The CEO's Midnight Remedy novel Chapter 234

Chapter 234

Aria’s POV

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Owen Wilson–the last person I expected to see here–stood frozen in the hospital room doorway. The

white lilies in his hand trembled slightly. I watched his face carefully, noting the flash of guilt in his eyes

before he composed himself.

“Aria, please.” Sophia’s voice was weak from the hospital bed. “He’s just checking on me.”

“Checking on you?” I didn’t take my eyes off Owen, my voice dropping dangerously low. Each word felt like

ice on my tongue. “After what he did to you at Princeton? After how he humiliated you when his family

decided you weren’t good enough?”

The memory of Sophia crying for weeks after their breakup flooded my mind. I stepped further into the

room, deliberately positioning myself between them.

Owen’s face flushed. “I’m just making sure she’s okay. I brought flowers.” He gestured lamely with the bouquet.

“I don’t need your flowers,” Sophia said softly, then winced as she adjusted her bandaged arm.

I moved to her bedside, gently taking her uninjured hand. My chest tightened at how fragile she looked against the stark white hospital sheets, her usually vibrant complexion now pale and drawn.

“What happened? Why didn’t you call me?” I kept my voice gentle for her, though my eyes repeatedly darted to her bandaged arm, each glance fueling my anger.

Sophia sighed. “It was an accident-”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Owen interrupted, stepping farther into the room. “Chloe pushed her. Sophia was just trying to help me get home. I’d had too much to drink at the engagement party, and-”

Sophia’s fingers tightened around mine. “I was helping him to his car. Chloe saw us and… jumped to conclusions. She came running out screaming, pushed me, and I fell against the display case in the lobby. The glass broke. That’s all.”

I examined the thick bandage wrapped around her right arm, my stomach knotting at the thought of the damage beneath. “That doesn’t look like ‘that’s all‘ to me.”

“Twenty–seven stitches,” Owen said quietly. “It could have been worse if-”

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Chapter 234

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“If what? If you hadn’t been such a gentleman, taking her to the hospital after your fiancée attacked her?”

Each word dripped with contempt.

“Aria,” Sophia cautioned, her fingers squeezing mine. “Please. I just want to forget about it.”

I took a deep breath, counting silently to ten. With each number, I tried to push down the rage that

threatened to overwhelm me. “Fine. I won’t track down Chloe and return the favor.” I turned to Owen,

meeting his eyes directly. “You should go.”

After Owen left, promising to check on Sophia later, I sat on the edge of her bed. My anger gave way to

concern, but a cold determination settled in its place.

“You should press charges,” I said, my voice softer now.

“And drag this out longer? No thanks.” Sophia shook her head. “The doctor says I can leave tomorrow. I just

need rest.”

“I’m getting the security footage from the lobby,” I said, my decision already made. I wouldn’t let this slide,

not when it came to Sophia. “That ‘accident‘ isn’t going unrecorded.”

The next afternoon at Harper Group, I scrolled through emails, my mind still on Sophia in that hospital

bed. The image of her bandaged arm kept intruding on my thoughts, feeding a slow–burning anger that

wouldn’t subside. My phone buzzed with a text from Garrett:

“Victoria. The Pinnacle Hotel. 9pm tonight.”

I stared at the screen, reading the message twice to be sure. My fingers hovered over the phone, a plan

forming rapidly in my mind.

I immediately dialed my father’s number, consciously shifting my tone to one I rarely used with him these

days–warm, almost affectionate. The sound of my own voice startled me, unfamiliar after months of cold

exchanges.

“Aria?” His surprise was evident. “Is everything alright?”

“Everything’s fine, Dad.” The word ‘Dad‘ felt foreign on my tongue. “I was just thinking… could we have

dinner tonight? Just the two of us?”

The silence stretched for several seconds. I held my breath, fingers tapping nervously on my desk. Had I

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Chapter 234

overplayed? Was the shift too sudden to be believable?

“You want to have dinner with me?” Suspicion colored his voice.

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“Is that so hard to believe?” I kept my voice light, masking the calculation behind it. My heart beat faster, wondering if he could sense the trap I was laying.

“No, no,” he said quickly. “I’d like that very much. The Plaza at 8:30?”

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