Free Web NovelChapter 200: Chapter 200
Aria’s POV
I didn’t circle the truth.
“What did you mean by what you said at the gala?” I asked.
Nathan paused, brushed his hair back and looked away.
“In front of outsiders and the media,” he said coolly, “you’re still the wife of the president of Hemsworth Group’s wife. You should maintain appearances.”
The words landed like scraps tossed to a stray.
My wolf stiffened, hackles rising.
What was I really expecting? I thought to myself.
Nathan’s mouth curved into a mocking smile. “Did you really think I believed you were innocent?”
The words struck harder than claws.
Heat rushed to my face. My chest tightened. I let out a low, cold laugh.
“Ah,” I said softly, venom coating every syllable. “The ever-decisive Alpha Nathan.. How foolish of me.”
The sarcasm masked the ache, but my wolf felt it all...she felt the old wound split open, bleeding memory and betrayal.
“Aria,” Nathan said sharply, his eyes narrowing, “what good does provoking me do? You’ll never escape the label of an ex-con. Only I can accept you. Francis wouldn’t. Jonathan wouldn’t. No man would tolerate a woman who’s been to prison.”
He stood abruptly and grabbed my wrist.
The contact sent a shudder through me. I was red with fury.
I tore my hand free.
“Get lost,” I snapped. My vision flared, faint blood-red patterns threading through the whites of my eyes. “Accept? Tolerate?”
I smiled—but it was the kind of smile that comes just before destruction.
“I don’t need anyone’s acceptance,” I said slowly, “least of all yours, Nathan.”
I spat his name like a curse.
His eyes flickered.
Then I turned and walked away without looking back.
Nathan’s POV
The moment Aria turned her back on me, my wolf stirred restlessly beneath my skin.
A lump lodged itself in my throat as I watched her storm away, her retreating figure burning into my vision. I had wanted to tell her the truth, that I suspected there was foul play with her case but I didn’t, I lied Instead. My hand curled slowly at my side, my fingers digging into my palm as if pain might anchor me. My eyes darkened, obsession and regret tangling in my chest like thorns.
My mind betrayed me, dragging me back to that day over a year ago—the drizzle, the gray sky, the way rain soaked through my clothes and into my bones. I could almost smell it again, damp concrete and despair. Back then, Aria’s face had been pale, her eyes hollow with anguish as she begged and told me she was innocent. My wolf had been restless that day too... but I had silenced it.
Now, the rain fell again, only this time, it was not physical, it soaked straight into my heart.
My phone vibrated.It was a call from Collins.
“Alpha Nathan,” Collin’s voice came through. “Ms. Sophia Darvin is awake. Also... should we proceed with the investigation into Luna Aria’s case from over a year ago?”
At the mention of Sophia, my brow furrowed. My wolf bristled, hackles rising, a low warning rumble echoing in my chest. As Collins continued speaking, something inside me went cold.
Aria’s reaction earlier replayed in my mind. The way her scent had shifted with a mix of fear, hurt, and fury tangled together. Wolves didn’t lie to themselves about things like that. The more I thought about it, the more that old case felt wrong. Like a wound that had never truly healed, only hidden beneath fur and arrogance.
I wasn’t as certain of her guilt as I had once been.
In fact...
I swallowed hard, forcing my breathing to steady, syncing it with the slow, powerful rhythm of my heart. My wolf gradually calmed, but my fist tightened further.
The idea that I might have wronged Aria over a year ago unsettled me far more than her anger ever could.
It clawed at me.
I took a step back and leaned against the sofa, my legs suddenly unsteady. I had looked into her life after prison, it was too clean and empty. Records that should have existed were missing. And yet, buried deep, I had seen flashes of the truth: the brutality of prison life, the way she’d been targeted again and again.
My wolf growled low in my chest.
Regret crept in like frost, numbing and merciless.
If Aria had truly been innocent...
Then I hadn’t just condemned her, I had been her executioner.
“Alpha Nathan? Alpha Nathan?” Colin’s voice pulled me back. The silence had stretched too long. In the background, I heard Soohia crying.
My grip tightened around the phone, my knuckles whitening.
“No.”
The word left my mouth sharp and final.
“No need to investigate.”
Collins faltered, clearly stunned. I cut in before he could question it. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
“It was for the media. There was nothing to uncover in the case,” I said coldly. “A mistake is a mistake.”
My tone carried the weight of an Alpha’s command. Collins was confused but obedient, but could only agree.
When the call ended, I let myself sink back into the sofa. The room was dark, the shadows heavy. My wolf paced inside me, restless and uneasy.
My gaze drifted to Aria’s closed door.
A battle raged within my chest.
What was done... was done.
Even if the truth surfaced now, could time really turn back? Could the scars fade? My fingers flexed and curled again, torn between holding on and letting go.
In the end, I made my decision.
I would compensate her.
No matter the rights or wrongs of that case that made Aria go to jail, as long as Aria was my mate, my wife, she would live a life of privilege.
It was the least I could do.
And perhaps... the only atonement left to me.
