air rushed in, her face a carefully constructed mask of frantic worry. She wa
aw Aria sitting on the edge
er mouth. Her eyes, expertly glossed with unsh
embrace, her voice trembling with manufactured rel
r's arms closed on empty air. She froze, her hands ho
e, so quick that the old Aria would have m
leaned in, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Ju
g held here. He's furious. If you just keep fighting, keep making a scene,
once been her gospel. She traced an invisible pattern on the sil
aced with poison. "I know it was hard," she murmured, her tone sickeningly sweet. "But it
f ice, locked onto Blair's. For the first time, Blair seemed to truly see he
angerously calm. "Worth what, Blair?
a brittle laugh. "Don't be so dramatic. It
, moving with a fluid grace Blair had never seen before. She was no longer the awkward, timid g
nexplicable sense of pressure, scrambled to her feet, taking a
ress. The gesture was gentle, almost intimate, but her vo
the plan. The country mouse she had so carefully contr
fell back on her role as the older, wiser sister. "I risked Julian'
a question, but as a fact. "So you could finally ge
true, it left no room for denial. Rage, pure and ugly, contorted her
was caught in
o the delicate bones with shocking strength. Blair gasped in
a chilling promise. "From this day forward, everything you ha
ench perfume toppled over, shattering on the floor. The scent of gardenias, overwhelmingly sweet, filled
nt footsteps pounding down the hallway. The
ul lurch. She knew that s
. He w
ly smoothed her hair, her expression shifting from fear to one of a victim.
ss her face. She didn't move to stop her. She simply too
ch force that it slammed against t
of pure, undiluted fury. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, his tie loosened, and
ng onto Aria with a terrifying intensity. It was a look o
r face a mask of tearful distress,
age wa
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