Chapter Nine: Shattered (Part One)

It took me around half an hour to set all the things that we bought into the right places.

The previously empty walk-in closet was now filled with luxurious clothes and footwear. A few branded clutches and purses were also shining in their glory as they rested on the shelf.

The huge full-length mirror that was placed along with one of the walls in the closet showed a young girl in a purple pajama set with her long hair pulled into a loose ponytail.

Beside the mirror was another table where three pairs of high brand watches and a few cosmetics were neatly set.

A sigh left my mouth as I turned to leave the closet. I knew that my brothers were trying to make sure that I had everything that I needed, from luxurious clothes, shoes, watches, to high-quality cosmetics.

However, I was not used to such things. Luxury was an alien word for me and suddenly being surrounded by these things was not really giving me much happiness.

Maybe one day I would get bold enough to accept and enjoy these luxuries with a happy heart, but for now, I was content with the thought that at least my brothers were trying to care for me.

I decided to give them a chance, to give this new life a chance. Maybe this was exactly what I was looking for.

The light, the magic that I wanted to enter into my dark life.

As I entered my room I saw Leo and Jackson in there. The first one was sprawled on my bed while the latter was sitting on the desk chair.

"Oh, you are finally out. Come here, Em. Let's arrange the schedule for your private classes." Leo said as he patted the space beside him.

I sighed as I dragged my feet towards the bed and plopped down beside my youngest brother.

For the next fifteen minutes, Jackson and I worked on our schedule while Leo kept lying on the bed in silence.

It was around nine-thirty when I was finally ready to get my much-needed sleep.

After wishing Leo, Crist, Daniel, and Simon good night, I finally gave in to the sleep that was trying to take over me.

These four were the only ones present in the living room when I went downstairs to wish them goodnight.

I woke up around midnight because I was feeling thirsty. Unfortunately, there was no water in the room.

I decided to keep in mind to bring a water bottle with me from the next day.

I closed the door of my room silently behind me to not wake up my brothers.

However, as I reached the entrance of the dining room, I heard voices coming out from inside.

I didn't know why but on instincts I immediately hid myself in the shadows as I tried to listen to what they were talking inside.

My ears picked up the ending of Daniel's sentence.

".....let's final it then. We will go according to your plan."

I had no idea what they were talking about but as far as I knew they could be talking about their business plans or something.

"By the way, Mark...?"

"Yes?"

"You will take Emilia out in the morning to let her get acquainted with the neighborhood and the city."

The silence that followed Domenic's deep and authoritative voice was exactly like a horror movie to me.

My heartbeat had accelerated as I waited for Mark's response and to say that I was not expecting this reply would be a lie.

"No! I'm not free in the morning."

"It's not a choice Mark."

I heard Domenic's sharp voice which shouted to not test his patience, but Mark was probably deaf to not hear that.

"I'm not her fucking babysitter! It was your idea to bring a spoilt brat like her into this family, so you should be the one taking care of her. Don't drag me into this."

I stood there in the shadows with my body stiff as a stone, my breath caught in my throat as I tried to stop the tears from spilling that had suddenly covered my sight.

Even though Mark had really not been the best brother to me but it did not mean that his words weren't like a knife straight to my already fragile heart.

I heard chairs creaking and soon loud footsteps approached the door of the dining room.

I watched from my hiding place behind the shelf as Mark climbed the stairs and probably vanished into his room.

"Domenic..."

I heard Daniel say in a soft and tired tone but he soon got cut off by Domenic.

"Don't even try to find an excuse for his behavior, Daniel. He knows exactly what he is doing and I'm not going to tolerate his misbehavior."

I was in no mood to hear any more of their late-night talk. I silently made my way out from my hiding place and started climbing the stairs.

I was almost near my room when suddenly a door opened and soon I was facing a half-conscious, half sleepy Simon.

However, the sleep from his eyes disappeared within a second as his eyes landed on me.

There was not much light in the hallway, therefore, I was not sure if he saw the tears that were previously running down my cheeks.

Though I made sure to wipe them away as fast as I could, but one look at my eyes and he would know.

"What are you doing here?" He asked as he walked closer.

It took me a few precious seconds to make sure my voice didn't give away the secret that I was actually trying to hide.

"I was thirsty and...there was no water in my room." I finally replied in a barely audible voice.

He probably heard me because the next second he pulled the empty water bottle from my hands and looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"I'm not thirsty anymore. I'm going to sleep. Good night."

I didn't wait for even a single more second as I rushed towards my bedroom door and closed it behind me.

There was only one voice ringing through my head and it was repeating the same thing again and again.

Mark definitely hated me!