After Kimi disappeared from sight, Stella whirled around to face Kolton, her voice laced with disbelief.
"Kolton, tell me you witnessed that display," she demanded, watching as he took another drag from his cigarette.
Kolton exhaled slowly, the smoke curling between them. "Witnessed what exactly?"
"The way she carried herself just now. That stammering, plain girl we knew before has transformed since becoming the Gamma's daughter. She's become so—"
"Beautiful?"
The word hung in the air like a challenge. Stella's eyes flew wide, her mouth falling open in shock before her expression hardened into a frown.
"What? Absolutely not! She's become insufferably arrogant."
The moonlight carved sharp angles across Kolton's face as he fixed Stella with an intense stare that made her blood run cold.
"I-Kolton, what are you—"
"Leave her alone," he cut through her stammering. "She was never ugly. She just chose to hide behind that facade."
