Too Late Mr. White! I'm Married To Your Rival Now novel Chapter 20

**ARIA’S POV**

I held up my phone, the screen illuminating my face as I showed it to Lillian.

“Speaking of the devil,” she muttered under her breath, a hint of disdain lacing her words. “Are you going to answer that?”

I paused, contemplating the best course of action. After a moment of internal struggle, I hit the decline button. “Not worth it. She’ll just try to manipulate me all over again.”

Barely a heartbeat later, a text message buzzed in, its harsh tone cutting through the air like a knife:

“You bitch! You’re ruining my life with these lies! I’m in the HOSPITAL because of you!”

I displayed the message to Lillian, who rolled her eyes so dramatically that I half-expected them to get stuck in the back of her head. “Yeah, the hospital you checked yourself into after your little drama didn’t exactly garner you the sympathy you were hoping for. Someone needs to tell her that suicide baiting is beyond disgusting.”

“I’m not engaging,” I stated firmly, my resolve hardening as I blocked her number. “She’s had enough control over my life.”

Just as I set my phone down, it buzzed again, this time with Liam’s name lighting up my screen. I stared at it, my heart no longer racing with anticipation but rather steady and calm.

“What do you think he wants?” I asked Lillian, a hint of curiosity creeping into my voice.

“To save his own ass, obviously,” she snorted, a smirk playing on her lips. “The internet is roasting him alive right now. He’s probably desperate.”

I accepted the call, switching it to speaker mode so Lillian could eavesdrop.

“Aria,” Liam’s voice came through, tinged with urgency. “Please, you need to take down those posts. You’re destroying Sophia’s reputation!”

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. “Her reputation? What about mine? She edited footage to make it look like I forced her to kneel in public, then faked a suicide attempt! What did she think would happen?”

“She’s fragile, Aria! You know about her depression—”

“No, Liam,” I interjected, my tone unwavering. “I don’t know anything about her depression because it’s never been officially diagnosed. It’s just her go-to excuse whenever she wants attention.”

“That’s cruel! She’s in the hospital right now!”

“By her own choice,” I replied, my voice firm and resolute. “If she’s genuinely suicidal, she needs professional help, not your enabling. I won’t take down anything because I’ve only spoken the truth.”

“You’ve shared private conversations!”

“Conversations that lay bare exactly how you two manipulated me for years. I’m done being your victim, Liam.”

I hung up before he could retort, my hand trembling slightly, yet my resolve felt stronger than ever.

“That felt good,” I confessed to Lillian, a sense of liberation washing over me.

“About damn time!” she cheered, giving me a high five that echoed in the cozy kitchen. “Now, let’s enjoy this breakfast while we watch Sophia and Liam crash and burn.”

We were halfway through our pancakes when my phone buzzed again, this time with an email notification. I opened it to find a message from Sophia’s lawyer, threatening to sue me for defamation unless I took down my posts immediately.

“They’re getting desperate,” Lillian observed, leaning over to read the email on my screen. “But truth is an absolute defense against defamation. You’ve got literal receipts.”

I forwarded the email to my family’s attorney, feeling a strange sense of empowerment. For the first time in months, the food on my plate actually tasted good.

—

**LIAM’S POV**

I was halfway to Aria’s house when my phone rang, the screen lighting up with Sophia’s name. Damn it. Not now.

“Hello?” I answered, already easing off the gas as I prepared to pull over.

“Liam…” Her voice quivered, filled with an unmistakable fear. “The doctors say I need someone here. My parents are out of town, and… I’m scared.”

I glanced at the road ahead, then at the clock on my dashboard. Aria would understand; she always did.

“I’ll be right there,” I assured her, making a quick U-turn.

Twenty minutes later, I was racing through the hospital corridors, my heart pounding as I finally reached Sophia’s room. There she was, propped up in bed, scrolling through her phone with an alarming alertness for someone who had just attempted suicide.

As I approached the gates, I spotted Mr. Jones’ car pulling out. I rolled down my window, ready to call out to him.

“Mr. Jo—” I began, but his car sped past mine without so much as a glance. The unmistakable cold shoulder.

Wonderful. Even her father was in on this character assassination.

I parked near the villa, striding toward the entrance. The housekeeper who used to greet me with warmth now acted as if I were invisible, scurrying away toward the greenhouse without uttering a word.

Fine. I reached into my pocket for my phone, my thumb hovering over her name in my contacts—

Then I stopped.

She’d blocked me.

I gazed up at her balcony, half-expecting to see her there, looking down at me with that hurt expression she wore at the restaurant. But the balcony was empty, a stark reminder of the chasm that had formed between us.

Standing there, locked out of a home I had visited countless times, I scrolled through the conversation screenshots she had posted. Our texts from her birthday two months ago, when I had left her celebration dinner because Sophia had called in tears.

The weekend I had bailed on our trip to Boston because Sophia was having a panic attack.

The night I was meant to meet her parents but ended up spending hours at Sophia’s apartment instead.

Seeing it all laid out like that… it looked bad. It looked really bad.

For the first time, I saw our relationship through Aria’s eyes. Had I truly done this to her? Had I genuinely prioritized Sophia over her so consistently?

My phone rang, shattering my moment of clarity. It was the office—an emergency board meeting.

I glanced back at the empty house, a sense of urgency washing over me as I walked to my car. I’d come back later. I had to make her understand.

But as I drove away, a nagging thought lingered—what exactly did I expect her to understand? And more importantly, what had I failed to comprehend all this time?