third person's POV
Guinevere held Veronica's hand and said, "Veronica, Clif wasn't wrong... Don't blame him."
Veronica took a deep breath and said, "Everyone's had a long day. Go back and get some rest."
After she finished speaking, she looked at Cliff, "Cliff, stay."
Cliff whispered to Vanya, "Go up and wait for me, I'll be right there."
"Mm." Vanya didn't say much and turned to go upstairs.
At this point, Ginny stood up and said, "Luna Vania was hurt, I'll go get the first aid kit."
As she spoke, she quickly ran to the room on the first floor to get the medicine box.
Vanya ignored it and just went upstairs.
A moment later, Guinevere went upstairs with the medicine box, looked at Vanya, and said apologetically, "It's all my fault, I got Luna hurt..."
Vanya stared at her for a while. Ginevra felt a bit uneasy and hesitated before asking, "Luna... why are you looking at me like that?"
"Even though the ruse of self-injury was useful, if you used it well, it was good, but if you didn't, it could backfire."
Ginny's face froze for a moment: "Luna... I didn't get what you meant."
"Don't get it?" Vanya smiled. "This whole act you put on—I was actually looking forward to it, but there were just too many holes. It was honestly boring."
"Luna, did you misunderstand me... about this... I..."
"First of all, not everyone could know Cliff's phone number. In the text, the kidnapper knew you were Miss Watkins, but you had nothing to do with Cliff. If the kidnapper wanted money, they should've kidnapped me. What was the point of kidnapping you?"
Guinevere's eyes darted around. "H-how would I know what the kidnappers were thinking..."
Vanya laughed again: "That kidnapper was a young guy, probably about your age, right? He had no idea how to do a kidnapping. When he texted, he didn't even ask for ten million in cash. We brought a check, and he actually took it—didn't he know that checks are convenient but super easy to trace?"
"W-what..." Guinevere was obviously panicking.
"She just ran off with the check without even checking if it was real. Ridiculous." Vanya's words broke down her defenses one by one.
Guinevere never thought about these things!
"Luna, do you have any proof it was me? No proof..."
"You really thought Cliff didn't know? Or that Veronica didn't know?" That sentence made Ginevra's face turn ugly in an instant.
Vanya smiled, "You think Veronica is that kind of person? You really think she'd fall for such a lame kidnapping trick? She only pretended to like you to use you against me. She was just playing dumb. Cliff didn't want to call her out either, they were just saving your face."
Guinevere bit her lip and suddenly felt humiliated: "Then why did you tell me?"
"I told you because I didn't want to see you play these lame tricks anymore. Liking Cliff is your business. If you have the guts to steal him, go ahead, just don't use these moves on me, got it?" Vanya acted like she didn't care at all.
Guinevere froze. "Why? Don't you care about Clif?"
"What I cared about most was myself."
Vanya glanced at her lightly, "This is my warning to you. If you try your tricks on me again, I'll completely crush your rich family dream. I mean it."
Guinevere got scared by the look Vanya gave her, her neck tensed up. That look had a faint pine scent and felt like pressure, like a cold stone pressing on her heart.
She hurriedly lowered her head, her wolf ears pressed tight against her hair in fear, her pheromones a tangled mess, and she rushed out of the bedroom.
[AI幻觉导致翻译异常][人称指代错误]When I got downstairs, Cliff had already finished talking with Veronica.
Veronica looked up, her eyes full of dislike turning into a cold minty scent, making the glands on the back of Guinevere's neck tingle.
Did Veronika really see through her tricks a long time ago, just like Vanya said, and just didn't call her out on it?
Upstairs, Cliff gently pushed the door. The wolf clan's sharp hearing caught the sound of running water in the bathroom.
He glanced at the unopened medicine box, his fingertips faintly showing wolf claws out of worry, then opened the box and took out the medicine.
The bathroom door suddenly opened, and Vanya came out.
The bathrobe outlined smooth lines, and drops of water from the hair slid down the neck.
Her pupils instantly shrank into slits—she actually didn't hear Cliff come in.
[AI幻觉导致翻译异常][人称指代错误]I thought he would talk with Veronica for a long time, but I didn't expect him to come up so soon.
Cliff looked at her, a barely noticeable ripple in his steady cedar scent: "I'll put some medicine on you."
Vanya's wound wasn't bleeding anymore, honestly it was just a scrape, nothing serious.
Her pheromones paused a little, and she sat next to Cliff kind of stiff, like a drawn bowstring.
When his cool, medicated fingertips touched the wound, her shoulders trembled just a little.
The two were really close. The pine scent from Cliff mixed with the smell of medicine hit her. Vanya's fir pheromones were like a thin layer of ice, purposely keeping some distance from him.
Cliff's eyes fell on her smooth, fair neck, and he just felt the pheromones in his body suddenly heat up. His pupils dilated a little from the restless urge he was holding back.
"Are you done?" Vanya's voice was cold as ice, her pheromones suddenly cooling down, drawing an invisible line between them.
Cliff finally came back to his senses, picked up the band-aid and put it on. His fingertips felt a little stiff because of her distance. "All done."
Vanya got up almost instantly, moving so fast she was like a blur, and in the distance she deliberately put between them, the fir pheromone formed a solid barrier.
Cliff looked at her back, feeling like a piece of his heart had been hollowed out. His cedar pheromones sank heavily, full of lingering sadness.
After a long time, he finally spoke in a low voice, his words trembling like a wolf's howl: "Will you accept me?"