Under the Veil I Rule novel Chapter 66

The atmosphere between Amara and Finnian had now become awkward, and Amara was desperately searching for a topic to break the tension. Suddenly, Finnian remembered something and headed to the bathroom.

A few seconds later, he emerged holding a bright green snake, waving it in front of Amara's face. Amara screamed in terror and scrambled backward in a frenzy.

"Don't be scared," Finnian explained, his voice tinged with amusement. "It's fake."

Amara remained silent, freezing in a rather undignified position, her backside awkwardly sticking out.

Quickly regaining her composure, she looked back. Finnian was holding the snake by its tail, and the snake dangled limply, its posture unnatural and not at all like a living creature.

Upon closer inspection, Amara noticed that despite the snake's scales gleaming realistically, the lifeless, beady eyes gave away its artificial nature.

Her eyes widened. "Is this remote-controlled?"

"Probably."

Finnian placed the snake on the ground. He fiddled with it for a moment, extracting a couple of batteries from its head, upon which the "snake" immediately went limp.

Relief washed over Amara, but it was quickly replaced by anger. She gritted her teeth. "This has Elowen written all over it!"

Elowen knew about her fear of snakes. In the past, she'd used real ones to scare Amara. With Finnian around, she probably opted for a fake one this time.

Finnian nodded. "I thought so too."

Amara had followed Finnian into the room, remaining silent until now. She stepped forward, head bowed, and said, "Dad, please don't be too angry. I've gotten used to things like this. I'm just worried about Elowen. She's old enough to know better than to pull stunts like this.

If this happened within our family, we might brush it off as a prank. After all, we won’t take this trivial matter into heart. But if she tries something like this outside to other people... Elowen's personality could get her into trouble."

Amara spoke sincerely, and Larry's frown deepened as he stared out the dark window, his thought unfathomable.

After a few moments, he turned back, his expression softening. "Amara, you're a good kid."

Hearing this, Amara's lips curled into a smile, though it was hidden by her mask.

Their conversation hadn't gone unnoticed by someone Fiona and Elowen infiltrated into the family. The duo had already arrived but were too apprehensive to approach, lurking nervously around the corner instead.