After Bonita revealed the secret, the distance between them rapidly closed. Especially, the vague fear that had been separating them vanished.
From Bonita’s perspective, she was convinced that Aria would always be by her side, and Aria, after realizing her true identity, gradually found comfort in Bonita’s continued love.

On the contrary, Aria’s relationship with Luke remained frosty. Since that day, Luke completely started avoiding Aria, and Aria, in turn, didn’t try to approach him.

Nevertheless, she was still a person. It wouldn’t feel good to receive blame for something she didn’t do, especially from the man she loved.

If there was an issue here, it was—

“Bonita, want to play a game with Dad? I brought a new board game.”

“A little later!”

Bonita, who was gradually becoming friendly with Luke, transformed into Aria’s stumbling block.

Luke felt a bit disappointed but managed to suppress his disappointment. Still, he was worried.

Curious as well.

“What happened?”

Luke noticed a change in their relationship since the day he questioned Aria.

Without seeing Aria’s face, and lacking the courage to ask Bonita directly, Luke, feeling frustrated, caught Catherine and complained.

“Mom, what should I do?”

“Why are you asking me?!”

“You’ve raised two kids. Isn’t there some way?”

Hearing Luke’s worries, Catherine shook her head.

“How can you compare a boy and a girl? Besides, you knew who your parents were from birth, unlike Bonita.”

“But you chose birthday gifts well.”

“That’s different!”

Catherine burst into anger.

“Then, what do you think of that woman? Aria Hilton, I mean.”

“Well…”

Listening to Luke’s words, Catherine twirled her wand.

There was probably no one in this household as peculiar as her.

Even Catherine, who initially wanted to drive Aria away, couldn’t immediately say so after hearing Luke’s concerns.

For one, Bonita liked Aria so much. To Catherine, this was surprisingly unexpected.

Honestly, I thought if you treated her well, Bonita would soon detach herself from the Hiltons. Children blindly rely on bad guardians because they have no one else to depend on. I thought if you treated her well, she would gradually notice the unfair treatment she received and create some distance.

Children aren’t fools.

Despite being small and fragile, they keenly perceive the attitudes of adults towards them.

In Catherine’s view, Bonita wasn’t much different. Rather, she considered her much smarter and quicker than other children.
Even though Bonita had found someone else to rely on, there was undoubtedly some secret behind her continued affection for Aria.

Catherine, sitting in a comfortable rocking chair, pinched the bridge of her nose. Her wrinkled mouth opened.

“Anyway, it would be good for you to find out what the secret between those two is. This is a very sincere advice from me as a mother.”

“…How do I find out?”

“Just ask. Ask them both.”

“Me?”

“Then should I ask?”

Receiving Catherine’s incredulous look, Luke cleared his throat.

“Honestly, I don’t have the confidence that talking to Miss Hilton now won’t lead to another explosion. I’m also not sure if the secret is big enough to cover up the fact that she abused Bonita.”

“Hmm.”

Catherine’s purple eyes scanned her son.

It had been a long time since her once always troublesome but perfect son showed such hesitation.

Sitting side by side with him and having a conversation was also a rarity.

Lost in new thoughts, Catherine casually made a suggestion.

“Try giving her alcohol or something.”

“What?”

“You never know, right?”

She said, raising an eyebrow.

“She might be the type who opens up unexpectedly when drunk.”