Chapter 111

"How long are you planning to keep this up?" Frederick snapped. "Wasn't the whole Alicia situation enough of a wake-up call?" "So what if it wasn't?" Aria spun around and shouted back at him. "At least she returned the Verdant Bloom to Mom! If I hadn't caused a scene, she'd still be flaunting our family heirloom like it was hers!" "Do you think that was because of you?" Frederick cut her off sharply. "If Jonathan hadn't stepped in for Elise's sake, do you really think that would've ended well?" Aria lowered her head, muttering, "But you said it yourself—he did it for Elise. Maybe he was moved by her. Maybe she still means something to him, even just a little..." I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Aria, don't romanticize it. He only did it so he wouldn't look bad." Frederick let out a cold chuckle. "Do you really think she's going to believe that? She's just waiting for you to say something good about chasing after a guy, so she can convince herself it's okay to throw herself at some