Chapter 4

Ariana’s ears rang after the slap.

Her father’s words cut deeper than the pain burning on her cheek.

“You are no longer my daughter,” he said coldly. “Get out of my house.”

House.

Not home.

Because somewhere along the years, this place had stopped feeling like one.

Tears streamed silently down Ariana’s face as she looked around the living room one last time.

Nobody defended her.

Not her stepmother.

Not Vanessa.

Not even the man she spent years trying to make proud.

Vanessa stood behind their father pretending to cry softly, but Ariana caught the small victorious smile hidden on her lips.

That smile destroyed the last piece of hope Ariana had left.

“Dad, please…” her voice broke painfully. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

But he turned away from her completely.

“I said leave.”

The silence afterward felt crueler than shouting.

Slowly, Ariana nodded.

Her hands trembled as she walked upstairs toward her room.

The same room where she cried herself to sleep countless nights.

The same room where she still kept childhood photos of herself and her father before everything changed.

Now none of it mattered anymore.

She pulled out an old suitcase and began stuffing clothes inside blindly while tears continued falling nonstop.

She had nowhere to go.

No money.

No family.

Nothing.

Her chest tightened painfully remembering flashes from the hotel room earlier that morning.

Wrinkled sheets.

A stranger’s touch.

The horrifying realization that she gave herself to a man she couldn’t even remember properly.

A broken sob escaped her lips.

Everything in her life had collapsed within one night.

After packing the last of her things, Ariana walked downstairs quietly dragging the suitcase behind her.

Nobody stopped her.

Her father never even looked at her again.

That hurt the most.

The front door closed behind her with a final sound that felt like the end of her entire world.

......................

By evening, Ariana stood nervously outside a small apartment building across town.

The only person she could think of.

Emma.

Her best friend since high school.

Before Ariana could even knock properly, the door swung open.

Emma’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ariana?!”

The moment Emma noticed the suitcase and tear-stained face, her expression changed instantly.

“Oh my God… what happened?”

Ariana tried speaking.

Instead, she burst into tears.

Emma immediately pulled her inside without another question.

“It’s okay,” she whispered gently while hugging her tightly.

“You’re safe here.”

That single sentence nearly broke Ariana completely.

Because after everything that happened—

Someone still wanted her.

Hours later, Ariana sat curled up on Emma’s small couch wearing borrowed pajamas while a cup of hot tea rested untouched in her hands.

Emma stayed beside her quietly listening to everything.

The party.

The photos.

Her father throwing her out.

Even the hotel.

Though Ariana couldn’t explain much because her memories remained blurry and incomplete.

Emma looked furious by the end.

“They’re monsters,” she snapped. “Especially Vanessa.”

Ariana gave a weak smile, trying to act stronger than she felt.

“At least I still have you.”

Emma squeezed her hand gently.

“You’ll always have me.”

For the first time that day, Ariana managed a real smile.

Small.

Fragile.

But it disappeared just as quickly.

Because deep down, Ariana knew the truth.

She had lost everything.

And besides the clothes inside her suitcase and the friend sitting beside her—

She had absolutely nothing left.

......................

The next morning felt painfully normal.

Too normal for a life that had completely fallen apart.

Soft sunlight entered through the curtains of Emma’s small apartment while the smell of coffee slowly filled the kitchen.

Ariana sat quietly at the dining table wearing one of Emma’s oversized sweaters, her eyes dull and exhausted from crying almost the entire night.

Emma placed a cup of coffee in front of her before checking the time anxiously.

“I have to leave soon,” she sighed. “If I’m late again, my boss might actually fire me this time.”

Ariana looked up slightly.

“Where do you work again?”

Emma grabbed her handbag quickly.

“De Luca Holdings. I’m one of the executive secretaries there.”

Ariana nodded absentmindedly, not realizing how important that company actually was.

Emma crouched beside her gently.

“Hey,” she said softly. “Don’t stay inside your head all day, okay?”

Ariana forced a weak smile.

“I’ll try.”

But they both knew she was lying.

Before leaving, Emma hugged her tightly once more.

“You are not alone, Ariana. Remember that.”

The apartment became painfully quiet after the door closed.

And the loneliness returned immediately.

...----------------...

Hours passed slowly.

Ariana remained curled up near the window staring outside blankly while memories replayed endlessly inside her mind.

Her father’s slap.

Vanessa’s smile.

The hotel room.

The stranger whose face she still couldn’t remember clearly.

Sometimes she tried convincing herself it was all just a nightmare.

But reality always came crashing back.

At one point, she opened her phone hoping her father had called.

Nothing.

No messages.

No missed calls.

Not even from relatives.

It was like she had disappeared from their lives completely.

Tears silently rolled down her cheeks again.

For the first time, Ariana truly understood what abandonment felt like.

—

Days slowly turned into weeks.

And weeks eventually turned into a month.

Every morning Emma left early for De Luca Holdings while Ariana stayed behind in the apartment alone.

Emma tried everything to cheer her up.

Movies.

Cooking together.

Late-night talks.

Even silly gossip from work.

But Ariana still looked lost most of the time.

The bright, cheerful girl Emma once knew was fading little by little.

Now Ariana barely left the apartment at all.

Some nights Emma would wake up and find her silently crying on the couch unable to sleep.

Other times Ariana would stare at herself in the bathroom mirror for long periods like she no longer recognized the person looking back at her.

Life had become empty.

Heavy.

Colorless.

And despite Emma’s constant support, the pain inside Ariana refused to disappear.

Because deep down—

A part of her was still waiting for someone from her family to come for her.

But nobody ever did.

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