Bewitched His Soul

Travis did not look back and immediately slammed the bedroom door shut. He feared looking at Aria one more minute will make him do something he may regret later.

So he did the one thing which will be best for both of them, he left her home and went to his office. He needed time and distance from her to gather his thoughts and fully digest the truth about what she revealed today.

He did not turn on his cabin lights, the darkness was going to allow him to remove all the  distractions.

Travis was born with a silver spoon, belonging to an aristocratic family, so he had everything at the tip of his fingers. Not only the materialistic things like looks, power and status, but he also had the love of his parents.

Unlike his peers whose parents will send them a congratulations gift instead of attending the school annual function, his parents came to the event, and took hundreds  of photos of him on the stage, then  framed them on the wall.

His parents Tristan and Ava were still very much in love even after so many years. He always felt his father's most prized possession was his mother. The way his father pampered and treasured his mother was something rare in today's world. 

Maybe it was the huge age difference or the innocence of his mother which made his father give into all of her demands. In his father 's eyes his mother never grew up, and in his mother's eyes he and his sister Hazel were still her babies. 

Growing up he was the golden boy, intelligent, popular and he excelled in everything. There were  many girls throwing themselves at him, but he never strayed as he wanted the kind of love his parents had. Unlike Enzo and Logan he never got into trouble and had always been an obedient student.

Aria was someone who grew up with him, his father's friend's daughter. She hated outdoor activities and preferred to lock herself in a room to paint whenever they gathered.

But he was the one who pushed her out of her comfort zone and wanted her to experience more things and see the outside world. In the beginning he never had any feelings towards her, in fact he saw her as nothing more than a good friend.

Then, when she moved to another country for college, whenever aristocratic families had brunch, he felt something was amiss. 

Without Aria nothing seemed enjoyable, no more teasing, no more of her silly reasons as to why they should stay inside the house, or no more talks about how she will be the next Picasso.

One day, Logan showed them a picture on instagram of Aria with her male classmate. His hand was  on her waist, while her head was tilted towards his shoulder.

Travis felt sour just by looking at the picture. He wanted to remove that guy's hand from her waist, or even better, to break his head. The guy had no business being so close to Aria, and to him the  image was so unpleasant he wanted to destroy it.

Logan said that guy may be Aria's boyfriend, and for the first time in his life Travis felt jealous of someone. Usually it was others who got  jealous of the perfect Travis Ambrosio. 

After going home, sleep did not come to him easily, and he spent the whole night reading his next semester's textbook as he had already studied this semester's books during vacation.

He could not control his curiosity about Aria and the guy in the picture. So the next morning at  8 am sharp, the time which she usually wakes up, as her classes started at 9:30, he called her.

After two rings Aria picked the call and he asked about the guy in the photo. Aria was confused, but after a few seconds answered in a sleepy voice that it was some college function and they both were performing in a drama.

Travis relaxed a little bit, but told her it's better to concentrate on studies rather than dating right now. Aria agreed and told him that she had no plans to date, anyway. Probably she was still half asleep or maybe  Aria was being just her inattentive self that she did not notice he was ordering in a harsh tone.

He inquired about her class schedule, where she went, or whom she met. He had every single detail of her life even though they were separated by two countries.

Whenever he talked with Aria, his day was calm, otherwise he would sulk while looking at his phone. He'd glance at it every other second so that he would not miss any of her calls. 

It did not take him one day, but gradually he realized he had fallen in love with Aria Cooper.  There was no more denying or turning back. The realization gave him relief  as he was too confused about his unruly behavior towards her. When the truth was revealed he felt like he reached a final destination, his home. 

He knew Aria was smart in academics, but not very street smart. She was not good at analyzing people, knowing who her friend or foe was. Neither was she good at predicting the ulterior motives of people.

It was an advantage for him as she never suspected he started having romantic feelings toward her. As a strategist he wanted every step to be careful and precise so that when he confessed, Aria would have no choice but to surrender herself to him.

She was studying away from home, so he felt it was not the right time to confess. Once she comes back after graduation he will let her know.

In the meantime, he was either studying or chatting with Aria.

Then the day came when Aria returned and he took over his father's  business. He was always prepared to take over Ambrosio group from the day he was born and after he got appointed as the CEO, his father stayed behind the scenes, operated the business and guided him.

Aria announced that she got a job in Italy, and at the same time there was some mishap on the onsite project. So he went to the plant and it took a lot of time to solve their issues, and he was so busy that he had no time to contact Aria.

As soon as the work ended he flew to Italy. Their first meeting did not end well when she fainted in his arms under the rain.

He was so worried and angry that she neglected her health. Later, he put his plan in motion, day by day he got closer to her. Seduced her, leaving her no choice but to fill her thoughts about him, just like he thought about her every day.

This was the reason why he always made some excuse to stay at her house. His flirting always took her off guard and he loved seeing the rosy glow on her cheeks.

He was very proud and smug when she ogled his naked chest, all those years at the gym did not go to waste. The excuse to touch her was growing stronger, even touching her pinky finger was enough.

What he never expected was the presence of a man called Justin in Aria's life. He was quite suspicious when she saved the note, but then dismissed it thinking it was one sided crush by one of her admirers.

But when that unknown message came on her phone, he learned Aria not only dated this guy, but also broke up within a few weeks. The rage and fury he felt when he learned that someone had not only tried to touch his woman, but also use her for her wealth was indescribable.

He wanted to kill Justin, slowly tearing his body piece by piece. Had he been cruel like Enzo, he could have done it, but he was better at handling his emotions. He knew there were many ways one can destroy a man without killing.

He left Aria's home so that she can have a whole night to process his confession. Because starting tomorrow morning he will hasten his actions. He was getting impatient to make her his.

He also feared that this thing, which happened once, could repeat again. If he neglects her, some other guy may sweep her off her feet. 

A wise man never makes the same mistakes twice and this time he is not leaving Italy until he gets confession from her.