Chapter 7

I dragged my exhausted body to open the door. Kieran stood outside, his face dark enough to drip water, his eyes bloodshot from a sleepless night.

He didn't even let me say a word before his ice-cold interrogation crashed down on me.

"Aria, just how long are you going to keep acting out!"

I looked at him blankly.

He gave a cold laugh, shoving his phone screen almost into my face.

"I thought you'd finally grown up, but you're still this vicious! If you can't have something, you have to destroy it, right? Using such filthy language to insult someone who's about to become your aunt?"

On the screen were last night's text conversation records between Scarlett and me.

But they'd been carefully edited and altered.

My "why" had become vicious curses.

And my words calling her out for stealing her friend's man had been spliced together with extremely crude insults and provocations.

Her triumphant boasting and vicious slander had vanished without a trace.

The entire conversation made it look like I was a madwoman who, out of jealousy, was harassing and attacking her - the woman about to become my aunt.

Blood rushed to my head instantly, then drained away just as quickly.

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain that it had been edited.

I wanted to tell him those photos she sent were fake.

I wanted to ask if he really didn't trust my character at all.

But looking into those ice-cold eyes that held no trust whatsoever, all the words stuck in my throat, shattering into glass shards that cut painfully.

The string in my chest that had been stretched too long finally snapped with an audible break.

Fine.

I suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of relief.

So this was what complete despair felt like.

I slowly raised my head, no longer looking at the carefully orchestrated lies on his phone screen.

Instead, I looked directly into his furious eyes, even curving my lips slightly, my voice so calm it sounded foreign even to myself.

"Uncle, I'm sorry."

"I lost my composure and offended Aunt. Please convey my apologies to her."

I saw a flash of confusion in his eyes, as if he hadn't expected me to give in so easily.

But that confusion lasted only an instant before being covered by even deeper coldness.

He coldly put away his phone, as if even looking at me one more second would contaminate him.

"Remember your place. Don't test my patience again."

The door slammed shut in my face, the wind it stirred hitting my face like ice.

I finally sank down slowly, hugging myself, but I couldn't shed a single tear anymore.