"You know what, sis..." Ava looked down at Layena’s battered form, buried beneath a slab of concrete that had left half her face deformed.

She lifted her gaze toward the sky, not a trace of remorse in her eyes, as if she hadn’t caused this entire mess or beaten Layena half to death moments ago.

"It’s not like I hate you or anything," she muttered. "...your face is just too pretty for me to tolerate. And whenever I’m pissed, I feel like ruining it."

Ava looked down at her again, a smirk curling on her lips.

"Well, if you ever feel like blaming someone, blame your dear asshole friend. If not for him, then I might have ignored you. But now..." She extended her claw towards her face before adding, "...suffer."

....

Suffer?

Why was she supposed to suffer?

That just because her mother had done something vile, Layena had to bear the punishment for it? And why was only her mother blamed? It wasn’t as if someone had forced the Klaus Patriarch into bed and made him put a child in her womb.

Layena was a mistake. Someone who was never meant to exist. She understood that much.

Then why couldn’t they just let her live the life she wanted?

She never asked for rights. Never asked for a share in the family. She only wanted a quiet life, far away from the burden of carrying the Klaus name.

Was that really too much to ask for?

"Nope, it isn’t," Kyle told her softly. "What you’re wishing for is the bare minimum every human deserves."

Layena looked up at him, her eyes still red and swollen from all the tears she had shed.

There was a quiet pain hidden within them, but to Kyle, it screamed louder than words ever could.

Squeezing her hand gently, he reassured her, "None of this is your fault, Layena. After hearing your story, I’ve come to admire you for having the courage to leave that environment instead of drowning in grief and depression."

Kyle had been punished for failing to meet his father’s expectations.

Layena’s situation was different.

Her father never expected anything from her to begin with.

He simply...looked through her existence as though she wasn’t even a person.

And that indifference gave the matriarch and her daughter, Ava, the freedom to do whatever they wanted to the little girl.

Layena had been scarred throughout her childhood.

Both her body and mind carried wounds far deeper than they appeared.

And the people responsible for those scars were the very ones who lived under the same roof as her.

At some point, Layena stopped crying altogether.

She realized that her pain, her tears, and her desperate screams only fueled their enjoyment.

So instead of running from the pain, she learned to endure it.

She stopped hiding beneath the bed and began sitting quietly on top of it instead, waiting every night for her sister to come and beat her.

She no longer avoided the matriarch’s gaze either, because doing so only invited even greater wrath upon herself.

In the end, Layena accepted the pain and slowly grew accustomed to it.

That was why, even now, she remained extremely cautious around people.

Because she viewed them through the same lens as her family.

People are waiting for a reaction, waiting for vulnerability, so they can take pleasure in it.

She never showed her emotions in front of others because she was terrified of exposing that fragile part of herself ever again.

And if there was anyone who had managed to break through that thick wall of caution and glimpse her true self, then it was the Commander.

However, before this particular man, someone she had only known for barely two weeks, Layena found herself unable to hold back as she spilled her entire life story before him.

"Kyle...can you keep this a secret? I haven’t told anyone about it," she asked in a small voice, clearly flustered by how emotional she had become.

Kyle reassured her gently, "I’m a great secret keeper, and when it comes to something like this...you can rest easy. I will never tell anyone about what we talked about today."

He knew how much courage it took for someone who had bottled up their feelings for so long to finally open up to another person.

Kyle himself had never shared anything about his past or his experiences with anyone, not even Amanda, because he always felt it would seem as though he was seeking sympathy.

But that wasn’t really it.

Sometimes, a person simply wants to vent, to cry, and to let out everything they have been carrying inside for far too long.

Layena slowly raised her eyes and asked, "I heard you’re about to join the academy?"

Kyle let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "Don’t even mention it. I just managed to stop thinking about it so I could spend these few days in peace."

A faint smile appeared on Layena’s lips at his exaggerated reaction.

"That place is actually very good for us Nightwalkers," she said. "We get to learn more about ourselves, things we never even realized we were capable of achieving."

Kyle groaned dramatically. "Yeah, right...but I’ll stand out like a sore thumb. I’m way too old. Practically a specimen at this point. And I can already imagine everyone asking about my late awakening."

Layena nodded in agreement. "Honestly, that part intrigues me too. Just think about it. A lot of people lose hope of awakening after turning fourteen. Someone like you becoming an exception could give them hope."

Kyle gave a wry smile at that.

If only they knew his awakening had been gifted to him by his livestream viewers...

Should he advise them to do the same?

Like hell.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and soon, the door parted; revealing the only person Kyle didn’t want to see.

"Ethan."

The blond boy narrowed his eyes instantly, "What are you doing here, Kyle?"

°°°°°°°°°

On the other hand, inside the Maylith mansion, after the elder ones returned, Melissa’s parents decided to pack their bags and leave.

They don’t live in Guhang so it would take seven hours to just reach there.

Even though it has been just two days, for the man, it was quite a big gap given his company was currently on a succeeding streak of gaining more and more clients.

"Melissa," the girl turned to look at the door and saw her father standing there, "Are you ready to leave? We might need to visit the company first rather than the home. I have received a call. There is someone important waiting for us."

Melissa, who had been sitting silently until now, exhaled a sigh.

Lowering her gaze, she muttered, "Father...I want to tell you something."

The man hummed in confusion. "What is it?" Hopefully, she wouldn’t ask him to let her stay here a few more days...this was one of the major reasons why he was reluctant to bring Melissa here in the first place.

However, his guess was so...so off the mark..

Melissa looked straight in his eyes and told the man.

"I won’t work for you anymore."

°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading. Leave a review if you have been enjoying the story so far.