Chapter 71\u00a0<\/p>\n
Daisy\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched Ridley bend down to speak with Aria, and my heart raced wildly beneath my carefully composed exterior. Something had gone terribly wrong. The moment I saw his expression when he looked at that painting, I knew I was in danger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Think fast, Daisy. Think.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes darted around and landed on a small jar of paint nearby. In one swift motion, I knocked it over while they were distracted, watching the paint splash across what remained of the canvas. Perfect\u2013now most of the painting was completely obscured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh no! I\u2019m so sorry, Aria. How clumsy of me!\u201d I exclaimed, forcing shock and distress into my voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley\u2019s sharp eyes cut to me instantly. I could feel them like physical pressure against my skin. \u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d The coldness in his\u00a0<\/p>\n
voice made me shiver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so sorry!\u201d I gasped, my hand flying to my mouth in feigned shock. \u201cIt was an accident!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But his eyes\u2013God, those penetrating eyes\u2013were studying me with such intensity that I wondered if he could see right through my act.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had my movements been too deliberate? Too calculated?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No, impossible. I\u2019d practiced this kind of \u201caccident\u201d before. It looked perfectly natural. It had to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bent down, making a show of trying to clean up the mess while actually ensuring the image was completely destroyed. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry,\u00a0<\/p>\n
sweetie. I didn\u2019t mean to ruin your beautiful painting.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ten years I\u2019d spent cultivating my position in this family, carefully building my image as the perfect caretaker. I couldn\u2019t let it all crumble\u00a0<\/p>\n
because of one stupid painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDaisy. Ridley\u2019s voice was ice. \u201cThat\u2019s enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I flinched at his tone. What had gone wrong? I\u2019d planned everything so carefully. Tonight was supposed to be my triumph\u2013creating a\u00a0<\/p>\n
moment where Ridley would see me as Aria\u2019s mother figure, perhaps even stay the night, charmed by my devotion to his daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, I was scrambling to salvage what remained of my credibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI really am sorry,\u2018 I whispered, injecting my voice with just the right amount of remorse and vulnerability.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust leave now, I need to talk with her privately,\u201d Ridley said, his voice carrying a finality that brooked no argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew better than to push my luck. Any longer and I\u2019d risk pissing him off completely, so I swallowed my questions and walked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ridley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 71\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once Daisy left, I pulled a chair beside Aria and sat down. \u201cYou don\u2019t need to speak,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cJust nod or shake your head. Can you\u00a0<\/p>\n
do that for me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aria\u2019s dark eyes shifted slightly. After a long moment, she gave a small nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I picked up the ruined painting. \u201cIs this woman in your painting Daisy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aria\u2019s lips pressed into a thin line. Her small hands clenched into fists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She seemed to be struggling internally with something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, she slowly shook her head.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Thank you for being honest with me.\u201d I continued carefully, \u201cIs this woman someone you met for the first time today?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silent little figure gave a slight nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I set the painting aside, deciding not to press further about it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a moment of contemplation, I asked gently, \u201cWould you like to move back to the main house with me, Aiden, and Oliver?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aria\u2019s face suddenly drained of all color.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shook her head violently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her small body curled into itself as she retreated behind the curtain, trembling visibly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart clenched. I moved closer and gathered her into my arms.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAria, don\u2019t be afraid. If you want to stay here, you can stay. It\u2019s okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the child in my arms only trembled more violently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her beautiful long eyelashes fluttered rapidly, her dark pupils flooded with intense fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
The Sky Remembered the Touch of Our Unfinished Goodbyes by Lysa Orion Rehn 71 Chapter 71\u00a0 Daisy\u2019s POV\u00a0 I watched […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-zero-stars-for-daddy-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30470\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}