Free Web NovelChapter 267: Chapter 267
Aria’s POV
I felt much more at ease, planning a "thank you dinner" for Amelia and Kara. Before heading to the restaurant, we stopped at the studio.
The moment we stepped out, Kara cast a look over her shoulder and then snapped her gaze away, her scent sharp with distrust.
“You’re sure it’s safe to leave that person there, especially knowing she’s not trustworthy?” she asked. She was referring to Sandra.
I smiled, calm on the surface, though my claws prickled beneath my skin. “She can’t access anything important. It’s safer to keep her where I can see her.”
Control the field. Keep the threat close.
That was the my mantra.
My hands tightened the slightest bit, just enough that Kara’s eyes flicked to them. Not enough to reveal the tension coiling in my veins like moonlit wildfire.
Amelia said nothing. She didn’t need to. The weight of her stare told me she understood the parts of me I didn’t voice.
The moment the design drafts leaked and I found out Sandra was responsible, I had a hard time believing it was real. I was in denial for a while. I had rescued her, fed her, sheltered her. And still... she betrayed me.
***
At the riverside restaurant, dusk rolled in like mist, soft and gray. The scent of water, moss, and city lights flickered along my senses.
We parked. Amelia laid a hand on my shoulder.
“Trust yourself.”
I paused and nodded. “I will.”
We barely sat before a voice, sour and smug, sliced through the air like a rusted blade.
“Aria, don’t get too comfortable.”
It was Sophia.
Her scent hit me like bile, it reeked of jealousy, ambition and desperation layered in cheap perfume.
“Yes,” I replied, my lips curving. “I am comfortable.”
Her face twisted. “You won’t be smug for long. You’ve been kicked out of Hemsworth Villa. Next, Nathan will serve you divorce papers!”
My wolf stilled in anticipation. This is the moment, it whispered.
I touched my chin thoughtfully, reached into my bag, and with a loud thud tossed the stack of papers onto the table.
“Divorce papers? I’m afraid you’ll be disappointed.” My voice was ice and silver.
“It should be me giving them to Nathan.” I had fresh divorce papers made for Nathan. This time around, he wouldn’t be able to escape signing them.
Sophia’s shock was intoxicating. She glanced at the papers on the table.
“You... you’re serious?”
“For you, Nathan is a prize you can’t afford to lose.” My eyes gleamed, amber flashing through for a heartbeat. “For me, he isn’t.”
Amelia chimed in, her voice the gavel to my verdict. “This is an official document. Once Nathan signs, the marriage ends immediately. Then Aria can completely sever their mate bond and be free”
"Aria, don’t regret this later! Don’t come back with your sob stories once I become Nathan’s Luna and start living the good life," Sophia tried to mask her internal excitement and put on a facade of concern for me.
"I won’t," I replied firmly, cutting her off.
Sophia snatched the papers so fast she nearly tore them. “Fine. Consider it me doing you a favor!” she spat before practically skipping away.
We watched her go.
“Amelia,” I murmured, my eyes narrowing. “Don’t you have investigative privileges?”
She turned. “What are you planning?”
“Since the Darvin family won’t leave me be now that the gloves are off...”
I leaned in, my voice low. “...I’m not letting them off, either.”
The plan I whispered made her eyes gleam.
By afternoon, Celestyr dropped its latest design. Mine...Selina’s...Aria’s.
In ten minutes, it was gone, completely sold out.
Praises rained like wildfire, admiration like incense.
"Selina is truly a genius designer; this new collection is even more stunning than the last," one admirer noted.
"Of course, this is the same Selina who entered the industry and became a legend with just one design," another chimed in.
And right on cue, Darvin Group that has been dormant for a long time, howled their lies online. Obviously my parents doing.
"The recent popular designer Selina is actually an ungrateful, selfish woman!" The trending topic quickly climbed the charts, surpassing Celestyr’s release to become number one.
Peter, my father had recorded a video, laying on the sympathy thick. "I’ve seen Celestyr’s recent promotions, but as Luna Aria’s father, I can’t stand by and watch everyone be deceived by her," he began, instantly drawing in viewers.
The content that followed left everyone stunned.
"Aria is the product of my wife and me, the only child of the Darvin family. We’ve invested so much in her, only to see her go astray," he continued, sharing detailed stories of my supposed childhood lies and suggesting subtly, that my recent designs were not my own work.
The implication was clear; I was accused of plagiarism. This time, the smarter netizens demanded evidence from Peter, while a smaller fraction believed him without question. After all, what father would slander his own child? freёweɓnovel.com
Several people online tore into me, claws of words sharper than steel.
“A daughter like this shouldn’t be celebrated.”
“Boycott her.”
“She’s nothing.”
The wolf stirred furiously within me, shaking frost down my spine.
I didn’t respond, not immediately. Amelia would handle the legal side. Alpha Jonathan would weather the press.
I would choose my battlefield.
Silence isn’t surrender.
Sometimes it’s the sound of fangs glinting before an imminent fight.
