bChapter /bb41 /b

bSilvia’s /bpupils contracted, her breath catching for a moment as she tried to steady herself.

“Why?” she whispered, her voice strained. “Why don’t you find them?”

bAria /bgave a coldugh, her eyes narrowing in mockery. “If they can’t even get their own child right, what makes you think I’d bother with them?”

Stall silent, suddenly feeling the weight of her words. With Aria, there was always this pressure an binvisible /bweight that made it hard to breathe.

Sikia said, “If we’d swapped back earlier you wouldn’t be in this mess.”

Aria replied, her voice casual, yet sharp, “But even if we had, the result would be the same. You were always more suited to be Saxon family’s daughter

than ever wasb./b”

Aria’s features were a carbon copy of Zoe’s—her small face,rge eyes, the softness that suggested innocent

But the coldness in her gazeb, /bthe constant distance she kept from everyone, made her unapproachable

The Saxon family believed Aria’s aloofness was due to her upbringing, but it wasn’t.

She had always been this way. It wasn’t the environment that had shaped her; it was bjust /bher nature.

Even if she hadn’t been switched at birth, the oue would have been the same. The family wouldn’t like her.

What they wanted was ba /bcheerful, lively, optimistic, and kind hearted daughter–someone like Silvia

Aria could never be that..

ent out i

Silvia took a step forward, about to speak, when suddenly the lights flickered and then went out, plunging them into darkness.

Instinctivelyb, /bshe screamed, bbut /bbefore she could process anything, a firm hand yanked her bforward/b. Something whizzed by her ear, so close that could feel the air shit, it embedded itself in the wall with ba /bsoft thunk.

Her heart raced, and before she couldprehend what had just happened, Aria had already pulled her into the living room, mming the door shut behind them and locking it

Silvia’s hand trembled as she tried to steady herself. “W–what just happened?”

Aria didn’t answer.

Only Silvia’s erratic breathing filled the room.

A few long momentster, the lights flickered back on.

Aria’s expression remained unreadable as she casually pulled something from a drawer and began extracting the needle lodged in the bdoor/b.

Silvia’s gaze followed the needle, her mouth going dry. “bWhat/b… What is that?”

Her fingers instinctively went to her ear, where she could still feel the faint sting. She nced down and bsaw /bba /bspeck of blood on her fingers.

The same needle that had whizzed past her head.

Her heart pounded in her chest.

She thought, Aria hadn’t pulled me just then, that needle would have stabbed right into my temple!”

She swallowed hard, her mind racing. What’s going on? Had it been meant for me? Or for Aria?

Aria didn’t respond as she neatly ced the needle into a small sealed bag, setting it on top of the shoe cab.

Silvia’s gaze shited, and the noticed the faint scars on Aria’s pale shoulder–thin

Then her eyes darted down. A small scar–still raised–peeked out from under Aria’s sleepwear, and Silvia’s phone slipped from her grasp, ttering to

the floor.

She couldn’t help but stare, her breath catching in her throat.

bAria /bbnced /bback at her, then bent to pick up the phone, cing

git in Silvia’s hand.

“Don’te here again,” she said, her tone as cold as ice. “Whatever happens tonight stays between bus/b. Otherwise, the consequences are yours to beac

Silvia didn’t speak. She was still frozen, staring at Aria

There had been another scar starting from the left shoulder and going downwards. It hadn’t been deep, but it had been quite noticeable.

Aria hadn’t even worn the expensive dresses Zoo had bought her when she first came home–dresses that still hung untouched in the closet.

Silvia

ba /bhad assumed Aria didn’t like them, thought she was being stubborn or resentful, and that’s why bshe /brefused to wear them.

Now, she felt foolish even thinking that.

Ana turned awayb, /bheading further into the house

Silvia hesitated, then reached out, her hand brushing against Aria’s arm. “This ce is dangerous Pleasee with me. Let’s go back together.”

The needle was most likely meant for Aria, not her.

She wondered, “And the scars on her back… what had Aria been through?b” /b

She felt a pang of guilt, realizing just how sellish she’d been, resenting Aria’s position.

She thought, “My biological parents came to me asking for money. I hoped they would go to Aria