A familiar voice rang out, and Alia Garcia abruptly turned her head to see Christopher Hart slowly wheeling himself into the room.
Snow Fitch glanced back and saw the man in the wheelchair. His handso face carried an air of authority, his brows furrowed with displeasure. She understood the aning behind his words and deliberately asked, "Why are you glad I didn’t et Alia sooner?"
Christopher had been back for a little while.
Seeing Snow’s car parked in the courtyard, he had instructed the bodyguards to leave him at the entrance before they departed. He didn’t enter imdiately.
He knew that there were so things Alia wouldn’t open up about to him, but might confess to Snow.
So, he waited quietly outside.
Indeed, he overheard her heartfelt words.
If she had sought refuge with Snow in her youth, then her current identity might very well have been "Young Madam Fitch"—and what would she have to do with him?
The answer was obvious. Did it even need to be asked?
Ignoring Snow’s intentionally provocative question, he wheeled himself directly to Alia and stopped.
Alia turned around, eting the expression on his face. Her gaze flicked to the door, and she softly asked, "How long... have you been back?"
His eyes locked onto her, unwavering and filled with depth. He parted his thin lips and spoke softly, "I heard everything you just said."
"..." Her eyes fell, silent.
Christopher took her hand. "Alia, the things that happened in the past... They weren’t your fault. Don’t bear the bla yourself. And besides, not everyone in the Hart Family is like you imagine..."
Snow sneered, laughing mockingly. "You’re still making excuses for your family."
Christopher didn’t look at her but addressed Alia instead. "I’m not making excuses for them. At the very least, Grandpa... he genuinely likes you. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have pushed so hard to arrange our marriage."
Snow pouted, unable to refute that statent—because it was true. There were so kind-hearted souls in the Hart Family.
Seeing Alia remain silent, Christopher grew tense inside. But the more anxious he felt, the more imperative it beca to clarify certain things.
"And besides Grandpa... there’s . My feelings for you are genuine as well."
Alia lifted her eyes to et his intense and profound gaze. "Then why didn’t you trust ?"
He hurriedly explained, "In the beginning, I did trust you. I just didn’t expect that my mom and Wendy would team up..."
He hadn’t expected his own family to brainwash him, insisting that he was blind and being deceived by Alia.
He had sought reassurance multiple tis, but Alia only spoke in anger.
And then Fiona and her daughter added fuel to the fire...
In short, every voice around him condemned her, and the evidence seed undeniable.
"Forget it. Let’s not talk about what happened back then. Luckily, the misunderstandings have been resolved, and you’ve returned to my side." Christopher recalled the events of the past, ultimately deciding there was no need to dwell on them, and set them aside.
Alia also reminisced about the past.
It could only be attributed to youthful impulsiveness.
Love cannot endure turmoil and doubt; the deeper the love, the more fragile it becos.
If they had been a few years older then, with slightly more maturity, perhaps they’d have weathered those "tests."
Snow watched from the sidelines.
She should have known better as the third wheel and removed herself from the situation, but seeing her best friend remain silent, she grew anxious and blurted out, "What about now? Can you guarantee now that no matter the circumstance, no matter what anyone says to you, you’ll believe her without question and never doubt her again?"
"Of course!" Christopher replied without hesitation, his gaze still fixed on the woman in front of him. His large hand clasped hers tighter. "Alia, I’ll never doubt you again, not even for a mont. And I won’t hide anything from you ever again."
Alia stared at him, dazed, her lips trembling as she said, "You... don’t need to make such promises. I’m not the sa person I was back then."
The underlying ssage was clear—no one could sar her reputation as easily now.
Christopher understood what she ant. "I know you’re now capable of protecting yourself, but my stance is still important."
Snow chid in sarcastically, "Just don’t say one thing and do another—don’t slap yourself in the face later."
Christopher could no longer tolerate her and turned to ask, "Have you finished eating? Can you leave now?"
"Hey, what’s that supposed to an!" Snow flared up, her delicate brows arching in anger. "When you called for help to gather intel, you weren’t acting like this!"
Alia couldn’t help but laugh.
Christopher looked a bit embarrassed, casting Snow a sideways glance before simply pretending she didn’t exist.
"Oh, Alia, there’s sothing I need to tell you. Just to be cautious."
"What is it?"
"A few days ago, Wendy ca to the hospital to see . She said so things. I couldn’t make sense of her intentions, but knowing her personality, I fear she might try sothing drastic again. Be careful. If she approaches you, just ignore her."
Snow interjected again, "Your family really has extraordinary tenacity!"
Christopher: "..."
Fearing they might start arguing again, Alia pulled on his arm as he was about to turn toward Snow.
Christopher looked back and saw her smiling warmly, a gesture of peace, which forced him to suppress his temper once more.
