Chapter 431

Amanda , who had been watching closely , rushed over – so grateful to Aria that she could not thank her enough , but managed to compose herself just in time . She turned to the man on the ground and asked , “ Maurice , why ? ”
At her words , all eyes finally shifted to the middle – aged man forced to his knees on the floor .
Maurice glared at Amanda , his eyes burning with pure hatred . He spat , “ You dare ask why ? Your father schemed to bankrupt my company , then bought it for pennies ! Your whole damn Ward family deserves to rot ! ”
Quite a few people came today . Hearing that , they started whispering to each other .
“ Did the Ward family really do that to him ? ” someone whispered .
“ Maybe . The Ward family’s been expanding way too fast lately . I mean , they’ve acquired three companies . That’s pretty aggressive , don’t you think ? ”
“ Partnering with a shady company like that , you’re just asking to get screwed over . ”
“ So , did we come here for nothing this time ? ”
A young man glanced at Aria and remarked , “ Well , not a wasted trip . I got to witness the legendary ‘ damsel saving damsel ‘ moment ! Now I finally get why my grandma was so insistent on me getting into Mandino University and going after Aria . ”
“ What ? ” his friend gasped . “ So this is why you’re being dragged to a cocktail party while prepping for your SATS ? You’re barely eighteen ! Is your family insane ? ”
The other Ward family members immediately jumped in to protest , “ That’s absolute nonsense ! ”
A member of the Ward family said , “ We operate with integrity . Not acquiring the Scott Group wouldn’t have impacted our future growth . Why would we plant such a ticking time bomb for ourselves ? ”
Barry turned to Fryderyk and said , “ Fryderyk , please take him into custody . ”
After finishing the police call , Fryderyk looked down at the man on the ground . “ Any accomplices ? ”
Maurice snorted coldly , determined to stay silent .
Aria finished her pastry , then fixed him with a piercing sidelong glare . “ Answer the question . Are there any others ? ”
Maurice’s hand was broken , his knee screamed with bone – shattering pain – all inflicted by the woman standing right in front of him .
Maurice dared not refuse to answer . “ No … just me , ” he stammered .
Fryderyk fell silent .
Caleb’s face darkened as he demanded , “ Your grudge is with the Ward family , so why go after my sister ? ”
“ She was the closest , ” he muttered .
Aria arched a brow , a faint smirk playing on her lips . “ Mr. Ward was standing closest to you . Since your grudge is with his family , why not go after him ? ”
Barry’s face darkened at being called out . He demanded , “ What are you implying ? ”
Amanda glared at him and snapped , “ Shut up ! ”
Aria thought , ‘ Amanda is about to give me wine – it’d be rude not to help out . ”
Aría fixed Maurice with a cold stare . “ Just looking to hurt someone , weren’t you ?
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“ You have a personal grudge against the Ward family . If you target them directly , they’d just sweep the mess under the rug . But if you hurt someone else , you’d provoke both families at once – and drive a wedge between them . ”
Aria continued , “ So you chose Silvia .
“ Once the Saxon family tried to use their influence to suppress this , you’d expose their scandal – denouncing them for bending over backward for the wrongly adopted daughter while driving away their real one . Then , by leveraging public outrage to blow things up , you’ll drag the Ward family down with them . ”
Aria fixed him with a cold stare as she continued . “ That way , you could flip the script and turn yourself from the perpetrator into the victim . And if I’m not mistaken , you’ve even got a psychiatric evaluation ready to go , don’t you ? ”
Maurice gaped at Aria in horrified disbelief , his eyes wide , mouth working soundlessly , completely speechless for what felt like an eternity .
‘ How could she see through me ? She’s just a clueless outsider ! ‘ Maurice thought in shock .
Aria remarked impassively , “ Not much to look at , but that scheming little mind of yours is certainly active .”
Even if he was the victim , he should’ve gone after his real enemies – the Ward men . If he’d hurt one of them , she wouldn’t have cared less .
However , he only had the guts to go after a woman .
Maurice’s face turned livid with rage . “ You think just because you’re pretty , you can humiliate me like this ? ”
Aria smirked . “ Oh , thank you . ”
“ You … ” He pointed a shaking finger at Aria , his face twisted with rage . The moment he realized all his schemes had gone up in smoke , he was so enraged that he collapsed unconscious on the spot .
Someone gasped , “ Holy shit ! Did Aria just scare someone to death ? ”
Fryderyk crouched down to examine him , then said matter – of – factly , “ Not dead . Just passed out . ”
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