Her Second Life

Chapter 7

“So you decided to show up this time.”

My stomach tightened as I heard those word but I forced myself to breathe evenly and then said quietly:

“Good evening, ma’am,Good evening sir,hi.”

“Ma’am?” Mrs. Harrington repeated as her eyebrows lifted. “You don’t call me that. You usually call me—”

“Mother,” Leon interrupted quickly with a low voice.

Mrs. Harrington snapped her eyes toward him annoyingly and then back to me.

She leaned forward as she narrowed her eyes.

“You look… calm.”

“…Should I not?” I asked as I swallowed quietly and sat down while Leon followed as everyone started digging into their food.

“Are you pretending? Because I know you, Aria. You act sweet when you want something… and then you show your real character later.”She said as she scoffed loudly.

Lance groaned under his breath. “Mom, can you just—”

“Lance, be quiet,” Mrs. Harrington snapped, not taking her eyes off me. “This is between me and her.”

She tilted her head slightly while studying me like a scientist observing a strange new creature.

“You came in here politely,” she said slowly. “No shouting,no dramatic complaints,no rolling your eyes at the staff,no telling everyone that ‘this house is too quiet for people with money.’”

My spoon paused mid-air as I heard her.Aria Bennett was really rude and arrogant.

“I’m not doing that anymore,” I said quietly.

“Oh, so now you’re an angel. Wonderful! Let’s all clap.” She said as her lips curled.

Leon exhaled sharply.

“Mother—”

“What?” Mrs. Harrington snapped. “Should I pretend she suddenly transformed into a perfect little future wife? Because I won’t,people don’t change overnight.”

“Whether you believe me or not,” I said softly, “I’m not here to impress you ma'am.”

She leaned back in shock as her hand froze around her wine glass with her eyes widening slightly.

“You’re not here to impress me?” she repeated slowly.“Bold statement, especially coming from someone who used to beg for this relationship.”

My face heated with a slight anger but I tried not to show it.I noticed Leon freeze too as he continued to eat.Lance’s jaw dropped and Mr. Harrington finally looked up as he blinked once.

“I… I know how I used to act and I know I said and did things that weren’t right but I’m not that girl anymore. I don’t even know how to explain it. I’m just… trying to do better for myself.” I said with a forced voice.

She stared at me for a long moment and then laughed.

“Well,” she said icily, “keep trying, maybe eventually you’ll convince yourself.”

“Mother,” Leon said with a tight voice, “that’s enough.”

But Mrs.Harrington wasn’t done,she pointed her fork at me.

“You can fool my son. He gets sentimental when he feels guilty and you can fool the society because they actually love a tragic story but you can’t fool me, Aria. You were rude before,you were arrogant and you can paint yourself as a new person all you want, but I know exactly who you are and I also know you don't love my son, you want only his money.”

I inhaled deeply and wanted to reply to her.

“Milady,”Mr.Harrington called.

“Yes dear.”She answered.

“Can we eat in peace?”

Mrs. Harrington scoffed loudly as she shut her mouth and only glared at me.

I looked at Leon carefully, but he didn’t meet my eyes; he just kept eating, pretending he didn't hear anything.

The dinner continued in painful silence like dripping in tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Mrs. Harrington watched me with the eyes of a hawk waiting for a mouse to slip.Lance tried to smile at me whenever his mother wasn’t looking and Mr. Harrington ate peacefully like chaos was his favorite dessert.

When dinner finally ended,I excused myself from the table, grateful to breathe fresh air after surviving the silent daggers Leon’s mother kept throwing at me. I waited near the hallway entrance, wrapping my fingers together so I wouldn’t look as tired as I felt as Leon approached seconds later.He didn’t say anything or look bothered about what happened.

“Let’s go,” he said as he already walked past me.

The car ride back to the Bennett mansion was completely silent,the kind of silence that wasn’t empty—more like two people holding in words they were too stubborn or too hurt to say.

Leon kept his eyes on the road as his fingers gripped the steering wheel. I stared out the window, trying to calm the burn of humiliation and disappointment still lingering from dinner and when we finally pulled up to the Bennett gates, Leon shifted the gear into park but didn’t move or look at me.

“Leon…” I said softly as I inhaled.

He turned his head slightly and looked at me.

“I think we should call off the marriage.”