A Thief's Kiss

31| Unexpected

Chapter 31: Unexpected (Aria's POV)

I moped all the way back to the hotel over numerous things. 

I can't believe I saw Mason again and he slipped right through my fingertips. If only I didn't marry Alex and vow to stay with him. But strangely enough, I still don't quite regret doing that. I loved Mason. He was my first love and I always will love him, but we both know that our relationship wasn't right. We were two wrongs making a twisted right and it would have ended in disaster anyway. We would steal to keep each other happy all the time. Which I used to adore. But if it kept going, he could have had to face much worse than just being thrown out of Azura. And that would be solely my fault. I hope he finds the one for him and I get invited to the wedding. 

Secondly, I'm moping about what he told me. He saw my parents. When I was with him, I would tell him often about how I miss my parents, I wondered how they were doing, and I always wanted to know if they had another child. What gender it would be, what they would name it. I thought of asking my aunt because I knew she would speak to my mother on occasions, but I never got the courage to. And now I know. They have a daughter. She's ought to be younger than me. Maybe she's eighteen now. It must have taken them a while to settle back in Nethilore, so she must be younger than me. Maybe two years, maybe three. 

I can't believe they have another daughter. They left me. They never considered me as their daughter then. They never cared enough for me. In fact, they cared so little that they just left me and then started a whole new family. It hurt a lot more than I thought it would. It made me feel a lot more worthless than I thought it would. 

And lastly, I'm moping about the fact that I think I've caught feelings for Alexander Phoenix. And let me explain why I'm moping about that. I came here with a purpose. My life is pure misery because of him and his grandparents and my goal was to come here and give him just a taste of his own medicine. But now I've developed feelings for him. And with that in the way, I'll never be able to achieve what I came here for. 

Now, what am I going to do? What the hell will I do? If I start loving him, how will I ever be able to hurt him the way he hurt me? If not that, just a pinch, just a fraction of how much he hurt me? 

I won't. I'll fail. And that hurts too because I'm not failing anybody else. Just myself. 

"Hey." I snapped out of my thoughts, looking up at him as he tugged at my hand. "The elevator is here, come on." 

I stepped into the elevator with him, leaning against the wall with a loud sigh. 

"Why are you moping, Aria?" he asked softly, leaning against the wall beside me as the elevator slowly started moving. 

"Should I be dancing merrily?" 

"What are you upset about the most? Tell me." 

"They have another daughter, Alex," I exhaled. "Do you know what that means? That means they never cared for me. At all. That's why they left me here. That's why they were able to move on so quickly and have another daughter. Maybe she's only a few years younger than me, or maybe she's still a child. But they forgot me, Alex. I never mattered enough to them. I was... nothing to them. I was worth nothing." 

"Stop it," he said sternly, standing in front of me now. "Stop telling yourself that. You're not worthless. You're worth a lot, okay?" 

I stared at him. 

"You're worth every little thing in the world. And you're worth every happy moment. And just because they didn't understand that, doesn't mean other people don't. Just because they left you, doesn't mean other people will. Everybody isn't the same. Some people leave you, some won't. Some people hurt you, others won't. And the fact that you made it through so much is everything, Aria. And you don't give yourself enough credit for that. Do you know how much you've been through? Any other person may not even be able to handle a fraction of that. So stop. Stop pitying yourself. You're stronger than you think, don't underestimate yourself."