Ray's eyes widened in shock, his cheek still stinging from Amelia's slap. The room became extremely silent. Lilac rushed to Amelia's side, her expression filled with sadness.
"Sister Amelia," Lilac said softly, her voice trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. "I know you're angry with me, but you shouldn't have hit Brother Ray. If you're upset, you can hit me instead." She clasped her hands together and tilted her head slightly.
Amelia raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smirk. "Oh?" she said mockingly. Then, without hesitation, she raised her hand and slapped Lilac hard across the face.
The sharp sound of the slap echoed through the room, leaving everyone stunned. Lilac staggered slightly, her wide eyes brimming with shock and disbelief. She touched her reddened cheek, her lips trembling as though she might cry at any moment.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Ace exclaimed, stepping forward. He glared at Amelia with anger. "I've always suspected you of bullying Lilac, but to see you hit her in front of us, This is beyond unacceptable!"
Amelia turned to him with a sneer. "Oh? Do you want to get slapped too?" she asked coldly, her voice filled with disdain.
"You're going too far, Amelia," Ace remarked.
Amelia scoffed, crossing her arms as she looked him up and down. "And I don't want to hear anything from someone who cheated on his fiancée with her own sister."
Both Ace and Lilac turned red, their cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Ace opened his mouth to speak, but Amelia cut him off.
"Spare me your excuses, I do not wish to hear them," she said with a bitter laugh.
"It was a mistake," Ace said hurriedly. "Please don't misunderstand."
Lilac stepped closer to Ace, her head bowed as though in shame. "Sister, I didn't mean for any of this to happen," she whispered, her voice soft and trembling. "It's all my fault. Please don't blame Ace."
Ace, looking at Lilac's trembling figure, became angry. Why did they have to apologize anyway? He had been forced into this engagement by his father, and now that he had found the love of his life, why must he continue with this loveless marriage? At the end of the day, there was still a union with the Cosgrove family it was just that he was going to marry Lilac, whom he loved, rather than Amelia, for whom he felt nothing.
Emboldened by this thought, Ace took Lilac's hand and intertwined their fingers, holding them up for Amelia to see. "I'm tired of hiding it any longer," he declared. "The truth is, the one I've always loved is Lilac. Why should I be forced into a loveless engagement when my heart belongs to someone else?"
Amelia stared at them for a moment before bursting into laughter. It was sharp and cold, devoid of any warmth.
"Well," she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "I suppose her jumping off the bridge was for nothing then."
Ace's expression darkened as confusion flickered in his eyes. "What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.
"If you knew you were tired of this engagement, you should have called it off instead of cheating behind Amelia's back like a spineless coward," Amelia said, cocking her head, a small mocking smile forming on her lips.
"I jumped off the bridge because of both of you," Amelia continued, but her voice was quite... indifferent. She glanced at Ray. "For an entire week, I was unconscious. And yet, not one of you came to visit. Not even a single call. Nothing. I suppose that says all I need to know about how much she mattered to any of you."
Lilac's face fell, her tears flowing freely like torrents of rain as she reached out to grab Amelia's hand. "Sister, it's not like that! We were—"
"Spare me your theatrics, Lilac," Amelia interrupted, moving her hand just enough to dodge Lilac's hold. She turned toward the staircase to head to her room.
Pausing at the first step, she looked over her shoulder and added, "The doctor told me to rest. So do me a favor and stay out of my way. Interacting with you all might just worsen my condition."
Without another word, Amelia went up the stairs, leaving the three of them behind, frozen.
Why did it seem like Amelia had changed?