Sold to Bastard Alpha after My Divorce! novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Aria’s POV

I pressed my back against the cold, unforgiving wall of the detention cell.

The harsh clang of iron bars slamming shut still echoed in my skull. The sound felt permanent. Final. Like a period at the end of a sentence I never wanted to write.

The cell was small. Gray concrete. A single flickering light overhead. The smell of rust and despair hung thick in the air.

And my family was already at each other’s throats.

"This is YOUR fault!" Serena screamed, jabbing her finger at me. "Everything was FINE until you decided to play victim!"

"My fault?" Lyra whirled on her. "You’re the one who told them to take her! You practically gift-wrapped her for those guards!"

"I was trying to save US!"

"By throwing your own sister under the bus?"

"She’s not my sister! She’s a CURSE!"

Their voices bounced off the concrete walls. Amplified. Distorted. Each word sharper than the last.

My mother stood between them, her face twisted with fury and humiliation. "ENOUGH! Both of you! Shut your mouths!"

They didn’t listen. They never listened.

I curled tighter into my corner. Drew my knees to my chest. Made myself as small as possible.

This was familiar. The chaos. The blame. The screaming. I’d grown up in this. Marinated in it for twenty-three years.

But tonight felt different.

Tonight, I was too tired to fight back.

Finn.

His name burned through my thoughts like acid.

What was he trying to do? He was the one who said he had no interest in me. He was the one who brought Celestia into our home. He was the one whose precious daughter hated me with every fiber of her being.

And now... abandonment charges?

What kind of sick joke was this?

"Are you even LISTENING?" Serena’s voice cut through my thoughts. She’d turned her attention back to me. Her eyes were wild. Mascara smeared across her cheeks like war paint.

I looked up at her. Said nothing.

"SAY SOMETHING!" She lunged toward me.

My mother grabbed her arm. Yanked her back. "Serena! Control yourself!"

"Why should I? She ruined everything!" Tears streamed down Serena’s face now. Real tears. "I had PLANS! I was going to meet someone at the next gathering! Now I’m stuck in a CAGE because of HER!"

"We’re all stuck here," Lyra muttered darkly. She’d given up pacing and slumped against the opposite wall. "Thanks to Little Miss Perfect and her failed marriage."

"I didn’t fail anything," I heard myself say. My voice came out hoarse. Barely audible.

"What?" Lyra leaned forward. "What did you say?"

"I said I didn’t fail anything." Stronger now. "Finn failed me. For five years. Every single day."

Serena laughed. The sound was ugly. Bitter. "Oh, here we go. The victim speech. Poor Aria. Married to a rich man. Living in a mansion. SO oppressed."

"You have no idea what I went through in that house."

Something inside me had gone numb.

"Girls." My mother’s voice dropped. Low. Dangerous. "I said ENOUGH."

Silence fell. Thick and suffocating.

We all knew that tone. The one that meant she’d reached her limit. The one that usually preceded something violent.

But there was nothing to break in here. Nothing to throw. Nothing to destroy except each other.

My mother turned to face all of us. Her makeup was ruined. Her hair disheveled. She looked older than I’d ever seen her.

"Fighting won’t get us out of this cell," she said flatly. "We need a plan."

"A plan?" Lyra scoffed. "We’re locked up! What kind of plan can we make from in here?"

"We find someone to bail us out."

Serena wiped her face with the back of her hand. "With what money? None of us have that kind of cash."

"Then we find someone who does."

The door at the end of the corridor clanged open.

We all went still.

Footsteps. Slow. Deliberate. Getting closer.

A guard appeared outside our cell. Female. Tall. Face completely blank. She looked at us like we were cargo. Packages to be processed.

"Listen up," she said. Her voice was flat. Bored. "I’ll say this once."

We waited.

"Mr. Finn Nightfang has made special arrangements." She pulled out a clipboard. Checked something off. "He’ll be coming personally to collect one of you."

My blood ran cold.

What would I even say? "Hey, remember me? Your ’fated mate’ who you’ve known for about five minutes? Can you bail out my trashy family from jail?"

He’d laugh in my face. Or worse—he’d pity me.

I couldn’t bear either option.

The guard cleared her throat. We’d almost forgotten she was there.

"So. No calls?" She raised an eyebrow. "No one coming to save you?"

No one answered.

She shrugged again. "Suit yourselves."

She turned. Started walking away.

"Wait!" My mother grabbed the bars. "Please! There must be something we can do! Some arrangement we can make!"

The guard didn’t look back. "Take it up with Mr. Nightfang. He’s the one pulling the strings."

Her footsteps faded down the corridor.

The heavy door clanged shut behind her.

And we were alone again.

My mother sank onto the cold concrete bench. Buried her face in her hands.

Serena slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. Her sobs had quieted to occasional hiccups.

Lyra paced. Back and forth. Back and forth. Like a caged animal.

Which, I supposed, we all were now.

I stayed in my corner. Arms wrapped around my knees. Forehead pressed against them.

I wanted to scream. Wanted to shout that none of this was my fault. That I hadn’t asked to be born into this family. That I hadn’t asked for Finn to target me. That I hadn’t asked for any of this.

But I couldn’t.

The words stuck in my throat. Heavy and useless.

All I could do was sit here. Wait. And pray that someone—anyone—would give us a way out of this nightmare.

Minutes passed. Or hours. I couldn’t tell.

The flickering light buzzed overhead. The concrete leached all warmth from my body. My legs went numb from sitting in the same position.

Suddenly, the cell door made a sound.