“What happened here?" Holden asked, his frown deepening as he took in the chaotic scene.

With tears streaming down her face, Sadie pointed at Ariana and exclaimed, "She's trying to hurt me! She wants to hurt our baby.”

"That's not true. She tripped on her own!" Ariana countered, her voice a mix of panic and frustration. She turned to Holden and said.

"She Lunged at me, lost her footing, and fell. I never touched her."

Holden nodded, his eyes noting the bruises on Ariana's neck, his expression growing more serious. "Take a break outside; I'll handle this," he said calmly.

Adele tugged at Ariana's hand, murmuring, "Aria."

Ariana glanced down at Adele and chose to step outside with her.

Sitting in the hallway, her anger subsided, Ariana was overwhelmed by the chaotic mess her life had become. It seemed her fate was a tangled web.

She questioned if she was truly the villain Sadie had portrayed her as. Would life have been calm and ordinary for all of them if she had never reconnected with Holden?

Deep in her thoughts and fiddling with her hair, Ariana was snapped back to reality by a small hand touching her.

Adele tenderly brushed the red marks on Ariana's neck, softly blowing on them and murmuring, “The hurt will be gone, Aria."

When Ariana saw Adele's gentle look, she remembered when Sadie had slapped Adele and forced the little girl to stand upside down just now. Ariana's eyes turned red at once. She held Adele in her arms, gently patted her back, and stroked her head to comfort her. She asked softly, "How are you feeling now? Are you hurt somewhere?"

Then, Ariana saw Adele's red face. She recalled how Adele had been forced to apologize repeatedly. Ariana felt pain in her heart, wondering why Sadie would treat her daughter like that.

Adele was still slow to react. She stared at Ariana with confusion in her eyes. After a while, she finally understood Ariana's words.

She touched the corner of her mouth and whispered, “It hurts."

Ariana felt even more distressed when she heard this. She quickly held Adele tighter in her arms.

She felt Sadie was too cruel. How could Sadie do that to Adele?

Ariana soothed Adele and gently blew on the painful areas. Then, she said, "Melon misses you so much. Do you want to visit my house?"

Adele glanced at Ariana, lowered her head, and intertwined her fingers uneasily. Then, she shook her head slightly and said in a low voice, "No, I can't."

"You can't? What do you mean you can't?" Ariana asked gently, touching Adele's head.