Chapter One
The warmth surrounding Aria slowly faded as consciousness pulled her from the peaceful darkness of sleep. She frowned slightly, her brows knitting together when she realized something unusually heavy was resting across her chest. It wasn’t painful, but it certainly wasn’t comfortable either. She let out a sleepy groan, trying to ignore it, hoping whatever it was would somehow disappear if she buried herself deeper beneath the blanket. Instead, the weight shifted, pressing down even more.
“Mmm...”
Half asleep, Aria lifted one hand and blindly pushed at the object with as much strength as her tired body could manage.
The weight rolled away with a muffled protest.
Another groan echoed through the room.
Aria blinked lazily before opening her eyes completely. Pale winter sunlight filtered through the curtains, painting soft golden streaks across the bedroom. For a few peaceful seconds she simply lay there, enjoying the silence.
Then she turned her head.
The corners of her lips curved upward instantly.
Lila.
Her best friend had somehow managed to transform an ordinary night’s sleep into an Olympic sport.
She was sleeping diagonally across the bed, one leg hanging completely off the mattress while the other was tangled inside the blanket. One arm hugged a pillow like it was the love of her life, while the other stretched dramatically across the empty side of the bed. Her hair covered almost her entire face, and every few seconds she muttered something completely unintelligible before continuing to snore softly.
Aria rubbed her eyes before massaging the stiffness in her neck.
“Seriously...” she whispered with a chuckle. “How are you even alive sleeping like this?”
She carefully climbed out of bed, stretching both arms high above her head. Every muscle protested after the late night they had spent working on presentations, discussing strategies, and forcing themselves to stay awake with coffee that had long since gone cold.
Her gaze wandered toward the bedside table.
Her phone.
Still feeling half asleep, she picked it up without much interest.
The screen lit up.
Her smile disappeared.
Her eyes widened so dramatically that she thought she was imagining the numbers.
“…Oh, shit.”
9:14 AM.
She stared at the screen for several long seconds.
“No.”
She blinked.
“No, no, no...”
The time stubbornly refused to change.
“Oh my God!”
Within a heartbeat she was fully awake.
“We’re dead!”
She nearly dropped the phone while scrambling across the room. Her socks slid against the wooden floor, forcing her to catch herself on the wall before she crashed face-first into it.
She rushed back to the bed.
“Lila!”
Nothing.
“Lila!”
Only a tiny snore answered her.
Aria grabbed both of Lila’s shoulders and shook her firmly.
“We’re late! Wake up!”
Lila frowned dramatically without opening her eyes.
“Five more minutes...”
“No!”
“Three.”
“No!”
“One...”
“LILA!”
The sleeping woman simply rolled onto her stomach and buried her face deeper into the pillow.
Aria stared at her in disbelief.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Knowing she would waste precious minutes arguing, she spun around and rushed toward the bathroom.
The shower was quick.
Five frantic minutes later, steam escaped into the bedroom as Aria stepped out wearing a crisp white blouse tucked into fitted charcoal trousers. Her damp hair was wrapped in a towel while she hurriedly applied moisturizer and tied her hair into a sleek ponytail.
She grabbed her watch.
Laptop.
Office badge.
Everything had to be perfect.
She glanced toward the bed.
Lila hadn’t moved.
Not even an inch.
The woman was still peacefully asleep.
Aria slowly inhaled.
Then exhaled.
“No violence,” she muttered to herself. “Be mature.”
Another loud snore floated across the room.
“...Never mind.”
Without another word, Aria walked over to the bed and delivered one swift kick to Lila’s backside.
“Ow!”
The kick wasn’t particularly hard, but it was enough. Lila yelped as she completely lost her balance.
Thud.
She landed on the floor with a dramatic crash, blanket wrapped around her like a defeated burrito.
“Ouch!”
She blinked several times, looking utterly confused.
“The earthquake ended already?”
Aria folded her arms.
“The earthquake has a name.”
Lila blinked again.
“...Aria?”
“Congratulations.”
“My head...”
Lila held both sides of her head with a miserable groan.
“It feels like someone hired a marching band to perform inside my skull.”
“You deserve it.”
“My brain is melting.”
“You drank.”
“I barely drank.”
“You hugged a traffic cone.”
“It needed emotional support.”
Aria pinched the bridge of her nose.
“I cannot believe you.”
Lila looked around the room as if trying to remember where she was.
“What day is it?”
“Presentation day.”
Silence.
Lila’s sleepy expression vanished.
“...Presentation?”
“Exactly.”
Her eyes shot toward the bedside table.
“My phone!”
She grabbed it.
The screen remained black.
“...Dead.”
Aria immediately looked at her own phone again before narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
“The alarm.”
Lila froze.
“The alarm never rang.”
Another pause.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
Lila looked away.
Aria noticed immediately.
“...Lila.”
“I can explain.”
“You turned it off.”
“I was protecting our sleep.”
“You switched off every alarm!”
“They were loud.”
Aria closed her eyes.
“Lila...”
“They kept ringing.”
“So you disabled all six of them?”
“I may have panicked.”
“You panicked?”
“They sounded aggressive.”
Aria looked toward the ceiling as if asking for divine patience.
“I swear one day you will be the reason my blood pressure reaches retirement before I do.”
Lila smiled weakly.
“But you’re still pretty.”
Aria picked up the nearest cushion and threw it directly at her face.
“Get dressed.”
“I’m trying.”
“Try faster.”
“My head weighs twenty kilos.”
