MADDEST OBSESSION - Chapter 45: Chapter 45
You are reading MADDEST OBSESSION, Chapter 45: Chapter 45. Read more chapters of MADDEST OBSESSION.
She left without telling him.
No guards. No car. No shadow.
Just herself.
And the city.
For the first time in years, Aria walked the streets without someone’s name stitched to her skin. Not Dominic Moretti’s wife. Not Leonard De Luca’s daughter. Just a woman in oversized sunglasses and a quiet ache in her chest.
The wind tasted like autumn.
New York moved around her in its usual chaotic rhythm — loud, impatient, alive.
She let it carry her.
She ended up in the old part of the city.
Near a bakery that used to sell almond croissants she loved as a teenager.
She used to come here with her mother.
Before she became a bargaining chip. Before her body was inked into contracts.
The bakery was still there.
She stepped inside and ordered without thinking.
“Two almond croissants and a cappuccino, please.”
“Miss De Luca?” a voice behind her said softly.
She froze.
That voice belonged to another life.
She turned slowly — and found Matteo, her younger brother.
Taller. Leaner. Eyes haunted by years apart.
“Matteo…”
“I recognized your voice.” His smile was sad. “And you still order the same thing.”
Tears prickled in her eyes before she could stop them.
They sat at a small window table.
They didn’t talk about their father.
Not right away.
They talked about books, and food, and the dog they used to sneak into the garden. They laughed quietly — like children pretending the world hadn’t swallowed them.
But eventually, the silence cracked.
“You look tired,” Matteo said gently.
“I am.”
“You don’t belong in that world, Aria.”
She looked out the window. “I don’t know where I belong.”
Matteo’s voice lowered. “If you need out, I can help.”
Her head snapped toward him. “You?”
“I’ve been planning to leave too,” he admitted. “I’ve seen what Father’s done. I know what he turned you into. What he gave you to.”
She didn’t answer.
Because the part that hurt most… was knowing she let it happen.
When she finally returned to the penthouse hours later, she expected fury.
But Dominic wasn’t in the living room.
Not in the bedroom.
Not waiting in the shadows.
Only silence.
Until she saw the note on the bed:
> “I won’t lock the cage again, Aria. But I don’t know how to stop circling it either.” — D
She stared at it for a long t
ime.
Then crawled into bed alone.
And for the first time in forever, she slept peacefully.
No guards. No car. No shadow.
Just herself.
And the city.
For the first time in years, Aria walked the streets without someone’s name stitched to her skin. Not Dominic Moretti’s wife. Not Leonard De Luca’s daughter. Just a woman in oversized sunglasses and a quiet ache in her chest.
The wind tasted like autumn.
New York moved around her in its usual chaotic rhythm — loud, impatient, alive.
She let it carry her.
She ended up in the old part of the city.
Near a bakery that used to sell almond croissants she loved as a teenager.
She used to come here with her mother.
Before she became a bargaining chip. Before her body was inked into contracts.
The bakery was still there.
She stepped inside and ordered without thinking.
“Two almond croissants and a cappuccino, please.”
“Miss De Luca?” a voice behind her said softly.
She froze.
That voice belonged to another life.
She turned slowly — and found Matteo, her younger brother.
Taller. Leaner. Eyes haunted by years apart.
“Matteo…”
“I recognized your voice.” His smile was sad. “And you still order the same thing.”
Tears prickled in her eyes before she could stop them.
They sat at a small window table.
They didn’t talk about their father.
Not right away.
They talked about books, and food, and the dog they used to sneak into the garden. They laughed quietly — like children pretending the world hadn’t swallowed them.
But eventually, the silence cracked.
“You look tired,” Matteo said gently.
“I am.”
“You don’t belong in that world, Aria.”
She looked out the window. “I don’t know where I belong.”
Matteo’s voice lowered. “If you need out, I can help.”
Her head snapped toward him. “You?”
“I’ve been planning to leave too,” he admitted. “I’ve seen what Father’s done. I know what he turned you into. What he gave you to.”
She didn’t answer.
Because the part that hurt most… was knowing she let it happen.
When she finally returned to the penthouse hours later, she expected fury.
But Dominic wasn’t in the living room.
Not in the bedroom.
Not waiting in the shadows.
Only silence.
Until she saw the note on the bed:
> “I won’t lock the cage again, Aria. But I don’t know how to stop circling it either.” — D
She stared at it for a long t
ime.
Then crawled into bed alone.
And for the first time in forever, she slept peacefully.
End of MADDEST OBSESSION Chapter 45. Continue reading Chapter 46 or return to MADDEST OBSESSION book page.