<b>Chapter </b>447
Rachel froze in shock, her eyes shing with wild delight.
Rachel thought to herself, ‘Is Aria… my sister, too?‘
Ondo, afraid Rachel might misunderstand and get her hopes up only to be disappointed, hurriedly exined, “But Aria’s not your biological sister. Let’s head back first. I’ll exin everything along the way.”
Lily looked up at Aria, her eyes brimming with unspoken questions.
“Don’t worry. She’s safe now,” Aria said softly, gently stroking Lily’s hair. “Just focus on your SAT prep. I’ll t
Lily nodded obediently. “Okay, Aria. Sorry for worrying you all.”
ye care of everything else”
With disaster averted, Valerie finally breathed a sigh of relief. “Go home and get some proper rest,” she said gently.
The SAT was the next day. Valerie considered suggesting that Lily see a therapist, but then she realized–having survived such a dangerous ordeal unscathed, Lily clearly possessed remarkable resilience and could handle her own emotions.
As everyone left, Liam snapped out of his daze.
Although Liam didn’t know the specifics of the feud between Ondo and Aria, he could tell they had history, and the bad blood between them ran deep.
Countless questions swirled in Liam’s mind. As Aria walked past, his hand instinctively shot out to grab her ah.
A hand shot out and intercepted him.
A bone–crushing pain shot through Liam’s wrist, making his face twist in agony. He looked up, only to meet a pair of icy, menacing eyes.
Owen’s eyes turned cold as he warned, “Touch her again, and you’ll lose that hand.”
Owen withdrew his hand, casting a disgusted nce at his fingers. He pulled a sanitizing wipe from his pocket and meticulously cleaned each digit, then turned and walked away without another word.
Liam’s face darkened with rage, his wrist throbbing as if it had been crushed in Owen’s grip.
Diego stared at Owen’s retreating figure with <b>a </b>puzzled look. “Who’s that guy?”
Liam snapped, annoyed, “He’s awyer, and he’s after Aria. They even live next door to each other.”
“What?” Diego blurted out, clearly stunned.
Diego was unsettled–that man’s presence was seriously intense. Clearly, he wasn’t someone to mess with.
From what just happened, it was clear Aria trusted Owen quite a bit.
Liam scoffed, “With him around, you don’t stand a chance with Aria. Just give up
now.”
Diego snorted, “Worth a shot. It’s not like rejection/s gonna kill me.”
Diego knew his chances were slim, but he just wanted to get under Liam’s skin. After all, the guy had let down his idol.
Before getting in the car, Rachel looked at Lily with remorse and said, “Lily, I won’t… I won’t try to end my life again. You must–you absolutely <b>must </b><b>ace </b>your SATS. Don’t let what happened to me throw you off.”
At first, terrified of Olivia, Rachel had no choice but to obey her orders and lure Lily out. In her despair, the desperate <b>thought </b><b>shed </b><b>through </b><b>her </b><b>mind</b>, ‘If I have to die, maybe I don’t want to go alone. Maybe Lily shoulde with me.’
<b>10:43 </b><b>Mon</b><b>, </b><b>23 </b><b>Jun </b>G
<b>Only </b>when Lily grabbed her did Rachel finally feel a surge of regiet.
She realized she had made a terrible mistake.
Lily’s eyes crinkled into a warm smile. “I’lle see you after the SATs.”
Rachel responded with a t “Mm,” her tone devoid of warmth.
In the car, Ondo finally told Rachel the whole truth about her past. “Your parents never really loved you, but Aria….
“If you want to recognize Silvia as family, just say the word. I’ll set it up for you.”
Rachel tilted her head. “So, it was Aria who gave me my name, and she’s always looked out for me, while my away for money. Is that right?
Ondo didn’t want to admit it, but there was no denying the truth. “Yes,” he admitted reluctantly.
Rachel said firmly, “Then I should ept Aria as family. She’s the one who took care of me.”
Ondo hesitated for a moment before asking, “Is this because of Lily?”
“Not entirely,” Rachel replied.
Ondo said quietly, “Aria might not take you as family.”
real parents were the ones who gave me
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