"What did Wendy say to you? Why would you think she’d target again?" Alia wondered. She found it hard to believe, given Wendy’s severe condition, that the woman could even harm her anymore.
Could it be that Wendy was truly willing to sacrifice her life just to split them apart?
Christopher recalled the remarks his sister had made that day in the hospital room. Initially, he wanted to gloss over them, but then he rembered his recent promise not to withhold anything from her. After a mont’s thought, he decided to confess honestly.
"She said you don’t love , that you’re vain and materialistic... She even claid she personally overheard you tell soone that you never liked , that I forced my way into your life, and that you swore to her you’d never be with ..."
Before Christopher finished, he noticed Alia’s expression shift slightly, prompting him to quickly reassure her. "Of course, I don’t believe those things. No one knows our love better than I do. Wendy’s obsession has consud her; she’s practically lost her mind. I bet even she..."
"What she said is true." Alia interrupted him before he could finish his declaration of loyalty, dropping a shocking revelation.
Even Snow was stunned. "What did you say?"
"What your sister said... I vaguely rember. I did say those things. But... It was against my will; I had no choice at the ti." Alia looked at them with a complicated expression.
Christopher frowned. "What do you an? Who did you say those things to?"
"I didn’t know them well. I think they were among your admirers."
Snow found herself completely puzzled. "So this... ans what exactly?"
"Well... back in high school, there were so many girls at school who were crazy about Christopher. You didn’t know that? One ti after school, a group of female delinquents cornered on my way ho. They warned to stay away from you and said I couldn’t be your girlfriend, or else they’d punish severely. I was scared at the ti, so I said I didn’t like you at all, that you were being too pushy and wouldn’t leave alone..."
Christopher felt a stabbing pain in his chest as his face turned stern and shocked. "Sothing that serious happened, and you never told ?"
"I was afraid you’d confront them and cause trouble. At the ti, I could already feel your family’s attitude toward beginning to change. I didn’t want you to get into more trouble because of and make things worse..."
"And besides, you’d injured your arm playing basketball at the ti. Rember? Your right arm was in a cast, hanging from your chest. I didn’t want to burden you further."
Little did she expect that those words would end up being overheard by Wendy.
No wonder Wendy confronted her in person the following day.
Alia knew by then that Wendy had already developed hostility toward her, believing her brother’s affection for this outsider was stealing the love and attention that rightfully belonged to her as his sister.
So when Wendy angrily asked, "Do you really like my brother? Are you planning to marry him soday and beco the Hart Family’s Young Madam?"
She could only reply, "No... It’s your brother who insists on being good to . I don’t like him and don’t intend to be with him."
"Yes, I did say that to her, hoping she’d stop seeing as a rival. During that ti, I didn’t visit your ho much anymore. You were angry about it later, saying I hadn’t cared for you after your arm injury. You suspected I was spending ti with other boys... You even went around warning those boys—these ridiculous monts, have you forgotten them?"
Alia watched as Christopher’s serious, shocked face processed these mories, realizing how much ti had passed since then.
They had been impulsive, arrogant teenagers then. Now, decades had gone by, and their child was already several years old.
Christopher furrowed his brows unconsciously, as though recalling those scenes. His expression turned complicated and awkward as he glanced at Alia again.
—He had forgotten, but now that she reminded him, it all ca flooding back.
Indeed, it was embarrassing—a jealous fool who thought he’d been betrayed.
Snow couldn’t resist teasing him as she watched, saying, "Jealousy must be second nature to you."
"Snow!" Alia whispered to scold her best friend, fearing that her sarcasm would push Christopher to kick her out in irritation.
"Well, it’s true..." Snow muttered before retreating bashfully.
Christopher took a deep breath and said, "I do have so recollection of what you said. But I never realized you were bullied in school, and I had no clue it happened because of ."
"It wasn’t your fault; I didn’t want to drag you into it."
"But it was because of . If anything had happened to you, and I didn’t know about it..."
It was only at that mont that Christopher truly understood the small, timid girl who had always followed him wasn’t as fragile as she seed. She had silently protected him in her own way.
And now, he realized that her feelings for him ran far deeper and stronger than he had ever imagined.
Even when she was so young and vulnerable, she had quietly stood by him.
Yet he’d been utterly oblivious and, worse, had "repaid" her sacrifice with betrayal—using their love as a sharp blade, plunging it into her soul.
No wonder she’d rather face misunderstandings head-on, outright "confessing" in irritation, letting him worsen his mistakes.
"Alia... I feel like I’ve never truly understood you. All this ti, I thought you were delicate, submissive, soone who needed protecting, like a flower kept safe in a greenhouse. But the truth is, you’re strong, resilient, sensitive, and unyielding. It was my failure to understand you that caused you so much anguish."
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