Chapter 4

I looked up at her, and she immediately started showing off.

"Jealous?"

"Aidan gave this to me."

Daisy turned the hairpin over in her fingers, wearing a smug little smile.

"You want to know where Aidan is right now, don't you?"

"He's off waiting in line to buy me jade celestial dew, that stuff everyone's been raving about lately. All because I said I wanted some."

What a way to stake her claim.

I rolled my eyes.

The hairpin didn't even look like anything special.

Had she forgotten? The Flores family had more of these than they knew what to do with.

I really couldn't understand why the original Lauren let a line like that get to her.

Everything the original owned was hers already. Why should a gift from anyone matter?

I pointed at the hairpin in her hand. "That's it?"

"That's all it takes to make you this happy?"

"My father sends me things by the cartload!"

Daisy clicked her tongue.

"What would you know? Aidan gave me this!"

"The things he gives can't be bought with spirit stones!"

"You're just talking tough. After all, you trailed after him for years, and he never once gave you a thing."

I made a face at her.

"Because I couldn't care less!"

"My family has everything. What could I possibly want?"

"Someone poor like you is easy to fool. One cheap little trinket and you're parading it all over the place."

Daisy's hand clenched hard around the hairpin, shaking with rage.

"You—"

"Let me tell you, so what if you've suddenly grown a sharp tongue? Aidan will never choose you!"

"Once the Star Festival's over today, Aidan is going to pick a day and formally make me his cultivation partner!"

"Oh, and what a fine thing that is." I twined a strand of hair around my finger.

"I've got no interest in chasing that piece of trash anymore. If you want to treat him like a treasure, that's your business, not mine."

"Just don't ever bring him up in front of me again. He's a stain on my whole life!"

Daisy opened her mouth to say more.

I pointed a finger, and her voice was gone.

Her mouth kept moving with no sound coming out. She clutched her throat, panic all over her face.

I called out the red thread and tied one end to her, the other to a duck out in the star-river.

Daisy's gaze snapped toward the star-river as if something had pulled it there.

The next second, she flung herself into the water with a look of pure delight.

Before long, Aidan came back carrying the jade celestial dew.

He didn't see Daisy anywhere. He saw me instead.

The first thing he did was round on me.

"Where's Daisy? What did you do to her?"

"Let me warn you, you are not to hurt her! Ten lives wouldn't be enough to pay for it if you did!"

I tilted my head and pointed at myself.

"Me?"

"I'm at the Acevedo Refining stage. You think I could take her?"

Then I turned my finger.

"Take a look over there. Isn't that your precious Daisy?"

Aidan followed the line of my finger.

The sight ahead drained the color from his face.

Only then did he notice Daisy, splashing merrily with a duck in the star-river.