Bella looked at him, her voice filled with urgency and curiosity.
"But… what are you waiting for? Tell me!!!"
Frost held her gaze for a long moment, hesitating. He ran a hand through his blond hair, clearly uncomfortable.
"I don't know if you're ready to hear this, Bella."
"Why not?" she asked, her voice firmer despite her reddened eyes. "My heart is already in pieces, Frost. I want the truth. The whole truth."
Frost let out a deep sigh and leaned back against the rock.
"Alright… if that's what you want. According to my hypothesis, Caden most likely gave Aletha a sincere kiss of love… to drive the darkness out of her."
Bella staggered back a step, as if struck by lightning.
"What?!"
"It would make sense, wouldn't it?" Frost continued gently. "It's often very difficult to defeat darkness through brute force. Nothing is more powerful than a kiss born from true and sincere love. It must have created a light strong enough to expel the shadow that possessed her."
Bella fell silent for a moment, trying to process it. Her lower lip trembled.
"Yeah… it makes sense," she murmured in a broken voice. "Then how did I get infected?"
Frost placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"After that exchange between Caden and Aletha, out of ignorance, Caden was probably infected through that kiss. The darkness remained dormant inside him. The question is what specific event awakened it…"
Bella frowned, trying to understand.
"So… it works like a virus?"
"You could say that, yes. It only takes a strong enough negative emotion to awaken it—anger, fear, jealousy…"
Bella lowered her gaze.
"And me…?"
Frost hesitated again, then answered honestly:
"You're his girlfriend. You kiss, don't you?"
Bella remained silent, her eyes empty. Frost continued softly:
"Then you, too, contracted that fragment of darkness. And of course, it awakened because of your anger—and especially your growing jealousy these past few days."
At those words, Bella lowered her head completely. She felt her heart shatter further, as if each sentence drove another blade into it.
Frost stepped closer, his voice full of regret.
"Bella… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to—"