Cinderella And Her Stepbrother

Chapter 14

Narrator

"What is wrong with you?!"

Ian let go of his tight hold on Aden's arm harshly as soon as he slammed the door of the library shut. Aden lost his balance slightly but quickly recovered with a scowl on his face.

"What is wrong with me? Well, why don't you ask yourself the same question first?" Aden said humourlessly before slumping his body into a velvet armchair, flexing his sore arm that was once gripped by his friend.

He masterly concealed his face from any sort of expression that could show the slight pain he felt.

Ian scoffed in reply, aimlessly stepping towards a bookshelf and tucking out a random book from it as an act of calming himself.

"Ian, could you please stop being paranoid?"

Finding his deed useless, Ian shoved the book back in its original place before turning around and sighing.

"You know why, Aden," his voice turning low.

His friend rolled his eyes, "I know you are trying to hide her. But nobody will know she's your stepsister if she's introduced as your maid, like you and your mother have been telling people all this long. Or just let her come with me. Pretend you never knew her, like, she's not related to you. It will be easy to ignore her since well, you always do that."

"I'm not going to discuss this, Aden. Please understand. You cannot change my mind," Ian stated, leaning against the shelf and sighed deeply. His shoulders slumped slightly.

Aden caught the change in his friend's demeanour and felt guilty for pushing.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he cleared his throat before changing the subject, "But by the way, what with your mother and Orchid though?"

"What with them?"

"Before I entered her room, I heard your mother screaming so I rushed upstairs. She seemed... sca– I mean, angry," he said carefully, afraid if his words offended Ian.

"When is she not with Orchid?"

"Well. . ."

"It's nothing. She just was not happy I helped Orchid on the staircase the other day when she fell off. Perhaps she was just warning her not to talk to me ever again."

"She hates her that much?"

The other man didn't reply, but Aden knew well the answer. He watched as Ian's gaze was buried on the floor, as if it was the most interesting view to stare at. He could tell there were a lot of things going on in his head, that he dared not to ask. Ian wouldn't give him answers anyway.

Silence filled the room as both of them lost in their own minds, before Aden spoke again.

"Well, I shall go now, I think," he rose from the chair and began making strides towards the door.

Ian nodded in response, yet his eyes never left the floor.

Aden's hand was already around the knob when he turned around, facing his friend, "Introduce me to those girls you mentioned, Catharina or Isabelle? I need to know which one of them matches the dress cutting."

Ian's head tilted slowly, shocked, but when he opened his mouth to reply, the doorknob was being twisted from the outside. Aden took two steps back when it was opened.

"Mrs. Harrison," Aden acknowledged.

"Oh, you two are here? I was waiting downstairs for you to join me with tea, but you never came. Poor me," she let out a chuckle, before her face changed, "Wait, did the maid hold you back? Did she cause any troubles? Oh, she's going to be–"