“I don’t care if it weighs fifty.”
Lila slowly climbed onto the bed, looking like a zombie resurrected against her own will.
While Aria hurried around the room collecting chargers, notebooks, presentation files, and her laptop, Lila somehow managed to put her shirt on backwards.
“Lila.”
“Hm?”
“Your shirt.”
She looked down.
“Oh.”
She fixed it.
Then accidentally wore two different pairs of shoes. Aria didn’t even react anymore. She simply sighed.
“I’ve accepted my fate.”
They gathered everything in frantic silence until Lila suddenly spoke.
“Aria...”
“Hm?”
“I broke up.”
Aria zipped her laptop bag without looking at her.
“Good.”
Lila frowned.
“That’s it?”
“It’s your sixteenth breakup.”
“Actually...”
Lila counted on her fingers.
“...Seventeenth.”
Aria stopped walking.
“Seventeenth?”
“I forgot about...”
“The dentist?”
“No.”
“The musician?”
“No.”
“The guy with six cats.”
“Oh.”
Aria shook her head.
“I genuinely cannot keep track anymore.” Lila sighed dramatically.
“He said I was emotionally unavailable.”
“You met him four days ago.”
“We had something special.”
“You forgot his birthday.”
“I didn’t know his birthday.”
“You forgot his name yesterday.”
“...Details.” Aria opened the bedroom door.
“Listen carefully.”
Lila looked at her hopefully.
“You have exactly ten minutes.”
“For what?”
“To get your beautiful, dramatic, disaster-loving self downstairs.”
“What about my heartbreak?”
“You can cry in the taxi.”
“My emotions matter.”
“So does our project.”
“Our client?”
“Will fire us mentally before we’ve even sat down.” Lila let out another theatrical sigh.
“No one appreciates true love anymore.”
Aria laughed despite herself.
“No.”
She stepped into the tiny living room while Lila continued complaining from the bedroom about broken hearts, unfair men, and destiny conspiring against hopeless romantics.
Aria poured herself a glass of orange juice, taking one long sip as she leaned against the kitchen counter.
Behind her, Lila’s voice echoed through the apartment.
“He promised forever!”
Aria smiled knowingly.
Same words.
Every breakup.
Every single time.
“Forever apparently lasts four days now,” she muttered under her breath before finishing her juice.
The icy wind greeted Aria the moment she stepped out of the apartment building, stealing the warmth that still lingered on her skin. She instinctively pulled her charcoal coat closer around herself before tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
The early winter morning painted New York in shades of silver and gold, while the streets below buzzed with a rhythm that never seemed to sleep. Yellow taxis honked impatiently, coffee carts filled the air with the comforting aroma of freshly brewed espresso, pedestrians hurried along the sidewalks with scarves wrapped tightly around their necks, and skyscrapers reflected the pale sunlight like towering mirrors.
Aria exhaled slowly, watching her breath disappear into the cold air.
“Taxi,” she yelled. The driver lowered the window.
“Miss?” she smiled politely. She opened the rear door and settled into the seat, the comforting warmth of the heater instantly surrounding her frozen hands. Leaning back, she gave the office address before fastening her seatbelt.
“Traffic’s building already,” the driver commented as he merged into the morning rush.
“It’s New York,” Aria replied with a small laugh. “I’d be worried if there wasn’t.”
The taxi joined the endless stream of vehicles flowing through Manhattan. Outside, the city had fully awakened.
Businessmen hurried across intersections with briefcases in one hand and coffee cups in the other. Cyclists skillfully navigated between cars as delivery trucks occupied almost every loading zone. Street musicians had already begun performing outside subway entrances despite the freezing weather, their melodies drifting through the crisp morning air.
Aria rested her forehead lightly against the cool window.
Six years.
It had already been six years since she had left the town where she grew up.
Sometimes it still felt unreal.
Life had changed so much that the frightened young woman she used to be seemed like a distant memory. Moving away had been terrifying at first, but it had also given her something she desperately needed—a fresh beginning.
Seattle had become home.
Her parents had eventually moved there as well, wanting to stay close to her after everything the family had endured over the years. Their little house overlooked a quiet neighborhood filled with evergreen trees, completely different from the fast-paced streets of New York.
Whenever work became overwhelming, simply hearing her father’s voice reminded her why she had worked so hard to build the life she had today.
Her phone vibrated gently.
She unlocked the screen.
The first notification immediately made her smile.
Dad
All the best today, sweetheart. You’ve worked hard for this. No matter what happens, your mother and I are already proud of you.
A warmth spread through her chest.
Her father had never missed an important day in her life. Whether it was a university presentation, a competition, or the launch of her first design portfolio, he always sent a message before she even had the chance to call him.
Aria quickly typed a reply.
Thank you, Dad. I’ll make you proud.
She pressed send before another notification appeared.
Sophia
My sis... today is your day. Go show everyone what you’re capable of. I know you’ll do amazing. Love you.
Aria couldn’t help smiling again.
“So sentimental this morning,” she whispered to herself. She slipped the phone back into her lap and looked outside once more.
The city blurred past in flashes of towering glass buildings, busy cafés, elegant boutiques, and giant digital billboards. It was impossible not to admire New York.
Every street carried ambition.
Every face seemed to be chasing another dream.
Every building represented someone’s years of hard work.
Aria had fallen in love with that feeling the moment she first arrived. Not because the city was glamorous.
But because it made impossible dreams feel achievable. She closed her eyes briefly.
Today wasn’t just another workday.
Today could change everything.
