CHAPTER 301

ARIA’S POV

With Caroline out of Adam’s house, her sobs echoing in the halls as she leaves, I can’t help but feel a pang of unease. There’s a sense of finality in her departure, but also an underlying fear. I wonder if I’ve just made another enemy.

You never know how people will react when their world is turned upside down, and Caroline, despite being at fault, may still harbor a grudge. People these days, regardless of their wrongdoings, often feel justified in seeking revenge, as if their insolence and crime deserve no punishment.

Life around here settles into a strange, uneasy calm. Work continues as usual, and Adam is nearly fully recovered. On the surface, everything seems normal, but there’s a tension in the air that wasn’t there before. It’s as if we’re all waiting for the other shoe to drop, for the consequences of Caroline’s dismissal to manifest in some unforeseen way. I can’t shake the feeling that this calm is only temporary, that something else is brewing beneath the surfa