Cyril and Alaric exchanged a look, suppressing their thoughts as they casually moved a piece across the board.
"Right now, the Blackthorne and Whitmore families are at each other's throats. With Mina suddenly appearing in Ravenshire territory, it's only right that I give the Blackthornes a heads-up," Cyril said.
Alaric naturally picked up his cup. "The implications behind this Blackthorne situation are massive. There might be an even bigger conspiracy at play. It's not that you can't help Mina, but you can't bypass the eyes and ears of both families. It's also about ensuring your and Mina's safety."
Vivienne looked between them. She realized that these two only ever reached a unanimous agreement when they were dealing with her.
*Ding dong—*
Just then, the doorbell rang again.
Vivienne glanced over, eyeing the two men warily. "Who else did you big mouths tell?"
Wesley immediately ran to the foyer.
A moment later, Aurelia poked her head in, offering a shy smile.
Vivienne was overjoyed. Dropping her sharp demeanor, she walked over with a bright smile. "Lia, what are you doing here?"
"I heard from my dad that you all came to Merriton City, so I followed," Aurelia said, taking Vivienne's hand. "Alaric, Cyril, I'm not interrupting, am I?"
"Not at all. They're just playing chess, and I'm bored out of my mind."
Without waiting for the men to answer, Vivienne pulled Aurelia straight toward the bedroom.
She had only heard later, after returning to the Obsidian Estate, that Aurelia had been the one to handle Julianne Whitmore for her, and her methods had been absolutely brilliant.
Cyril glanced over, moving his rook across the board. "It seems we're getting a full house. Since it's so lively, why don't we all have hot pot tonight?"
Alaric frowned. He was a bit of a germaphobe and wasn't entirely comfortable sharing a communal pot with others.
Bianca snapped, "So I'm just a useless cripple now, right? I don't deserve the right to know, and I don't deserve to go to Merriton City with everyone else?"
Why did this tone sound so familiar?
Vivienne coughed lightly. "You deserve it! You totally deserve it! Whatever we end up doing later, we'll video call you, okay?"
Bianca instantly dropped her aggressive stance, pouting. "That's more like it."
"Remember that. Don't even try to brush me off. If you don't include me, I'm ripping these bandages off tomorrow and coming straight to Merriton City to find you."
Bianca kept rambling on. If a nurse hadn't come in to remind her it was resting time, she wouldn't have hung up.
Aurelia felt a twinge of envy. She could see clearly that although Vivienne seemed to be bickering, every word she said was actually meant to coax and comfort Bianca.
Having grown so accustomed to Vivienne's arrogant and unforgiving demeanor, Aurelia briefly wondered which version of her was the real one.

Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Chaos Girl Rewrites the Script