That morning moved like a thin layer of fog drifting slowly across the grounds of St. Clair Academy—unseen, yet palpable. Aria walked through the grand gates guarded by two male security officers in their forties, as usual. Her uniform was immaculate, her black hair fell straight, and her face remained flat like the surface of black glass.
Nothing about Aria had changed.
But the world around her had.
And she could feel it in the way the whispers brushed through the air.
"Aria's here."
"Look at the way she walks… so cold."
"Poor Selena… it must be hard having a sibling like that."
"Hey, they're not even blood-related. Aria just came back after disappearing."
"Still… Selena's the one who deserves to be the real daughter."
Aria heard them.
She heard everything.
But hearing was not the same as caring.
She processed those voices like data without urgency.
She entered the classroom.
---
Before the lesson began, Hugo Davenport—a seventeen-year-old male, captain of the basketball club, popular and temperamental—was talking with his friends: Liam, a sixteen-year-old boy; Noah, also sixteen; and Gerald, seventeen.
"Selena cried yesterday," Hugo said, his voice low but charged with emotion. "Because of Aria, they say."
Noah raised an eyebrow. "That cold one? Can she really make someone cry?"
Gerald nodded slightly. "But Selena's sensitive. And she's really kind."
Liam joined in, his tone casual yet cutting. "Yeah, but Aria's like she doesn't have feelings. Maybe that's the problem."
Hugo clenched his fist.
"I swear, if she makes Selena sad again—"
He didn't finish, because the classroom door opened.
Aria walked in.
And the atmosphere shifted like live wires plunged into water.
---
Aria sat down, placed her books on the desk, and did not look at anyone.
But every pair of eyes followed her movements.
Claire Willis watched Aria from a desk near the window. Claire rarely spoke—not because she was shy, but because she thought too much. Her brown eyes followed Aria with discomfort, as if watching a bird that had just fallen into a pack of wolves.
Claire noticed something about Aria today.
She seemed quieter than usual.
More isolated.
More alone.
And Claire felt—without knowing what was truly happening—that the rumors were not true.
---
On the other side of the school, Selena Hartmann sat in the garden with her two closest friends, Nova Laurent and Irene Voss, with Riko Tanaka—the photography club member—nearby as well.
Selena twirled the end of her blonde hair, pretending to be anxious.
"I don't want people to misunderstand Aria," she said gently. "I'm sure she's just not used to being home again."
Nova immediately placed a hand on Selena's shoulder. "Lena… you're too kind."
Irene added, "Yeah. But if she makes Helena sad, that's a big problem."
Selena lowered her head, playing the role of the confused, innocent girl.
"I… I don't want to speak badly about Aria. She's my sister—ah… she's… part of the family."
The words were chosen carefully.
A slight stumble.
A hint of hesitation.
Deliberate.
And it produced exactly the dramatic effect Selena wanted:
As if she wanted to accept Aria, but Aria was the one rejecting her.
As if Selena was the most hurt, yet still trying to be patient.
Nova hugged her. "You're an angel, Lena. No wonder everyone loves you."
Riko nodded while taking photos—no one knew for what purpose.
Selena smiled faintly.
A smile that was truly dangerous—because very few people knew what lay behind it.
---
Back in the classroom, the teacher entered. Teacher Morgan wore a white shirt, thin-framed glasses, and carried a gaze sharper than his eyesight. He observed the class for the first two seconds before teaching.
And he noticed something.
Aria sat expressionless, as usual.
But the way her classmates looked at her was not normal.
There was distance.
Judgment.
A small, trampled resentment.
Morgan recorded it silently in his mind. This was not a normal atmosphere.
---
During break, Aria opened her locker.
Just like yesterday, there was a small piece of paper stuck inside.
"DON'T GO NEAR SELENA. SHE DOESN'T LIKE YOU."
Aria skimmed it.
She didn't frown.
Didn't get angry.
She crumpled the paper and slipped it into her skirt pocket. No reaction—but her eyes shifted slightly. Not sadness. Not pain.
More like: I've seen far worse than this.
Claire witnessed it from a distance.
Her heart tightened.
"Aria…" Claire called softly.
Aria turned.
"The rumors… are you okay?" Claire asked hesitantly.
"Yes," Aria replied.
