Chapter 9

Kaia liked Isaac, yet her feelings never clouded her judgment enough to consider marrying a man with a disability. She would never agree to be his wife, and she wouldn't stand by if anyone else tried to marry him either. That was the root of her resentment toward Verena.

With a quiet sense of satisfaction buried deep inside, Kaia put on an act of worry and asked, "Mom, what did Verena do to make you so upset?"

Laura, more than ready to let out her anger, began telling Kaia about the falsehoods Verena had told in front of the Bennett family.

"That's Pine Hill University we're talking about! Did she think it was some random, insignificant school?Claiming she was enrolled there only makes it look like we're lying. She ruined my reputation today, and the more I think about it, the more it infuriates me. And if that wasn't enough, she even pushed Luka down the stairs. If Luka hadn't come out of it unhurt, I would have really let her have it."

Kaia could hardly believe what she was hearing. Verena truly was living in a fantasy. She was just a girl from a backwater place, with nograsp of reality and no ability to tell a convincing lie.

Pine Hill University? Did she honestly think everyone else was that gullible?

Biting back her laughter, Kaia offered Laura a few words of comfort before heading back to her room.She opened the group chat for the young people from the elite families, a habit she had before ending the night.

The moment she clicked in, she noticed that Bobby had tagged her name directly.

That small action made her feel as if she had gained the Bennett family's special attention.

Scrolling upward, she saw that someone in the chat had brought up Bobby first, asking him about Isaac and Verena's first meeting.

Bobby's answer was vague, but it was obvious he did not approve of the idea of Verena becoming his sister-in-law.t after that, Bobby tagged Kaia and asked, "Do you know what's going on with your sister? What's she

I's hopes for Verena to end up with Isaac were no secret to Kaia, yet the thought of it happening was thing she would never accept.

she passed along what Laura had told her earlier, she left out the part about pretending to be from h College of Medicine. Instead, she told the group that Verena had gone so far as to ĉlaim she was a ate of Pine Hill University.

st to make fun of it was Slater Lyons, Bobby's closest friend. "Pine Hill University? Did I really just at? That's one bold lie."

g that message, Bobby's patience thinned at once. He questioned what kind of woman his mother sen for his brother. In his mind, lacking looks was forgivable, but being poorly educated and lying as e nothing was far worse.

take long for the group chat to erupt with ridicule.

t of embarrassment touched Kaia as the insults piled up. Instead, she let a small, pleased smile her face.

kept up her carefully built image of a gentle and kind young woman.

a message in Verena's defense. "She only said that because she didn't want people to look down he's actually a good person with no bad intentions. The city's new to her, and it's not easy to ase, don't speak a step in to shut down the idea of the marriage between their families.

And she was right. Bobby grew angrier with each comment he read. If Verena were allowed to marry Isaac,it would spell disaster for his future.

At one point, Bobby had thought that if she stayed in line, he could learn to put up with her. But after realizing she was a skillful liar, he became sure she would only cause trouble. Isaac, who rarely cared about anything and lacked her slyness, could be taken advantage of easily. Bobby would not let that happen.

Bobby didn't hesitate before pulling up Kaia's profile in the group chat and sending her a friend request.

When the notification appeared on her phone, Kaia almost doubted her own eyes. Could it really be that Bobby from the Bennett family had taken the first step to contact her?

Rather than fading quickly, her shock mingled with a sense of excitement.

In Shoildon's social circles, her family might be considered among the wealthy, but they were barely on the bottom rung, while the Bennetts sat securely at the top. Bobby's presence in the group was purely due to his friendship with Slater, and he had never bothered to interact with the rest of them.

Fighting to keep her composure, Kaia tapped "accept" without delay, and then typed a polite question as if the request meant little to her. "Mr. Bennett, was there something you wanted to discuss?"

Without missing a beat, Bobby responded, "Why don't we meet in person?"

The simple message sent a rush of thrill through her. Though she had once been drawn to Isaac, Bobby was just as much a catch. Now that Isaac's disability had changed everything, the idea of Bobby showing interest in her was something most women she knew would envy.

Playing at hesitation, Kaia chewed lightly on her lip before replying, "Mr. Bennett, are you sure this is a good idea? It feels rather sudden."

Bobby nearly scoffed at the screen, already guessing what she must be imagining.

With one hand, he typed out his real reason for reaching out. "You don't want Verena marrying Isaac, right?Then we should work together to stop it." From the way Bobby had reached out, Kaia had first assumed he might have taken a personal interest in her.

It caught her off guard to realize he disliked Verena enough to want to join forces in stopping her marriage to Isaac. What she hadn't anticipated was Bobby's willingness to work with her, and that discovery brought a spark of satisfaction. The chance to block Verena from marrying Isaac while drawing closer to Bobby felt like a perfect victory on both fronts.

Kaia wanted nothing more than to agree to Bobby's proposal. Still, she knew she had to keep up the illusion of being a caring sister to Verena. If she let her open dislike show, that would shatter the gentle,innocent image she had worked so hard to craft. Men tended to admire women who seemed sweet, soft-spoken, and kind.

"This marriage was arranged by our parents. We can't just undo it. Besides, marrying your brother is the best thing that could happen to Verena. As her sister, I should be glad for her, not stand in her way."

Bobby had never spoken with Kaia one-on-one before, but whatever goodwill he might have had toward her evaporated after only a few minutes. He'd seen enough manipulation in his life to recognize when someone was pretending.

Each word of her message was laced with insincerity and hypocrisy. If she truly cared about Verena's happiness, she wouldn't have paraded Verena's humiliations in the group chat for everyone to see. Verena had her flaws, but Kaia was just as bad,maybe even worse.