The mont they stepped out of Vespera, Alia Avery struggled and jumped out of Leo Joyce’s arms.
"Where did you go? Do you have any idea how frantic I was?" Even now, Leo Joyce’s heart was still trembling.
"The underground marketplace!"
The mont he heard Alia, Leo Joyce grabbed her shoulders in alarm and demanded, "What were you doing there?!"
"It was nothing much. I just sparred a little with Jonah Ross and a few others, and got to know a new group of people."
"My dear girl, what’s a girl like you doing in a place like that! If you want Cassian Jennings dead, just say the word. I’ll go kill him right now!"
’Kill him?’ Alia’s face fell, and her emotions flared. "Don’t you ever ntion him to again. I don’t want to hear his na." ’Even if he was a complete bastard, she had never once thought of hurting him.’
"Alright, I won’t bring him up. I won’t. Please don’t be angry."
Out of the corner of her eye, Alia saw Cassian Jennings and the others erge. She reached up, grabbed Leo Joyce by the collar, and brought her face close to his. "Leo Joyce, I need to tell you sothing."
"What is it?" Leo Joyce’s breath hitched, and he spoke in a trembling voice.
"I’m sorry, Leo Joyce. Thank you. I really an it." With that, she let go of his collar as tears stread down her cheeks.
From where Cassian Jennings and the others were standing, it looked as though Alia had just kissed Leo Joyce.
But only Leo Joyce knew what Alia was truly doing, and what she had said.
He didn’t know what to feel; it was an incredibly complicated emotion. "You silly girl," he murmured, "I’d do anything for you."
Alia gave a sorrowful smile, then turned and ran. She reached the side of the road, got into a black sedan, and vanished from sight.
Leo Joyce’s hand, which had reached out for Alia, was still frozen in mid-air.
He could only watch as Alia left... A deep fear suddenly seized him. ’In all these years, when has my little firecracker ever apologized to , or thanked ...?’
"Alia Avery, get back here!" Aiden was the first to react, breaking into a run to chase after her.
But he was too late. Alia was gone.
Aiden ran up to Leo Joyce and threw a punch. Leo snapped out of his daze and caught the fist, his eyes red as he roared, "Enough! It’s all of your faults that Alia chose to leave!"
’If Aiden hadn’t forced Cassian’s hand so publicly today, Alia never would have decided to leave.’
’Alia is prouder than anyone, but now everyone knows she threw herself at Cassian, only to be rejected.’
"..." Aiden retracted his fist and took a weary step back.
Just then, his phone buzzed with a text ssage. It was from Alia.
[Bro, I’m sorry, but I have to leave. Mom and Dad said the cherry blossoms in Noridia are beautiful, and I want to go live there. They’ve already handled my school enrollnt, and I’m leaving tonight. As for Cassian, I’ll forget him. Please, don’t let what happened with affect your friendship with him, and don’t go looking for any more trouble. What I said before—I ant it. I’m dead serious.]
After reading the text, Aiden looked up at Leo Joyce with a complicated expression, then glanced at Ian Shaw and Cassian Jennings standing a short distance behind them. With a sigh, he left.
Cassian Jennings stood frozen at the entrance to Vespera, watching the black sedan disappear from his line of sight, and then watching his best friend drive away...
He furrowed his brow in anguish, his heart aching along with his thoughts. ’From now on, when we see each other again, it won’t just be Alia who treats like an enemy. Aiden will, too.’
Ian Shaw walked over and steadied Cassian. "Don’t dwell on it," he said in his usual calm voice. "Let take you to the hospital."
"I was horrible, wasn’t I, Ian?" Cassian asked with a bitter laugh.
Ian Shaw sighed. "You can’t force matters of the heart. In a situation like this, there’s no right or wrong. No matter what, we’ll always be brothers." ’He’d been wary of that little terror since they were kids. She really was a force to be reckoned with. And now, she’d managed to turn his two best friends into enemies.’
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