Ariel entered her hotel room and couldn't help but pause, letting her eyes wander across the space. It was nothing like the cramped, suffocating room she had back home with her stepmother and biological father. This room was bigger. Brighter. Freer.
She smiled faintly.
For the first time in a long while, she could breathe.
Her gaze fell on the plush bed, the tall windows, and the city lights twinkling in the distance. She had made it to Startus, alone, broke, and maybe a little terrified, but she was finally here.
Just as she was about to lie down, her phone buzzed.
Her smile dropped the moment she saw the name on the screen. Stepmother.
Ariel rolled her eyes. Of course.
She hadn't even unpacked yet and the woman was already reaching out.
She had run away from that toxic household for a reason. She had worked day and night,.waitressing at diners, tutoring kids, skipping sleep just to study and save up, for this. For the concert. For freedom.
And now that she was here, she wasn't going to let anyone pull her back into that hell.
Without hesitation, she clicked Block.
One down.
A few moments later, her phone rang again.
Her heart tightened slightly when she saw Mr. Phill.
Her father.
Or the man who used to be her father.
She hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen. She hated him,God, she did,.but ignoring his call felt like something she still wasn't ready to do. Not yet.
She answered.
His voice came through sharp and cold, as always.
"Mr. Phill," she greeted, her voice flat.
He had forbidden her from calling him dad. Claimed he didn't have a daughter named Ariel, only a servant.
A burden.
A disgrace.
"You ungrateful servant!" he barked. "How dare you ignore my wife's call? Listen here, you better find the nearest plane and-"
Click.
She ended the call.
Her hand trembled slightly as she stared at the black screen.
Then she smiled.
A soft, dangerous, beautiful smile.
"New Ariel doesn't listen to people who see her as a handbag," she whispered to herself.
And just like that, she blocked him too.
Two down.
She collapsed onto the bed, sinking into the covers, eyes fluttering shut as exhaustion began to settle into her bones. But this time, it wasn't the heavy kind that came from surviving.
It was the kind that came with starting over.
She pulled a blanket over herself and stared out the window, watching the lights of Startus glimmer.
"Please be good to me," she whispered.
And for once, she let herself hope.