“How could I be upset?” I said softly, my voice steady, edged with cool precision. “Please, enjoy your dinner. I have matters to attend to at my apartment. I shall take my leave.”
With a calm, measured smile, I gathered my satchel and prepared to exit the estate.
Alfred’s voice, sharp with provocation, rang out deliberately from across the table. “Still stewing over the fireworks I set up for Via?”
The mention of it prompted Via to speak quickly, her tone polite but calculated, like a strategist weighing every word. “Betty, I—my mood was poor that night. Kael only meant to lighten it with the display. Kael, perhaps you should offer her an apology.”
Kael’s amber eyes darkened, his brows knitting in irritation. “I merely set off the fireworks. Why should I apologize?”
The words landed like cold steel across the room. Silence pressed down on the table, tense as tightened wires.
Via’s gaze flicked toward me, her smile quiet but possessive, a claim made without words. It was laughable. The one who had caused the sting remained blind to his own fault, believing a gesture alone could soothe the wound, as if life would simply move forward without consequence.