SWNOVELS Chapter Mountein 141
Chapter 29
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Aiden stared at his phone, his blood turning to ice as he scrolled through the endless stream of news articles and social media posts documenting every breathtaking detail of my wedding. There was no mistaking it; it had been spectacular, a lavish celebration designed to showcase Charles's power and influence.
His eyes fixed on a photo of Charles, his face alight with triumph, and a
surge of pure, unadulterated rage coursed through Aiden.
It was Charles. He was behind it all.
The realization hit him with the force of a physical blow. Without a word, he
brushed past his mother, ignoring her pleas for him to stay put, and stormed out
of the hospital, his mind a chaotic mix of fury and despair.
Charles and I were still basking in the afterglow of our wedding night, the
remnants of passion clinging to the air like a tangible thing, when the insistent
ringing of the doorbell shattered the tranquility of our morning.
Charles frowned, his brow furrowing as he shrugged on his robe. "Who on
earth could that be at this hour?" he muttered, irritation lacing his voice.
He hadn't even finished the sentence when the front door burst open, 12:41
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revealing a disheveled Aiden, his eyes blazing with fury. Before Charles could react, Aiden lunged, his fist connecting with Charles's jaw with a sickening thud. "You bastard!" Aiden roared, his voice hoarse with rage. "You stole her, but that wasn't enough, was it? You had to go after Ethan, too! He's in the hospital, his leg might not even be salvageable. You'll pay for what you did!"
Charles, caught off guard but recovering quickly, blocked Aiden's next blow with practiced ease, his grip on Aiden's wrist like a vise."Get ahold of yourself," he growled, his voice dangerously low.
"I wouldn't stoop to such tactics," Charles shot back, his voice laced with disdain."I simply arranged for your little stunt to be... diffused. The last thing Violet needed was for you two to ruin our wedding day."
The commotion had drawn me from the bedroom, my heart pounding in my chest as I took in the scene before me - Charles, his jaw tight, holding Aiden at bay, and Aiden, his face a mask of fury, every muscle in his body coiled tight with tension.
"Stop it, both of you!" I cried, rushing between them. My gaze met Aiden's, and for a fleeting moment, I saw a flicker of the boy I'd once known, the one
who'd shared my childhood dreams and stolen my first kiss. But the look vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a cold, hard glint that chilled me to the bone.
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"Let's not jump to conclusions," I said, my voice shaking despite my best efforts to sound calm. "Charles, tell him. Tell him what really happened."
A tense silence filled the room as Charles, his gaze unwavering, addressed Aiden."Ethan's accident was just that - an accident. A case of reckless driving on his part, if you must know. I arranged for you both to be escorted back to Los Angeles, yes, but only after you attempted to disrupt the wedding."
He let the words hang in the air, his expression a mixture of anger and something else, something darker and more unsettling. "Consider this a taste of what you're up against, Aiden. You want a fight? Fine. But don't for a moment think that I will hesitate to protect what's mine."
True to his word, Charles had launched his counterattack. The police investigation into Ethan's accident, suspiciously thorough and efficient, concluded that the other driver, a young man with a history of DUI and a sudden influx of cash, was solely to blame. Meanwhile, Aiden's family businesses found themselves facing a series of audits and investigations, their every move scrutinized by Charles's team of lawyers and accountants. The message was clear: back down or face the
consequences.
Ethan awoke from surgery to find his leg encased in plaster, the reality of his situation hitting him with the full force of a physical blow. Aiden, his own face 12:41
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etched with exhaustion, sat by his bedside, his expression grim.
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"It's okay," Aiden said, his voice flat and devoid of emotion."They saved your
leg. You'll walk again, but... racing. That's over."
The words hung in the air, sharp-edged and final. Ethan could handle losing to Charles, to me. But losing his dream, the one constant in his life, because of a decision I'd made, that was unbearable.
He'd endured the agonizing weeks of physical therapy, the slow, frustrating process of learning to walk again, fueled by the hope that one day, he'd be back behind the wheel. But the first time he sat in his car, his heart hammering in his chest, he was overwhelmed by a wave of nausea, a visceral terror he couldn't control.
The fear, once a fleeting shadow, now clung to him like a shroud, a constant reminder of his mortality, of his own reckless choices. He loved me, yes, but not enough to risk his life.
He stumbled out of the car, his body slick with a cold sweat, the world
around him swaying as if he were still caught in the grip of the crash. Aiden, ever watchful, caught him before he could fall.
"What are you still doing here?" Ethan rasped, his voice bitter."Shouldn't you
be off planning your next move? Or have you finally accepted defeat?"
Aiden's shoulders slumped, his gaze distant."What's the point?" he
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murmured, his voice hollow.
During Ethan's recovery, Aiden had tried everything to reach me - phone
calls, letters, even showing up at our doorstep, only to be turned away by Charles'
s ever-present security detail. I'd shut him out, erasing him from my life as
easily as deleting a contact from my phone.
He'd poured his heart out in those letters, recounting every cherished memory, every inside joke, every moment of shared joy and laughter, hoping to rekindle even a flicker of the connection we'd once shared. But each letter had been returned unopened, a clear message that the past was the past, and I had moved on.
And the worst part? Aiden knew, deep down, that Charles was right. He'd
seen it in my eyes, the way I looked at Charles - with a love, an adoration, that he knew he could never inspire in me.
There was nothing left to say, no more moves to be made. Defeated, they parted ways, each retreating into their own private hells. Our once unbreakable bond, forged in childhood laughter and teenage dreams, had shattered, leaving behind only shards of what might have been. And as the years passed, those shards, too, would fade, until all that remained was a faint, bittersweet ache in the deepest recesses of our hearts.
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Every turn of the page is a new beginning.
I look forward to meeting you again in the next story!
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