CHAPTER 40: CHAPTER 40 – THE TRUTH THAT BURNS

🔁 Recap

Last Chapter, everything exploded. James finally saw the photo that confirmed his worst suspicions — Aaron and Elena weren’t just playing with fire, they were burning the house down. Milo, the wildcard in the middle of it all, confronted everyone with rage and disappointment. Aaron tried to explain, but no words could undo the damage. Elena stood broken, no longer sure if she was protecting her heart or just too late to save anything at all. And James? He looked at his son like he didn’t recognize him.

Now, silence has given way to something far worse: decisions.

📖 Main Story

James didn’t speak for a long time.

The photo still sat on the table like a cursed object — no one dared touch it again. Aaron’s hands were clenched so tightly at his sides, his knuckles looked bloodless. Elena sat with her back straight, but her eyes were pleading, darting from one face to the next, desperate for something she couldn’t name.

Milo had retreated to the corner, arms crossed, staring out the window like he couldn’t even stand to look at them.

And then James finally said something. Quietly.

"Get out."

Aaron blinked. "What?"

James looked up, face blank. "I said, get out. Of my house."

"No—Dad, please, just listen—"

"Don’t call me that."

The words sliced through the air like a whip.

Aaron flinched.

Elena stood up, voice shaking. "James, please. This isn’t how we should do this—"

"Oh, how should we do this, Elena?" His voice rose like thunder cracking a brittle sky. "Should we sit around the dinner table and talk it out? Maybe open a bottle of wine, laugh about how you seduced my son?"

Her breath caught. "It wasn’t like that."

James turned to her with eyes so cold they could freeze a wildfire. "Then tell me what it was like. Because from where I’m standing, it looks a hell of a lot like betrayal."

Aaron stepped forward, voice low. "I didn’t plan for any of this. I never meant to hurt you."

"You think that makes it better?"

Aaron swallowed. "No. But you need to know—it wasn’t just lust. It wasn’t some stupid fling."

Milo scoffed from the corner. "Then what the hell was it? A twisted love story? You’re not Romeo and Juliet. You’re just selfish."

The room felt like it was tilting.

James stared at Aaron, something dying behind his eyes. "I loved you like my own. I trusted you more than my actual sons. I defended you when people called you a parasite. Do you know what that makes me now? A joke."

"I’m sorry," Aaron whispered. "I never wanted this to happen."

"But it did." James’s hands were shaking. "And you let it keep happening."

"I fell in love with her," Aaron said, voice cracking. "I didn’t want to, but I did. I—"

"Enough!" James shouted.

Silence again.

Even the birds outside had stopped singing.

"You have one hour," James said finally. "Get your things. And get out."

Aaron looked like he’d just been punched. He opened his mouth to argue—but then he saw something in James’s face that stopped him. Not anger. Not even betrayal.

Disappointment.

The kind that didn’t go away.

He turned and walked upstairs. Elena hesitated, torn between chasing after him and facing James.

"Are you going with him?" James asked quietly.

"I don’t know," she admitted. "I don’t know what’s left here anymore."

He laughed bitterly. "Yeah. Me neither."

Upstairs, Aaron moved mechanically. Tossed things into a duffel bag. Every drawer he opened felt like the last time he’d see it. This wasn’t just exile — this was erasure.

They didn’t hug. Didn’t kiss. There wasn’t time for sentiment.

Aaron sat down on the edge of the bed — the one he used to share with silence and secrets. His fingers brushed over the old lamp on the nightstand, a relic from the first week he moved in. Back then, everything felt temporary. He never imagined he’d fall in love in this house, much less lose everything in it.

The ticking of the wall clock sounded louder than ever.

What hurt more than James’s fury was the emptiness that came after. That look in his eyes — not rage, not hatred, just utter disappointment. That was the kind of wound you didn’t recover from.

He looked over at Elena, who stood near the doorway like a statue, arms folded tight over her chest.

"I don’t even know who I am outside of this place," Aaron muttered.

She walked over, knelt beside him, and rested a hand on his knee. "Then maybe... it’s time you find out."

Neither of them spoke after that.

Because in that moment, both of them knew—this wasn’t just the end of a Chapter.

It was the end of a story.

And maybe, the beginning of another.

"I thought we had more time," Aaron said.

"So did I."

They stood there for a long moment.

"If I leave," he said, "are you coming with me?"

Elena didn’t answer. Her silence said everything.

Downstairs, a car pulled up. Milo’s friend. Aaron’s ride.

It was time.

🔮 Preview – Chapter 41: Exile & Echoes

Aaron’s gone. Just like that. But leaving the house doesn’t mean leaving the consequences. James is shattered, Elena’s barely holding it together, and Milo? He’s not done. Not by a long shot.

In the next Chapter, secrets from before Aaron ever moved in start to surface. And Elena’s past might not be as innocent as she pretended.

Because sometimes... love isn’t the first mistake. It’s just the loudest one.

📣 Author’s Note & CTA

Oof. That one hit hard. 💔

Chapter 40 marks a huge turning point — the moment where choices can’t be undone, and every relationship in this story has cracked open. Aaron’s exile isn’t just physical... it’s emotional. Everyone’s now left asking: What now?

💬 Tell me what you think in the comments:

Should Elena have left with Aaron?

Did James go too far?

What do you think Milo will do next?

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💎 Unlock the next Chapter early to see what happens when Aaron tries to rebuild from nothing...

Let’s see who makes it out of this mess — and who doesn’t.