After All the Hurt, She Chose Herself novel Chapter 45

Before her hand could fall, it was caught in a tight grip.

“Aria, you’ve gone too far.”

Gideon effortlessly seized Aria’s wrist, his eyes dark and heavy.

“Raising a hand to an elder. Is this how you were raised?”

Eveline quickly hid behind Gideon.

“I was just advising Aria to focus on getting pregnant and not to worry so much about her career, and she tried to hit me! She’s so ungrateful!”

Aria tried to yank her hand back, but Gideon didn't use much force.

“She threw out all my books, and I’m the one who’s ungrateful?”

She tried to explain to Gideon, knowing it was useless. In the end, he would just find a way to blame her anyway.

Gideon glanced into Aria’s room.

He and Aria had always slept in separate rooms. It was always Aria who came to his room to tidy up; he rarely set foot in hers.

Looking in now, he saw that the room was sparsely furnished, with only a large, cheap-looking bookshelf.

It didn’t look like something that belonged in the Evernight estate.

“They’re just some books. What’s all the fuss about?”

Gideon looked at a maid.

“Find her things and bring them back.”

The maids exchanged glances. “Sir, Aria’s books have already been… taken away.”

Just a few books, and they were gone so quickly?

Gideon took a card from his wallet and held it out to Aria. “Let’s just drop the matter here.”

Aria was trembling with rage.

Did Gideon think he was being magnanimous while she was throwing a tantrum over nothing?

How ridiculous.

“Ha!”

Aria let out a cold laugh. “Gideon, you truly never disappoint me.”

Gideon’s brow furrowed. He was about to lose his temper, but remembering his grandfather’s advice, he softened his tone slightly.

“Since they can’t be found, take the money. You won’t be at a loss. There are three million dollars on here, which is more than enough to buy new books.”

“Why are you giving her so much?” Eveline complained. “They were just some worn-out old books. How are they worth three million?”

The collector was an elderly woman whom Aria had met a few times.

Aria nodded quickly. “How much for these books? I’ll buy them from you.”

“I figured these books were important to you, so I didn’t sell a single one!”

When she had gone to collect the items, she had casually flipped through a few of the books and seen the dense, handwritten notes.

How could this be trash?

The old woman smiled. “Just take them!”

Aria breathed a sigh of relief, but she still scanned the woman’s payment code and sent her a thousand dollars.

“Thank you so much!”

A stranger she had only met a few times could see how much she valued these books, yet in the eyes of the Evernight family, they were worthless trash.

A hot pricking sensation threatened to blur Aria’s vision, but she blinked it back instantly.

She would never again be soft-hearted toward anyone in the Evernight family.

Aria directed the movers to load the books into the van.

She planned to take them to her rented apartment. She had chosen a two-bedroom unit specifically so she could use the second bedroom as a study.