"You know… Selena said you were cold to her, but… I don't just believe that."
Aria didn't answer right away.
She studied Claire's expression for one long second.
"Thank you."
It was a very small answer.
But for Aria, it was significant.
Because she rarely said thank you.
Claire smiled—warm and nervous.
---
In the long corridor toward the library, Aria walked in silence.
But her steps halted when she heard a voice.
A voice deliberately kept low.
Yet loud enough for Aria to hear.
"…I can't do anything anymore," Selena's voice.
"Aria… she doesn't like me talking to Mother."
Aria stopped.
The students who heard it immediately looked at her sharply.
"What is that about… is Aria jealous of Selena?"
"How could she be like that?"
"No wonder Helena looks so down…"
Aria looked at Selena in silence.
Selena looked back.
Her expression was half worried, half bitterly smiling.
As if Aria's gaze were saying, I didn't ask you to hurt me. But you did anyway.
Aria chose to leave.
She didn't speak.
Didn't argue.
And that silence became gasoline for the fire of rumors.
---
Meanwhile, Leon Valleria—the twenty-year-old—was sitting in the school lounge, waiting for a brief meeting with the facility manager. By chance, he overheard a conversation between two mothers from the Parents' Committee.
"I heard Aria made Helena sad."
"Yes, and she doesn't treat Selena well."
"Poor Helena. Why did Aria change like that?"
Leon stiffened.
His heart pounded.
And anger rose—not out of hatred for Aria…
but because his own long-standing guilt made him defensive toward Selena.
Leon stood up and went to look for Aria.
---
Aria had just exited the library when a heavy voice called out.
"ARIA."
Leon stood at the end of the corridor, tall, broad, his face angry.
Students immediately stopped walking and peeked from behind classroom doors.
Aria stopped and turned slowly.
Leon halted right in front of her.
He looked imposing, with a cold aura—yet different from Aria's.
"Why did you MAKE MOTHER sad?"
Leon's voice echoed.
The corridor fell silent.
Aria looked at him—not afraid, not confused—just looking.
"I didn't make anyone sad," she said flatly.
Leon slammed his palm against the wall beside him, the sound loud.
"DON'T LIE. I heard you treated Selena badly. You think I don't know? Everyone's talking!"
Hugo and several other students appeared from behind classroom doors.
Claire covered her mouth, her heart clenched.
Selena walked in from the end of the corridor.
"Leon… don't scold Aria. Please… she might not be used to being home yet."
That sentence poured gasoline onto the embers.
Now everyone was convinced Aria was guilty—because Selena wouldn't say that if nothing had happened.
Aria looked at Selena.
A long silence.
Then Selena lowered her head.
Aria said calmly, "We are not family."
The corridor froze.
Selena covered her mouth, as if wounded.
Leon looked even angrier.
"You really—"
"Enough."
Teacher Morgan stepped out of a classroom, his voice sharp.
"Leon, this is a school area. You are not a student. Please do not cause a disturbance."
Leon fell silent.
Morgan turned to Aria.
"To the teachers' office after this."
Aria nodded.
She walked past Leon.
Students stepped back to make way, as if Aria carried something frightening.
But Aria's gaze was empty.
She was unaffected.
And that was what frightened Selena the most.
Because she could not control Aria the way she controlled others.
---
In the teachers' office, Morgan looked at Aria for a moment.
"I want to know whether the rumors going around are true."
Aria shook her head slightly. "I didn't do anything."
Morgan believed her—because he could see something in Aria's eyes: a calm that wasn't arrogance, but scar tissue.
"If anything happens, you can talk to me."
"…Thank you."
Then Aria left, and Morgan let out a long breath.
He knew this was only the beginning of trouble.
---
In the afternoon, students began heading home.
Aria walked out of the gates as usual—calm, not looking back, not quickening her pace.
Claire watched her from a classroom window.
And from another window, Selena stood alone.
Her eyes followed Aria.
She realized something that day.
Aria didn't fight back.
Aria didn't defend herself.
Aria didn't wage war.
And to Selena…
that wasn't kindness.
That was weakness.
Selena slowly drew the curtain, half her face swallowed by shadow.
Her lips curved into a thin smile—cold, satisfied.
Because today, for the first time,
Aria had truly lost in everyone's eyes.
And the war had just begun.