Sweet Hatred
Chapter 28: "You smell different."

Chapter 28: "You smell different."

My phone buzzed as the car drove past HQ, heading toward my apartment. I dug through my purse, pulling it out to find a flood of unread messages—both from last night and new ones from Olivia, repeatedly asking if I was still at work.

Then my stomach clenched.

Olivia’s final message.

’Mom’s surgery is scheduled for today. A few hours from now.’ She was already there.

The exhaustion pressing into my bones didn’t matter anymore. I immediately instructed the driver to change course, my heartbeat picking up as the city blurred past the window.

By the time I reached the hospital, I was running on fumes, but I pushed through, weaving past sterile hallways until I reached her room.

"Aria?"

Olivia’s shocked voice snapped me out of my haze. She was seated across from Mom, folding sheets. Mom lay still, asleep, her frail body covered in tubes and wires.

Relief flickered across Olivia’s face as she shot up from her seat and scurried over to me.

I barely exhaled before the interrogation began.

"Where the hell have you been?" she whispered harshly. "Why didn’t you come home last night? Why didn’t you answer my calls? I was worried sick you were dead or something."

"It was work," I muttered, dragging a hand over my face as I stepped past her to Mom’s bedside.

Olivia, relentless as ever, followed.

Then—sniff, sniff.

I turned slowly, giving her a weirded-out look. "What the hell are you doing?"

She squinted at me. "You smell different."

I blinked. "...Excuse me?"

She leaned in slightly. "Expensive."

I let out a bitter chuckle. That bastard. His scent must have rubbed off on me after spending over twelve hours in his vicinity.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about," I muttered, hoping she’d drop it.

She didn’t.

"Of course, you’re going to play dumb," she sneered. "You always do when you’re hiding something." She took another subtle sniff. "This doesn’t smell like Sarah, either, so... what? A rich man? A sugar daddy, perhaps?"

I shot her a glare. "Yeah, I didn’t know I had Scooby-Doo—or better yet, Pluto—as a sister."

"You can’t pretend with me, Aria," Olivia said, her tone sharpening, testing my already frayed patience. "If not, then explain how you suddenly had thousands for Mom’s surgery. The best surgeon, the best care—where did that money come from?"

I held her gaze, bored, but she wasn’t done.

"And somehow, you got your job back after being fired. If you were so good at it, why were you fired in the first place?"

My jaw tightened.

"Are you done?" I asked, my voice flat.

"Yes."

"Good. Then get out of my way."

I brushed past her, but her words clung to me, burrowing under my skin.

"Oh, so you’re not going to tell your own sister anything?" she called after me, voice laced with accusation.

I ignored her. I was too drained to deal with her that afternoon.

"I’m going home to change into something more comfortable. I’ll be back in an hour." I didn’t wait for her response before shutting the door behind me.

But out of all the things she had blabbed about, one thing stuck.

Why was I fired in the first place?

It had been over a stupid mistake—one I knew I hadn’t made. But the error had come from my end, Kael had said. From my signature. My information.

Except I had prepared those documents myself. I had checked every detail. The numbers, the totals—everything had been right.

So what went wrong?

Or rather—who?

The thought gnawed at me as I headed home.

Only someone with access to my desktop and passwords could have made me look like a fool in front of Kael and the investors.

But who?

I never shared my passwords with anyone. Not even Sarah.

And yet—someone knew every important detail and how to screw me over.

After changing into lighter clothes, I headed back to the hospital. This time, Mom was awake. I watched in silent fear as the nurses prepped her for surgery, but I kept a calm, collected demeanor.

It’s what I had to do.

Olivia, on the other hand, sobbed like a child. I couldn’t blame her—Mom had spoiled her silly since we were kids. And even though we had gone through this before, watching her being wheeled into the ICU never got easier. The fear that anything could go wrong, that this might be the last time we saw her alive, was always there. But we hoped. Olivia prayed, and I...

Well, sometimes I prayed too. Not because I believed in God—I never did. Because if he truly existed, he was as twisted as the humans he created. But in moments like these, when the weight in my chest made it hard to breathe, I found myself kneeling, clasping my hands together, whispering desperate words to whoever or whatever cared to listen.

Because I could endure a lot of things—stress, anger, frustration, deadlines, traffic. But losing the one woman I loved more than anything? I couldn’t. I wouldn’t. At least, that’s what I stubbornly believed. And stubbornness had pushed me this far. It was why I never backed away from Kael’s offer.

Then—

A buzz from my phone.

My breath shuddered. Only then did I realize I had been trembling slightly, my thoughts spiraling too far. I exhaled and checked my screen. And, of course—the devil himself.

KAEL: If you need someone to distract you, I can send over a clown.

Ah. So that’s why he—

A small chuckle slipped past my lips before I caught myself. I wasn’t going to laugh at that bastard’s jokes. He was a terrible person. He had fired me from a job I valued, dangled it back in my face—with his dick attached. It didn’t matter that he was considerate enough to let me off while my mom was in surgery. That didn’t erase everything else.

I exhaled again, trying to push out the weight pressing against my ribs. It didn’t work.

Olivia, still sniffling, collapsed into my arms without a word. I let her. Before the cunning yet dumb little rat she was, she was still my sister, and I loved her. With one hand patting her back, I texted Kael back with my free hand.

ME: How noble of you to volunteer yourself, but I’m good.

Then I shut off my phone.

Tonight was going to be a long night.

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