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Chapter Thirty
Aria
Mia had answered on the third ring.
“Aria?”
The sound of her voice—warm, familiar, the same voice that had laughed with her over playlists in Monaco, that had texted her dumb memes during long flight delays—had nearly broken her right there.
“Mia… I need to talk to you about Jax.”
A long pause on the other end. Then Mia’s voice, careful: “Okay. I’m listening.”
Aria took a shaky breath. “I’m so sorry. For lying to you. For lying to Dana too. The whole thing with Jax… it started as an arrangement. A fake relationship. Publicity for both of us. I needed to make Min-Jae jealous, he needed to look settled after some bad headlines. We agreed. Three months, appearances only, no feelings.”
Silence stretched. Aria kept going before she lost her nerve.
“I know how much Jax means to you and Dana. How close you all are. I never meant to hurt anyone. I thought it would be easy—smile for cameras, hold hands for photos, then walk away. But after a while… everything became real.”
Her voice cracked. “The friendship with you and Dana—it became real. I loved those nights on race weekends, talking about music and boys and nothing. I loved feeling like I belonged somewhere that wasn’t a stage. And Jax…”
She swallowed hard, the memories rushing in so vividly she could almost feel his touch again.
“Jax became everything. The first time he really kissed me—my knees nearly gave out. I remember thinking: this isn’t pretend. This is fire. And I was already burning.”
Tears slipped down her cheeks as she spoke.
“Every time after that… God, Mia. The way he’d look at me….”
Her breath hitched.
“And it wasn’t just physical. That was the part that terrified me most. He listened. Really listened. When I told him how lonely it was to be sixteen and already famous, how I sometimes felt like I was performing even when I was alone, he didn’t try to fix it. He just held me tighter.”
She wiped at her face with the back of her hand.
“I realise now I fell hard. But I convinced myself he didn’t feel the same. That to him it was still just the arrangement—something convenient for his image, something physical when the cameras were off. I told myself I was reading too much into the way he looked at me, the way he’d kiss my forehead when he thought I was asleep, the way he’d say my name like it hurt to let it go. I thought I was the only one who’d crossed the line.”
She swallowed again.
“When he told me after Silverstone that it had run its course, that I should go back to Min-Jae… I thought that was proof. That he was giving me an out. That maybe he was doing me a favour. But lately I’ve started wondering… what if it became real for him too? What if he thought he was doingmea favour by letting me go? What if he thought I wanted Min-Jae back?”
Mia stayed quiet. Aria’s heart hammered.
“You don’t owe me anything after I lied to you,” she whispered. “I know I broke your trust. But I’m hoping… maybe you could tell me where Jax is right now. And maybe… give me some idea if he might be open to hearing any of this. If there’s even a chance he felt it too.”
A long sigh came through the line. Aria’s stomach dropped. This was it—Mia was angry. Hurt. She’d ruined one of the few real friendships she’d made in this glittering, isolating world.
But when Mia spoke, her voice was soft, almost gentle.
“I wish you’d told me this sooner,” she said. “I think I could have helped. We could all see it wasn’t fake. The way you looked at each other, the way he softened around you… the only people you two were fooling were yourselves.”
Aria’s breath caught. Heartened, aching, she pressed the phone harder to her ear. “You really think—”
“Before you go rushing off,” Mia interrupted quietly, “there’s something you should know.”
Aria went still.
