrist like it had burned him, stumbling backward. But his humiliation only seemed to fuel his anger.

"This isn't over," he snarled, his voice carrying the promise of future confrontation. "You think you can just buy everything? Everyone? She'll get tired of playing dress-up, Thorne. And when she does, when she remembers what she really is, she'll come crawling back."

The casual cruelty of the words hit Aria harder than his physical grip had. All her old insecurities came rushing back—the voice that whispered she didn't belong here, that she was just playing at being someone worthy of Caden and Seraphina's attention.

Caden stepped forward, and this time there was nothing conversational in his posture. "James, please call building security. And perhaps the police. I believe this man is trespassing."

Marcus took another step back, finally seeming to grasp the precariousness of his position. But his parting shot was aimed directly at Aria's heart.

"You were nothing when I met you, and you'll be nothing when he throws you away. Don't forget that."

Then he was gone, disappearing into the late afternoon crowd like a bad dream. But his words lingered in the air, poisonous and familiar.

Aria realized she was shaking.

"Are you hurt?" Caden's voice had completely transformed, all the cold menace replaced by gentle concern. His hands hovered near her, not quite touching, as if she were made of spun glass.

"I'm fine," she whispered, though they both knew it was a lie.

"James, could you have Miss Evans's packages sent up? We'll be in the penthouse."

"Of course, Mr. Thorne."

Caden's hand settled lightly on the small of her back, guiding her toward the elevator. The touch was warm and reassuring, but Aria couldn't shake the memory of Marcus's grip, the casual way he'd grabbed her like she was still his property.

They rode up in silence, and Aria was grateful when the elevator doors opened to reveal Seraphina waiting in the penthouse foyer. She must have seen them from the windows, must have recognized the tension in their postures.

"What happened?" Seraphina's emerald eyes flicked between them, immediately alert.

"Her ex-boyfriend paid a visit," Caden replied tersely. "He was... persistent."

Seraphina's expression darkened with a fury that was somehow more terrifying than Caden's cold control. "Did he hurt you?"

Aria looked down at her wrist, where Marcus's grip had left red marks that were already beginning to darken. "Not really. He just... he said some things."

"What things?" The question came from both of them simultaneously, and Aria realized she was trembling again.

"It doesn't matter."

"It does." Seraphina moved closer, her hands gentle as she examined Aria's wrist. "Tell us what he said."

The old shame rose in Aria's throat like bile. "He called me... he said I was just another rich man's whore. That I was nothing before, and I'd be nothing when you threw me away."

The silence that followed was deafening.

"Look at me," Caden said quietly, and when Aria raised her eyes, she was startled by the raw emotion she saw there. "You are not nothing. You never were nothing. And the only person getting thrown away here is him—permanently."

"He has no power over you anymore," Seraphina added, her voice fierce with protective love. "None whatsoever."

But even as they comforted her, Aria couldn't shake the feeling that Marcus's appearance was just the beginning. He'd found her once; he could do it again. And next time, Caden might not be there to intervene.

As if reading her thoughts, Caden moved to the windows overlooking the street below. "I'm increasing your security detail," he said without turning around. "And having our legal team file a restraining order."

"Is that necessary? He's just—"

"He's a threat." Caden's voice brooked no argument. "To you, and therefore to us. I don't take threats lightly, Aria."

Seraphina's arms came around her from behind, warm and reassuring. "He can't touch you here," she murmured against Aria's temple. "You're safe with us. You'll always be safe with us."

Aria leaned back into the embrace, trying to believe it. But Marcus's words echoed in her mind, and she couldn't quite shake the fear that her past had just announced its intention to destroy her future.

Outside the windows, the city glittered with false promises, and Aria wondered if paradise could survive when hell came calling.