I'll make my move

"I thought you'd be asleep by now, but it seems like something's bothering you," Lucius said, setting aside the towel in his hand. "Who disrupted your peace?"

"No one," Layla replied quietly.

"Is it your family again?" he asked directly, sitting beside her. "Your mother or Orabela? I doubt your father would dare upset you after the warnings I've given him," he added, his voice edged with certainty.

Layla sighed, her eyes looked distant. "Sometimes, I wonder if my mother is truly my mother. She's always treated me like something she can use and discard whenever it suits her. Are all mothers like that? I don't think so. I met your mother too. She does care for her even if it doesn't show much. But mine isn't like that. Orabela's mother defends her, even when she's wrong, but mine… she always sides with Orabela. Is it because she's just a mistress to my father?" Layla's gaze met Lucius', seeking an answer that would finally put her troubled mind at ease.