Aria Chen's dainty hands were shaking with the wine glass in her hold as something like a metallic flavor filled her mouth. The aged Bordeaux, perfectly suited for the moment, had a bitter undertone of something amiss. Something was amiss.
She set the glass on the dark brown dining table harder than she intended, and the crystal rang out on shiny wood. The fancy dining room in the Chen family home—with its gold walls shining and family photos from yesteryears—now made it difficult for her to catch her breath. Something that should be a celebration on her wedding anniversary today was rapidly turning into a trap closing in on her.
"Sweetheart, are you all right?" Marcus's tone expressed concern, but looking up at her husband, Aria sensed a fear in her belly. His hazel eyes contained a cool, guarded expression but they were usually warm.
As if it were scorching liquid, heat started in her chest and spread throughout her veins. Her vision grew blurry, and she blinked continuously in an effort to see. That is when she saw it—the exchange between Marcus and Bella.
It wasn't fear. It was excitement.
Her best friend from her childhood sat in front of her. Her reddish brown hair hung past her shoulders, her green eyes glimmering with what Aria usually believed was concern. Now, in this moment, she realized it was satisfaction.
"I…I don't feel well," she said slowly, her tone softening. It was difficult speaking these words, her tongue heavy with reluctance, not wanting to cooperate.
"Should I call a doctor?" asked Bella, her body hunched forward as if concerned. She had a secondary reason for her concern, though—excitement.
The horrid reality hit Aria. She could taste metal. She saw their expressions, then she realized she was poisoned.
When she began to pass out, everything suddenly flooded back into her memory at once, as if her brain had to recall everything before it would be too late.
****
FLASHBACK
She went back in time to being eight, standing before Isabella Martinez on her very first day at Westbrook Academy. Isabella was one of those scholarship girls with bright green eyes and hand-me-downs, a stark contrast from the wealthy students at Westbrook. Aria shared her lunch and her books. They were best friends—two girls against the world.
"Promise me that we are going to be best friends forever," Bella whispered on graduation night.
"Always," Aria repeated, feeling it deep in her heart.
The irony was worse than the poison.
Fast forward to fourteen years later—her parents' funeral. Richard and Eleanor Chen, business owners, rested in identical coffins following what police had called a fatal accident on a rain-soaked mountain road. Aria, alone in her dark dress, was an orphan with a big business to manage.
That is where Marcus entered. He was a tall, good-looking young man with tidy, light brown hair and a soothing smile. He claimed to know her father and volunteered to be with her in her time of grief. He gained her trust within a period of six months with gentle deeds and assurances of forever.
"Darling, you don't need to do everything on your own," he said as he wore the engagement ring on her finger, "Allow me to take care of you."
****
Marcus never wanted to take care of her. He wanted to take care of her money.
She attempted to cry out for assistance, but she could only whisper. Her body was abandoning her, she was experiencing a rapid spread of poison. She watched Marcus spring into action, moving flawlessly.
"Aria! Call 911!" He hurried over to her and supported her as she collapsed into the chair. To other people around, he seemed like a concerned husband who was distressed over how sick his wife suddenly was.
Bella was sobbing on the telephone as she explained what was going on to the emergency operator. "Something is wrong with my best friend, hurry, please!"
If only they realized just how many business transactions Aria had learned about. The forged signatures. The embezzled funds. Marcus had been stealing money from her dad's business, one transaction at a time.
She remembered how he repeated over and over on countless occasions, saying, "I'll take care of the legal documents. You don't have to get involved with this, dear. Concentrate on the charity projects you enjoy."
She had been extremely foolish.
Her vision having dwindled, Aria heard fragments of a hushed conversation. Marcus and Bella believed she was dead, so they finally revealed who they actually were.
"Finally," she said softly, her voice barely more than a whisper yet loaded with relief. "Next month, we get the inheritance."
Marcus was calm as always and expressed no emotions. "She trusted people too much. Just like her parents always do."
Those words hit Aria deeply. Her parents. Their "accident." Did Marcus have a part in it, as well? Had they all been planning it all along?
****
FLASHBACK
She recalled Marcus appearing at just the right moment following the ceremony. He did and said all the right things. Bella approved of him immediately, opining that he was a kind person who was trustworthy.
"He is exactly what you need," Bella told me. "You require someone who can manage everything."
****
They collaborated right from the beginning.
Aria's heartbeat slowed, and it was difficult for her heart to continue beating. The dining room darkened, and people who betrayed her turned into shadows.
Paramedics would arrive soon and declare her dead. Marcus would get everything since he was her legal husband. He would be the owner of the Chen dynasty.
With darkness closing in on the boundaries of her vision, Aria's last sentiment was not one of sadness or fear.
It was anger.
She could feel a bitter, seething anger within her. She wished she could go back in time. She wished she could do everything all over. She wished she could get back at them for all the lying, all the money stolen, and all the pretended care and concern.
She had a warm, wondering sensation in her chest, a contrast to the searing aching from the poison. It pounded alongside her slowing heart, but intensified as her body faltered. She couldn't even explain it—it felt like bright, warm hope in the dark.
And suddenly, everything went dark.