Chapter 62

Aria's POV It's been a whole week since that night in the pool, and I've barely seen Aiden. Each night, I go to bed alone in my room, wondering if tonight might be the night he shows up—or at least says something. But every morning, nothing's changed. Just silence, and the distant sound of a door closing somewhere down the hall. The man is practically a phantom when he's busy—appearing just long enough to remind me he exists before vanishing again into whatever corporate vortex consumes him. Now I understand how Carter Industries has thrived under his leadership. The man simply never stops working. My father called a week after I moved in, asking a few obligatory questions about my wellbeing before tactfully reducing communication. I appreciated the space he was giving me, though I sometimes missed our regular check-ins. Liam, on the other hand, refuses to take the hint. He's cycled through at least four different phone numbers, sending me what I can only describe as midnight poetry at