Aria's POV:
"Oh! There you are Aria, I have been looking for you," Elaria exclaims from behind me as I spun around on the stool in the kitchen extremely bored.
"I haven't seen you in a while, Elaria." I pointed out as she dropped a couple of mugs in the sink in front of me, turning the tap on.
"Here, let me help." I offered as I hopped off the stool and walked around the kitchen island.
Elaria's eyes widen at my sudden offer. "Oh dear, I'm afraid I can't make you do that-"
"It's alright, Ms., I'm bored either way," I said before grabbing a sponge and getting to work. "Did you need to tell me something?"
"Oh, yes! Your father needed me to tell you to go shopping for some new dresses with Adela and Landon." She explains.
Confused I asked, "Why do I need new dresses?"
"Well, there is a big event coming up soon and, well um..." Elaria begins stumbling upon her words.
"And?" I asked, waiting for her to continue.
"And that's it," She remarks before silently stacking up the clean mugs on the dry rack.
I knew Elaria was holding something back and she most likely wouldn't tell me. She has never lied to me meaning this might be something serious, so I didn't push.
"Why do I need multiple for this event though?"
"Oh no, dear- it's not that you need multiple dresses for the event. Your mother's funeral is in two days... were you not aware of that?" The tone in her voice grew more and more concerned.
I knew that they would have held the funeral soon but in two days? They should have told me the date they had decided the date, especially when we had that talk almost three weeks ago.
The lump of heat in my chest just expanded every second, blinding me from what I was doing. I heard Elaria call after me but it all sounded muffled and I needed to see if it was true.
How do I say goodbye just like that to my mother when she had been the only person who understood me? How do they expect me to just move on when Mama was the only family and friend I had?
For the first time since our argument in the kitchen, I barged into Lawrence Hart's office without knocking.
Adela and Adrian stood there with them, their conversation being abruptly stopped by my presence. They were conversing with a man on a video call over the laptop which Lawrence turned off swiftly.
"What are you doing here?" Adrian asks in a forced, hushed tone but it wasn't him I was glaring at.
It took me all of my strength not to lunge at him and wrap my hands around his throat so I stood there, shaking violently.
Lawrence sighed, clearly not wanting another argument but here we were, "Aria, let's talk later-"
"Why didn't you tell me?" I said with a betrayed tone and the adrenaline I once had suddenly wore off.
I could tell he immediately understood what I was talking about by the look of guilt on his face. He knew he messed up and that huge wedge we had between us only grew further.
"You were avoiding me, Aria." He tried explaining himself. "How was I supposed to tell you?"
"Just because I was avoiding you doesn't mean that there aren't so many other ways to tell me that my mother is being buried in two days!"
My hands slammed down on the table as I pushed down the sob that built up in the back of my throat.
I then looked at Adrian, assuming the worst, "And did you know?" Adrian lowered his head and stayed silent, giving me the answer I dreaded.
"What about you, Adela?" I pointed my head at her, but she turned away ashamedly.
"Aria, we-" Adela began carefully. "We didn't know how to tell you when you're still grieving and adapting to a change like this-"
I scoffed, not letting her finish and my shaky hands raked through my curls desperately as I attempted to blink back tears.
It felt like a betrayal from all of them even though I had barely known them for a month. I didn't even know what to say at that point.
My whole life I had always lowered my expectations for everybody because I knew that they would either leave or lose my trust... but I didn't understand why it hurt so bad when it came to the Hart family.
"So everybody knew but me, huh?" A sob breaks out, "That's my mama, Lawrence. She was my mother-."
BOOM!
I stumble to the ground, hitting my head as the whole ground shakes violently, screams filling the air as I inhale smoke.
What the hell...
Gunshots filled the air as the ringing in my ears grew louder. Adrian kept Adela low to the ground as she protectively hugged her stomach, and Lawrence lunged over his desk and threw me to the ground with his body when I had tried to get up.
Keeping me low to the ground, Lawrence digs his phone out of his pocket and speed dials a number yelling multiple things at once but I could make out one.
"We're under attack!"
"Dad," Adrian gets his father's attention. "We need to get out of your office."
Lawrence simply nods but rushes over to his cabinet despite the whole building shaking rather than the exit behind us. There he opens it up, revealing a large steel door with a pinpad. He enters a code as Adrian guides me to crawl over to him and Adela to hide us under the desk.
"Watch over Adela, okay?" He says quickly before I can fully register it until I am left alone with Adela.
"What is going on, Adela?" I demanded as I held onto the legs of the desk tightly, debris falling all around us. Adela's lips parted but I wasn't finished. "And don't give me some bullshit answer."
Adela had a conflicted look on her face, her mouth opened but no words escaped. I let out a frustrated sound before turning away from her. If she wasn't going to give me a straight answer then I simply wasn't going to talk to her.
Together, the father and son duo opened the steel door with all their strength as it slowly creaked open and my eyes widened.
Weapons were in arrays, ranging from snipers to pistols as tools and medical equipment were neatly organized at the bottom of the shelf.
Adrian and Lawrence each grabbed a bulletproof vest and slipped it on before sliding two for Adela and me. Adela quickly put hers swiftly as if she was familiar with it and helped me adjust mine
Adrian and Lawrence run over to us ducking before crouching down in front of us.
"Here's a handgun, this is how you pull safety off then you aim and pull the trigger." Lawrence briefly teaches me and all I could do was just stare at him in shock.
He shoved the cold metal steel into my hands and it felt perfect, like I had almost missed it. Adela to my right knew exactly what she was doing and nodded as she tied her long hair into a quick ponytail.
"Okay, on the count of three, we all quietly run to the door." Adrian orders and everybody nods. "The west, east, and main doors have been infiltrated so we will need to go through the emergency exit that is on the other side of the house."
With no time to be confused at what exactly was going on, Adrian was already counting and at three we all bolted to the door.
Trying to make our steps lighter but quicker was difficult but we all made it safely to the other side of the spacious office.
"Stay behind me and hold onto my arm," Lawrence orders and I grab onto his left arm. Adela does the same behind me by grabbing onto the elbow I was holding onto Lawrence with.
Questions were swarming through my head of what was going on but I chose to just follow the group's lead- in case my life depended on it.
What kind of family is this?
YOU ARE READING
Their Princess
Random"You can't bring her back." Aria's world was flipped upside down unexpectedly when men barged into her home, ruthlessly killing her Mother. Aria's Mother was her only light source, and it had been taken from her. Suddenly, men claiming to be her fam...
