Aria’s POV

The moment Sophia met the elderly man’s eyes, her face drained of color.

She clenched her fists, her nails biting into her palms as she struggled to keep her gentle, pitiful mask intact. “How could you say that? Perhaps I was just too anxious earlier. My initial response may have been inappropriate.”

She bit her lip hard.

From the look on her face, I could tell her thoughts were spiraling.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, panic finally seeping into her eyes.

It was clear that these people who had come with Raymond hadn’t come to watch. They had come with purpose. They also looked like they were family.

Rowland grinned then, his gaze fixed on Sophia.

“Oh,” he drawled, “so you’re not evil...just stupid?”

Sophia’s expression twisted, fury flaring hot and sharp. But with so many eyes on her, she had nowhere to unleash it. She forced a laugh, brittle and hollow.

“She’s not stupid,” the middle aged woman chimed in smoothly. “I think she’s just malicious.”

She stepped forward, producing a fan from seemingly nowhere. She waved it lightly, her movements unhurried and graceful, like some ancient noble straight out of an old wolf clan.

My gaze inevitably settled on the three of them.

I didn’t know Rowland’s true background besides his being Nathan’s nephew.

These people he had come with seemed like very powerful wolves, the kind who could overturn the balance of an entire territory with a single decision.

I unconsciously pressed my hand to my chest.

For reasons I couldn’t explain, I felt a bit but the strange sense of familiarity rising from deep within my heart. It was subtle, like the pull of a distant howl on a full-moon night, faint yet impossible to ignore.

My wolf stirred restlessly, pacing in tight circles, as if recognizing something my mind refused to accept.

I searched through every memory I had.

I was certain I had never met these three people before.

They were too distinguished. Wolves like them didn’t fade into the background of anyone’s life. If I had crossed paths with them even once, I would have remembered. Their auras alone were unforgettable and filled with authority.

So who were they?

And more importantly... why were they defending me so fiercely?

Unable to help myself, I lifted my gaze to Rowland. Our eyes met and he smiled at me, carefree as ever, even giving me a playful wink.

I instantly knew I wouldn’t get anything useful out of him right now. I shot him a warning glare, half annoyed, half helpless, then looked away.

Rowland clutched his chest exaggeratedly, wearing a wounded expression. But the moment I turned my head, I felt the shift, his playful mask vanished completely as he focused his gaze on Sophia.

“I didn’t think it through,” Sophia said with a forced laugh, “but at least it kept Aria from being in danger, right?”

Her voice sounded gentle, but I could smell the anger boiling underneath. She was furious, yet still clinging desperately to her fragile facade.

I watched her twisted expression with amusement, my wolf lifting her head in anticipation. Sophia hadn’t even managed to come up with a reasonable explanation, yet she had the audacity to show up at my company building and corner me like this.

I didn’t believe for a second that she was here just to “clarify” things.

My gaze shifted slightly, my peripheral vision sweeping over the crowd.

If I wasn’t mistaken, more than half of these people hadn’t gathered by chance.

They were planted here by her.

If Sophia had gone to such lengths, what exactly was she trying to force?

“Aria,” Sophia said again, her voice softening, “if you’re still bothered by my impulsiveness... how about this? Find a time to come home with me. I’ll personally apologize to you.”

She smiled stiffly, but her eyes clung to me with unsettling persistence.

Then, as if remembering something, she lowered her head. When she looked up again, her eyes shimmered with feigned sorrow.

“Mom’s mental state hasn’t been very good lately,” she said quietly. “She keeps saying she wants to see you. She knows now that she was too harsh before. She wants you to come home so you can talk everything through properly. She wants to apologize too.”

Her words were soaked in emotion, heavy enough to silence the already restless crowd.

All eyes turned to me.

The three people behind Rowland stiffened instantly. Their fists clenched, their knuckles whitening. I saw the tension ripple through them, saw the pain flash in their eyes as they exchanged glances.

Why did Sophia speaking about my mum make them react in that manner?

I frowned, returning my lingering gaze to Sophia as I weighed the truth in her words.

Annoyingly enough... some of it did line up.

Since Sophia had been released from prison, Margaret really had seemed like a different person. At Clarence’s funeral, when Margaret stepped forward to “clarify” things, every movement had been foreign to the woman etched into my childhood memories.

The Margaret I remembered had been stern, sharp-tongued and unyielding.

That woman at the funeral had looked... fragile.

Was she truly unwell? Had Patrick’s affair shattered something inside her that never healed?

The thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

Sophia, meeting my cold stare, pressed on. “Aria, I’m begging you. Mom and our family really need you. She can’t eat or sleep now. Maybe only you going home can ease her condition.”

Her voice cracked deliberately, a choked sob slipping out at just the right moment.

“Ms. Aria Darvin,” someone called out indignantly, “at the end of the day, she’s still your biological mother. You can’t be heartless to this extent, can you?”

“Exactly,” another voice echoed. “No matter how deep the grievances, blood ties can’t be severed. At this point, what harm could it do to go back and see her?”

“Right. People can’t be this heartless.”

The murmurs swelled, pressing in from all sides. Accusation seeped into their gazes, sharp and uncomfortable.

In their eyes, if I refused, I would become an unforgivable sinner.

Their eyes were locked on me as they waited for my response.