Chapter 178

ARIA'S POV

The room was quiet, but not the kind of peaceful quiet. It was the heavy, suffocating kind, filled with fear and uncertainty.

I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the door, my heart racing. Every minute that passed brought me closer to the wedding I didn’t want.

Kieran paced back and forth near the window, his face tight with concentration. He had been trying to come up with a plan for hours, but nothing seemed to work.

“What if we create a distraction?” I asked, breaking the silence. My voice was shaky, but I tried to sound calm. “Something to draw the guards away, even for a few minutes?”

Kieran stopped pacing and looked at me, his brows furrowed. “And what would the distraction be, Aria?”

I hesitated, wringing my hands. “I… I don’t know. Maybe something with fire or smoke?”

He shook his head. “Too risky. The guards would panic, and the entire place would go into lockdown. It would only make things worse.”