The Scorned Bride: His Cruel Vows

Chapter 12- Feelings

Thalia's Pov

I quietly walked down the hallway towards the room Aria used when she was still alive. The corridor leading to her room was bare and silent, no maids were allowed to pass through this section of the house, so nobody saw me as I made my way there.

I stopped right in front of Aria's door but for a long moment, I just stood there without moving, it seemed like hours before I finally took a small step forward. My heart beat heavily in my chest as I took a small step closer, placing my hand gently on the silver door knob. I didn't open it right away.

I was only here because I had found a whole bunch of Aria's stuff inside my own room earlier today. They were things that Aria had kept there without my permission, leaving them behind as if she owned every single corner of this place. Finding those items sitting in my space had made me hate Aria even more than I already did. Every little thing she touched felt like a reminder that she always came first, no matter what I did or how hard I tried.

I took a deep breath to steady myself and finally turned the knob. To my surprise, the door opened easily. It was actually unlocked. Did Adrian forget to lock it before he left? I was actually ready to drop off the things in front of the door if the room was locked.

But Adrian would have never left this door unlocked before he went for his meeting, so why was it not locked? The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't think too much about it.

Maybe Adrian had been so stressed that it made sense he would forget something small like locking a door. I pushed the door open and stepped inside, leaving it wide open behind me. I was carrying a small box packed with all the things Aria had left in my room. I walked over to the large wooden desk near the window and began placing the items onto the surface one by one.

I looked around the space, feeling a familiar bitterness rise in my throat. Aria's room was located at the very top of the house. It was the brightest, most beautiful room in the entire mansion because Aria liked sunshine so much. She had claimed this room for herself the moment she saw it, despite knowing very well that I had liked it first when I came to live here.

Back then, Corinne had promised me that she would give this room to me. But as usual, the moment Aria opened her mouth and said she wanted it, everything changed. Aria always took whatever she wanted without caring about anyone else. This room was the very first thing Aria ever took from me, and standing here now only brought back all those bitter memories.

I sighed, wanting nothing more than to drop these things off and get out as fast as possible. I didn't want to spend another second inside her space. Just as I turned around and was about to leave the room, a figure stepped through the doorway.

It was Dory.

She walked inside with a cruel smirk stretched across her face. The moment I saw that look in her eyes, I immediately knew she was about to do something bad. She always had that exact expression whenever she was planning to cause trouble for me.

"What are you doing inside Aria's room, Thalia?" Dory asked, her voice dripping with fake curiosity as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I only came to drop off some of her things that were left in my room," I replied calmly, keeping my voice steady. "I'm done now, and I'm about to leave."

I tried to walk past her toward the exit, but Dory didn't move an inch. Instead, she raised her hand and snapped her fingers. Two sturdy maids immediately stepped into the room from the hallway, blocking the door. Before I could even react, Dory nodded at them, and the two women grabbed my arms tightly.

"Hey! Let go of me!" I struggled against their grip, pulling my arms back with all my strength. But two against one wasn't fair. The maids were much stronger than me, and within seconds, they managed to pin my hands behind my back and hold me completely still.

"What is the meaning of this, Dory?!" I yelled, glaring at her. "Tell them to let me go now!"

Dory ignored my shouting like I wasn't even there. She slowly walked over to Aria's desk, looking at the box of items I had just brought in. She reached out and touched the edge of the wood, a dark look flashing across her eyes.

"What do you think Adrian will do if he comes home and sees that Aria's things have been destroyed?" Dory asked softly, turning her head to look at me with a sickening smile.

My eyes widened in shock and my blood ran cold as I immediately realized what she was saying.

"What... What are you about to do, Dory? Don't do anything crazy!"

Dory didn't answer me with words. Instead, she reached into the box, picked up a small glass trinket that belonged to Aria, and lifted it high into the air. She then threw it down onto the floor with all her strength. The glass shattered into tiny pieces, scattering all across the ground.

"Dory!" I screamed, my voice shaking with panic. "What the hell are you trying to do?! Those are Aria's things!”

Dory walked past the broken glass, slowly dragging her fingers across the other items sitting on the desk.

"You know, Thalia," Dory said in a low, bitter tone, her voice filled with pure venom. "I have always hated you. From the very first day you stepped into this house, I couldn't stand the sight of you. You came into our family expecting some kind of love and attention, running around like a desperate puppy, when you're not even real family."

I clenched my teeth, my hands shaking in the grip of the two maids holding me.

"You were always running around trying to make my mother like you more than she liked me," Dory continued, her eyes fixed on the items on the desk as she spoke. "She always compared the two of us, over and over again. ‘Why can't you be more like Thalia? Why can't you study like Thalia?’"