Chapter 4
ARIA’S POV —
I still felt dirty. Cheap. Filthy.
Earlier, when Mr. Magnus kissed me, something in me went blank. I should have stopped him—I know I should have—but I didn’t. I let it happen.
And now he probably thinks I’m the kind of girl who throws herself at wealthy men.
“Oh, Aria… why did you do that?” I muttered as I stomped my foot against the pavement for the third time, the anger in my chest boiling over. I dragged my tired body through the quiet street toward the only person I knew who lived nearby.
By the time I reached Stella’s apartment building, my tears had dried on my face. I knocked once… twice… and the door opened to reveal the one person who absolutely didn’t want me there—Catherine, her roommate.
She folded her arms across her chest and looked at me like I was an unpleasant surprise.
“Huh.”
Then that smug look spread across her face.
“Well, well. Looks like someone finally got thrown out of the staff quarters after all.”
I kept my eyes down. That was exactly what the clerk downstairs at Tallhox had been waiting for—my downfall. I’d never been qualified to live in the staff quarters as a junior employee. If only I had known Noah gave me that place because he wanted something in return.
“Please… is Stella in?” I asked weakly.
“Who’s there?” Stella’s voice came from inside, and warmth spread through me at the sound. She rushed toward the door.
“Oh my God, Aria! What are you doing out here so late?”
Catherine didn’t even wait a second.
“Of course she’s here. Noah—her savior and her supposed ‘friend with benefits’—is married now, so he’s done with her. That’s why he threw her out of the staff quarters.”
I didn’t defend myself. I was too tired. Too broken. Let them think whatever they want. All i want is a roof above my head to pass the night.
“Catherine, stop,” Stella snapped. She stepped out, grabbed my suitcase, and shook her head.
“Come inside, Aria.”
But Catherine stepped in front of the doorway again.
“Stella, we share this apartment and the rent. You don’t get to bring people into this tiny place without my permission.”
“Catherine, it’s late. She’s my friend. She has nowhere else to go.”
“Please,” I whispered, humiliation burning in my throat.
Catherine rolled her eyes dramatically. “Fine. I’m going to the club anyway. But she better be gone before I’m back.”
She clicked her heels down the hallway, and Stella let out a frustrated sigh before turning to me again.
“Come in, Aria.”
“I’m really sorry, Stella,” I murmured. “I’m not trying to inconvenience you. I just… I have nowhere else to go.”
“You’re not disturbing me,” she said firmly, pulling me into a hug. “I’m glad you came here.”
The moment we sat down, my voice cracked.
“Noah didn’t just fire me. He ordered my belongings to be thrown out of the staff quarters. He told me the only reason he asked me out was because he wanted to sleep with me.”
Stella pulled back, anger burning across her face.
“That bastard.”
“It explains why he didn’t want me staying with you,” she muttered.
I swallowed hard, then whispered the memory still clawing at my chest.
“And something else happened today…”
She looked at me quietly.
“I almost got raped.”
Her mouth fell open.
“I almost lost my V-card to some thugs,” I said, my voice shaking. “If Mr. Magnus hadn’t arrived when he did… they would’ve taken me.”
Stella’s shock deepened.
“Wait—Mr. Magnus? As in our Mr. Magnus?”
“Yes,” I said.
“The same one we barely ever see?”
I nodded again.
“Oh my God, Aria,” she whispered. Then her eyes widened as if she noticed something crawling on me.
“Hold on. Are you… wearing his suit jacket?”
I looked down, startled. I’d forgotten I still had it on.
“No wonder!” she exclaimed. “You smell expensive. And this fabric—my God, this is luxury.”
I rolled my eyes weakly as she touched the sleeve, but then the memory of that kiss crashed back into me.
I bit down on my thumb.
“He kissed me.”
Stella froze completely. Then she lifted her gaze slowly, disbelief written all over her face.
“What… did you just say?”
“He kissed me,” I repeated. “And I didn’t stop him. I don’t know why I let him. Now he probably thinks I’m some desperate slut chasing his money.”
I stood and began to pace, unable to stay still.
Stella shook her head. “Aria, are you hearing yourself? Mr. Magnus—private, strict, impossible-to-access Mr. Magnus—kissed you. He’s not the type to randomly grab women. Consider that a privilege ”
“But I am a Virgin” I said, frustrated. “I shouldn't have let him touch me, Stella. I let him kiss my virgin lips.”
“Who started the kiss?” she asked.
“Him,” I muttered. “He kissed me first.”
Stella sat up straighter.
“Then he likes you.”
I stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
“What?”
“Yes,” she insisted. “Either he likes you or he’s obsessed with you.”
“Stella, be serious,” I groaned. “How can a man like him like… me?”
“Have you never heard of Cinderella?”
“In movies,” I said.
“It happens anywhere,” she argued. “And there’s one way to find out—seduce him.”
My jaw dropped.
“Stella! I have bigger problems. My sick grandmother, no home, no job… and where would I even see him again?”
She smirked.
“First of all, his suit. You’ll have to return it. That’s your opening.”
I blinked.
“And second,” she added confidently, “use your charm. Touch his arm, lean close… and if there’s a rise under his zipper? Case closed.”
My cheeks burned.
“Stella!”
“What? It works!”
“What if you’re wrong?” I whispered. “What if I end up humiliating myself in front of everyone? Tracy, Stephanie, Liz… all of them?”
“Okay, answer this,” she said. “When he kissed you… was it rushed? Passionate? Or slow and soft?”
My mind drifted back.
His hands gripping my waist.
His fingers on my face.
His mouth on mine like he couldn’t get enough.
“It was rushed,” I whispered.
Stella leaned back, satisfied.
“Then he definitely likes you. Or he’s obsessed. And that is exactly how you can hurt Noah Trent more than anything.”
“What?” I asked, shocked.
“Yes! Use Magnus, his brother-in-Law to spite him. Trust me—Noah will never recover from that.”
I shook my head hard.
“No. I’m not doing that. Tomorrow I’ll go to Tallhox, collect my dismissal settlement, hand his suit over and leave. That’s it.”
“If you insist,” she sighed. “But it would’ve been—”
“Stella.”
“Fine. I won’t bring it up again. Come shower and eat something.”
She grabbed my worn-out suitcase and went inside.
“Thank you,” I whispered, following her.
Because deep down, I knew the truth:
Men like Mr. Magnus don’t fall for girls like me.
It simply doesn’t happen.
