Chapter 12

Aria's POV After Lillian left, exhaustion finally caught up with me. I fell into a dreamless sleep, waking only when sunlight streamed through my partially drawn curtains the next morning. I shuffled downstairs to find my father already at the breakfast table, casually reading his newspaper while sipping coffee. Martha placed a plate of French toast in front of me, and I mumbled my thanks, watching my father curiously. He hadn't mentioned anything about Aiden. Not a single word about the marriage that had set social media ablaze. My father continued reading his newspaper, seemingly untroubled, occasionally making comments about political developments or business news. I took a hesitant bite of my breakfast, wondering if perhaps he simply hadn't heard.But It seemed impossible—the internet had practically exploded with news of our marriage. Then again, Dad had always been something of a digital dinosaur, preferring print newspapers to online news. I cleared my throat. "Dad, there's somet