I lifted my coffee cup and took a sip. The scalding liquid slid down my throat, yet it couldn't warm my frozen heart.
"Feeling sorry for her?"
I set the cup down and fixed Aria with a piercing gaze. "Miss Qin, when you watched her make a fool of me, when you saw her plotting her revenge against me, why didn't you advise her to leave me alone? Now that she's reaped what she's sown, you've come to plead her case?"
Aria's face flushed, then paled at my rebuke. "I... I at the time..."
"At the time, you thought she was right, that I deserved it, didn't you?" I mercilessly exposed her thoughts. "Because you also believed that I was responsible for George's death."
Aria's lips quivered, but she finally lowered her gaze in silent admission.
"So," I stood up, adjusting my cufflinks, my tone icy. "Put away your cheap sympathy. Susan's pain is of her own choosing. It has nothing to do with me."