Selene was already about to sit down on the chair when she paused, hearing Aiden’s voice. Glancing up, she offered him a sweet smile.
But Aiden barely looked at her. His gaze glanced at her for the briefest second before returning to look at Arwen. His brows furrowed when he saw Arwen pulling a chair to the far distant corner of the dining table.
"Why are you sitting here?"
His gaze then darted back to look at Selene, noting the presence of an old woman standing a step behind her. She wasn’t unfamiliar to him; he recognised her as her nanny at once. But what he didn’t like was the expression she was wearing on her face.
The moment Carla was pinned by Aiden’s cold eyes; she felt a shiver freeze her spine. Her soul almost betrayed her, leaping to fly off if given a chance. Quickly casting her eyes down, she didn’t dare to look up again —scared to her core.
"Aiden, don’t look at me like that," Selene spoke quickly after. "I told Arwen to sit here, it was just —"
Before she could complete or present the reason that would prove her innocence, Aiden took away her chance. As if that chance was never there for her.
Instead, he turned to look back at Arwen and asked, "What’s happening here? Shouldn’t you be sitting there?"
Arwen didn’t make haste to answer him. She took her time, deliberately and slowly turned to look back at Selene. Her expression was kind, and it meant no harm, yet that calmness on her face was enough to prick Selene’s nerves.
"Is there anything wrong if I change the chair?" she slowly asked, before turning to look back at Aiden. "I didn’t want to sit there today, so I thought to change." She then patted the chair that was close to her. It was also the last chair of the table —with no further chairs to the left. "Don’t tell me I can’t change my seat here. I can, right?"
Aiden stared at her for a long moment as if trying to read her. He could sense something had happened, but then, seeing her ease and calm demeanour, he couldn’t quite tell.
"What? I can’t? Is there a rule in the house that I don’t know?" Arwen asked when she didn’t see him responding.
Aiden smiled at her dotingly before reaching to brush away a strand of hair behind her ears. "You are the rule of this house," he said, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Anything you say or decide would go. Not just people working here, even I am obliged to follow."
She knows that, but still, hearing him phrase it like that warmed her heart. He has made many promises when they were alone. She never expected him to be so unhesitant when doing it in front of others.
Selene, on the other side, felt the burn of jealousy again. Her eyes stared at Aiden as she heard him. His gentle gaze was like that ... she had wanted it on herself. However, once again, Arwen had had it snatched from her.
Why can’t Aiden look at her the same?
Wasn’t she beautiful enough?
How was she any less than Arwen?
Her fingers curled into fists, and her nails dug into her skin, almost piercing it.
"Ms. Selene, please calm down," Carla spoke from the side. "Don’t lose your calm. You have already gotten the chair. And now, it would be you sitting beside young master Winslow. As long as you sit with him, you would win, and that woman would lose."
Selene heard her, and those words calmed her down. She thought to herself that Carla was right. As long as Aiden sits with her, nothing else matters.
Arwen briefly looked in the direction of Selene and Carla, and couldn’t stop her lips curling in a known smile. Although she couldn’t hear what the two were discussing, she knows it well.
For it was just too obvious to miss.
Then, why not end the chase for them?
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