Chapter 96
Aria’s POV
That’s when I saw het.
Cassandra.
She was sitting on the couch across from Enzo, Dante, and Matteo. Her legs were crossed, her posture perfect, and her smile… polite. Too polite.
They didn’t see me at first. Cassandra was talking, her voice light, her tone casual. But there was something off about the way she looked at them–too confident, like she had their full attention. Like she knew exactly what she was doing.
I stepped further into the room.
Cassandra looked up, and her eyes lit up in a way that made my stomach twist. She stood quickly and gave me a wide, fake smile.
“There you are,” she said, almost sweetly. “I was just leaving. We’ll catch up later.”
And just like that, she brushed past me and walked out.
I turned to the triplets, my chest tight. They weren’t smiling. Matteo looked away. Dante ran a hand through his hair. Enzo’s expression was
unreadable.
“What was she doing here?” I asked.
Enzo shrugged. “Nothing important.”
“Yeah,” Matteo added. “Just talking.”
My brows furrowed. “Talking about what?”
They exchanged glances. “It doesn’t matter,” Dante said. “Don’t worry about it.”
But I did worry.
Their answers were too short. Too careful. And that silence… it was louder than any lie.
The next morning, I tried to brush it off. I told myself I was overthinking. That maybe it really was nothing.
But that illusion shattered when Maria, one of the older staff, pulled me aside while I was helping with breakfast.
She looked nervous, like she wasn’t sure if she should speak.
“Miss Aria,” she said gently, “please don’t be upset. I just thought… you should know.”
My chest tightened. “Know what?”
“That girl–your sister–she said some things to the staff yesterday. About you.”
I froze. “What kind of things?”
“She said you came here for the money. That you’re trying to manipulate the brothers. That you’re dangerous, not to be trusted.”
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Chapter 95
I liked. The words hit turde than I expected, even though I knew Casas eil be cruel.
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Chapter 96
I blinked. The words hit harder than I expected, even though I knew Cassandra could be cruel.
Maria’s voice softened. “I don’t believe her. Most of us don’t. But… I thought you should know what’s going around.”
I nodded slowly. “Thank you, Mari
But inside, something cracked.
I asked the triplets about it later that day. Just to be sure. Just to give them a chance.
“Did Cassandra say anything strange to you guys yesterday?” I asked, trying to sound casual.
But again… that silence.
“No,” Enzo said after a pause. “It’s nothing, Aria.”
“Don’t think about her,” Matteo added. “She’s gone.”
But that wasn’t the point.
They didn’t deny it. They didn’t ask me if I was okay. They just brushed it off–again.
That was when I decided I couldn’t face them.
Not if they thought I was lying.
I buried myself in work.
At first, it was just to stay busy. But soon, I stopped going back to the main house during the day. I stayed out at the stables from morning till evening. The horses didn’t judge me. The goats didn’t whisper behind my back.
Out here, I didn’t have to wonder if someone doubted me. Or talked about me behind closed doors.
The ranch hands welcomed the help. They let me join them in feeding, cleaning, brushing, fixing broken fences. My hands grew rough. My skin tanned. I was too tired at night to cry, but I still felt the weight on my chest.
I saw the triplets from a distance sometimes. A glance across the field. A flicker of movement near the house. But I never went to them, and they never came to me.
Maybe that hurt the most.
As the days passed, a quiet storm raged inside me. I threw myself into work, focusing on the animals and the ranch, but no matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t escape the constant thoughts swirling in my mind. It was like there was a part of me that wanted to believe in them–believe that they didn’t think I was what Cassandra said I was, but every time I looked at them, I felt something shift. That silence between us after Cassandra left the night before had been louder than anything she could have said. They didn’t question her. They didn’t defend me. And that hurt more than I cared to admit. I told myself it didn’t matter. That I was better off staying away from them. Maybe I didn’t belong here after. all, maybe this whole thing with the triplets had been a fantasy. But deep down, I knew I was lying to myself. I did care. I wanted them to see me for who I was–not as a manipulative girl after their wealth or as a threat to their lives. But what if that’s how they saw me now? What if all the moments we had shared, the tender touches, the whispers in the dark, were nothing more than fleeting distractions for them? I could feel the space growing between us, and it twisted in my chest, this growing ache I couldn’t ignore. The ranch, the animals–they were the only things that didn’t make me feel like I was drowning. They didn’t judge me, and they didn’t leave. But the triplets? They weren’t the same. I wasn’t sure where we stood anymore, and it felt like the more I cared, the more I was pushing them away, and the more they were pulling away
from me.
Three days passed like that.
I returned home one evening as the sun dipped below the hills. My back ached, and there was hay in my hair. I just wanted a shower and sleep.
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Chapter 96
But when I stepped into the living room, I froze.
They were there–Matteo, Enzo, and Dante.
Waiting.
Their eyes locked onto me the second I entered. They stood slowly, not angry, just… serious.
The silence stretched between us like a thick fog.
Matteo stepped forward. “Aria,” he said softly. “Can we talk?”
My feet stayed planted. Part of me wanted to run. But part of me needed to hear what they had to say.
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