After Ryder's accusations, I felt a surge of frustration. "She did! Please Nova, try to control your temper! We can’t start a rumor now," he said. "Her cheeks were red from the slap you gave her earlier! You should apologize to her to stop the maids from talking about the incident," he suggested.

“Oh, I see. I think I have no choice but to apologize,” I said, and immediately strode toward the door. I already had a perfect plan to confront my stepsister for lying, and fortunately, Ryder didn’t try to stop me from going out. He really had no clue about what’s going on inside my head.

While standing...