"..."

I just stared at Mr. Hart with my mouth hanging open.

I literally had no idea what to say next. He was joking, right?

"How can that be possible? That was really funny Mr....Jackson." I finally managed to make my voice work again.

"I'm not kidding Emily. All four of them actually failed that year and I was even more shocked than you are right now. For real." Mr. Hart said as he looked at me with serious eyes as if he was trying to make me believe him.

"T-then...how did you manage to make Domenic agree for assigning you as my tutor?" I asked with curiosity.

"Umm...well, as you can see there's always another way to use when you think you are failing very poorly." Mr. Hart said as he nervously scratched the back of his neck.

"And that is?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Begging."

This was the reply that I received from him and that was when I finally lost it.

I clasped my hand over my mouth to stop the chuckles that were making knots appear in my stomach since I was trying to keep them in.

Never had I ever imagined to get a tutor who would be this much funny and hilarious.

At that time I had no idea that soon enough I would start looking forward to our sessions since they became my only source of relaxation and happiness.

"Yeah, go on. Make fun of me as much as you want. You have no idea how hard it is to beg in front of that Ice Lord. If not for me clinging on his legs for around twenty minutes, he would never have agreed. There's no respect left in this world for such hard work." Mr. Hart grumbled with a scoff.

It took all my willpower to not start laughing again at his words and the expression that he was currently carrying.

I fanned myself and emptied an entire glass of water before I was finally able to calm down.

"I'm so sorry. I should not have laughed but to tell you a secret, I'm actually impressed by you. No matter what kind of method you used to make Domenic agree but the fact that you came out victorious is the most important and remarkable part. I'm really proud of you."

I gave him a thumbs up while making sure that I had praised his hard work in the right way.

"Really?" Mr. Hart looked at me with suspicious eyes as he observed me to see if I was again making fun of him.

"Of course! Even though it's been only two weeks since I came here but it still is enough time for me to realize exactly how tough it is to make Domenic agree for something that he considers not important or worthy enough of his time and effort." I replied with a serious expression.

I was not lying actually. Even though I barely spoke to any of the Alessandro brothers in the past one and a half weeks but that gave me a chance to study them and their personalities.

Domenic was the head of both the Alessandro Empire and the Alessandro family. Always carrying an indifferent and cold personality no matter if it wàs outside or inside the house.

He loved rules and regulations. His words were the law and what he hated most was when someone, no matter who, broke his law.

But then there were moments when I had seen warmth in his eyes as he sometimes observed his brothers having a great time and there were also a few times I caught him looking at me with worry and hurt in his eyes.

As for Daniel, he was exactly the same. The mama of the family, the kindest and loving out of all the Alessandro brothers.

He never tried to hide his real emotions. If he was hurt, angry, disappointed, concerned, or even happy, you could just see it in his eyes.

Crist was no different from Daniel. Though he was not as kind and loving as Daniel but he could be considered the second most approachable person out of all the brothers. He also barely tried to hide his emotions.

Mark was...Mark! Yeah, still his usual grumpy and angry self who just wanted to get rid of all the things that irritated him. I had a feeling that I topped his list of those things and people.

Simon was a mystery. I could not read him at all. Well, I barely saw him. It was like if I was trying my best to avoid coming across any of the Alessandro brothers then he was trying twice of mine to stay away from everyone.

Then there was Leo. Let's just skip him. He was just the second name of irritation and trouble maker and he loved to prove it.

"Fine! I'm letting you go this time because I'm giving you the benefit of doubt. But you better not make fun of my hard work next time, otherwise, I'll punish you with extra homework."

Mr. Hart's warning brought me out of my thoughts and I quickly promised him to never mock his hard work.

"I like the fact that you are a smart one. You know how to skip problems." Mr. Hart praised as he opened a notepad and motioned me to do the same.

"Aah! You are embarrassing me. I'm not that smart." I replied as I played with the pen.

Mr. Hart just chuckled in response.

The two of us settled in a relaxed mode as we questioned each other about our hobbies and favorite things.

And as the questions kept coming and I kept replying with almost 'I don't know' or 'I'm not that sure', I realized exactly how different I was from the rest of the youngsters.

I was not unique, rather I was someone who could be categorized as weird, or as a freak.

I wanted to change myself. I wanted to learn how to enjoy my life, how to be normal.

But deep down in my heart, I knew that my past would never stop chasing me that I would never be able to break through the chains of darkness that were surrounding me.

Little did I knew that fate was about to play another game with me and this one was even worse than the last one.