Chapter 54: Indifference
After the guests were welcomed and assigned to their rooms, Agnes and Alessia met in the south garden.
With the gentle spring breeze blowing through their hair, the two ladies did not say a word, enjoying the moment of tranquility.
The first to break the silence was Agnes, who took a piece of cake:
"I apologize for my daughter’s behavior. She was raised that way by her father." There was a smile on her lips, but her eyes were fixed on Alessia’s face, waiting for any kind of reaction.
However, Alessia shook her head gently, causing her beautiful hair, black as night, to move in a hypnotic rhythm.
"There’s no need to apologize for something so trivial. She knows what’s good and bad."
She sympathized, albeit only a little, with Evelyn.
Not out of pity or affection, but because she understood that kind of mistake. She had made it herself.
When she met Zephyr, she was attracted to him. It wasn’t anything deep or romantic, just a basic reaction. He was handsome, he was a good talker, and he treated those he cared about well. Like many others, he used his presence as a weapon, and she fell for it. She thought maybe he was different. She thought she could trust him.
But then she saw him act without the mask. She discovered that everything she believed was false. The smiles were mechanical. The words were empty. And the attention he gave her was nothing more than part of a game.
That’s when she understood something simple: relationships aren’t what they seem. They’re not sincerity, affection, or a real connection. They’re lies. They’re manipulation. They’re two people playing roles that don’t belong to them, pretending to be something they’re not, just to get something from the other person.