"Mark!"

Domenic's sharp voice ranged through the room as he glared at his stupid brother.

"Are you disgusted at me?"

Emily's soft voice pulled everyone's attention towards her. Her green eyes were filled with unshed tears as she looked at Mark while waiting for a reply.

"W-what?"

Mark felt a punch landing directly on his heart as his mind registered her question.

"Do you think I was wrong when I tried to save my life by running away from them? Do you think I was too selfish to not think about her? Is that why you are disgusted at me?"

Emily's questions and her hoarse voice which was filled with pain made all her brothers stop breathing for a second.

They knew that telling them about her past with her mother had brought many of her bad memories to the surface.

They could see it in her eyes and the way she looked so lost in that moment.

No matter how much Mark wanted to speak at that moment, he just could not find his voice.

He kept opening and closing his mouth but nothing came out.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

Emily could not hold the question inside her anymore. It slipped through her lips even before she realized it.

A single tear finally rolled down her left cheek and landed on her wrist as she looked at Mark, waiting for him to answer her question.

"Em, let's not talk about this anymore. Don't pay any attention to him. Alright, sweetheart?" Daniel hurriedly pulled her face to look at him as he tried to make her focus on him.

They were afraid that she was going to give in to the darkness of her past and would end up having another episode.

A small chuckle escaped her lips but there was no hint of happiness behind it.

"Actually, you don't need to answer that question. It's not like I'm not aware of the answer. It's much better for me to speak it out for you than hearing it from your mouth."

She pulled herself out of Daniel and Simon's embrace as she stood up from her seat. She looked at all of her brothers who appeared to be anxious as they watched her closely.

It only made her feel sick of herself. She was destroying them, and their happiness.

"You know, when I first came here, I was too happy. I thought that maybe finally I'll get a chance to start over. A chance to leave my past behind and find a family who won't see me as a burden. But I was too naive."

She shook her head as if to get rid of some of her thoughts as she looked at the six males who were sitting in front of her.

"I tried to pretend that I can start over. I tried to make myself believe that I can leave my past behind. But I was too naive, Danny. Nothing like that happened. No matter how hard I'm trying, that darkness....it's not leaving me."

Daniel felt his heart becoming heavy as he heard the defeat in her voice. He just wanted to pull his little baby in his arms and tell her that everything was okay.

However, he also knew that one wrong move from him and that could trigger her and bring her to the depth of the ocean of darkness through which she was currently struggling to survive.

"While all of you always filled me with positivity and warmth, I still was not able to pull myself out of my past. It's just.....I'm too broken to be mended at this point."

Emily could feel her stomach churning as she thought about all those moments when she created scenes in the Alessandro Mansion.

"Emilia, it's alright. Just calm down." Domenic tried to softly pull her attention towards him but she was beyond the listening point.

"You all wanna know why Mark hates me so much?" She asked with a soft face as she looked at her brothers to see if they were curious to know the answer.

"Em! He does not hate you. Sis, I swear that he doesn't hate you. It's just.....Can't you freaking speak, dude? What are waiting for?" Simon lost his cool as he whispered shouted at his twin brother who appeared as if he had received some kind of immense shock.

"I...I-I..."

Mark struggled to get words out of his mouth and it only infuriated his brothers who barely succeeded in keeping their anger in check and not lash out at him.

"You are actually right. Hate is such a strong word. He probably dislikes me and....you know what? I can understand his reason for disliking me. Not everyone is supposed to like me, right?"

Emily asked the question as she looked deep into her thoughts, not knowing that her words were scaring her brothers.

Domenic did not waste any more time as he quickly dialed Sam's number to call his friend immediately.

"His life was perfect. But then out of nowhere, a little girl was pushed into his life as his little sister. Of course, it would be hard for him to accept something like that. Maybe he wasn't as eager for a little sister as the rest of you. After all, he doesn't appear like someone who loves children."

Emily chuckled softly at the thought of seeing a dissatisfied Mark with a bunch of children around him.

"He got a sister who's too weak, who's broken from inside out. He needed to babysit her, accompany her when he should be enjoying his life. Drop and pick her from school. Look after her when she's alone. Ain't I ruining his life?"

It was like she was asking the question from herself.

And that was when the brothers realized that she was not saying these things out to tell them.

Rather, she was speaking them loudly to make herself believe in them, and the realization hit them all hard.

"You all know that I used to run away from my foster homes most of the time. It's normal that he's worried if I'll run away from here too. I have done so many stupid things during my time here. I have caused so many problems. I'm not lovable, and I'm definitely not the perfect sister."

Emily felt her breathing quickening as she tried to take in deep breaths to not lose her control.

"Emy, take in a deep breath, sweetheart."

"Sorellina, listen to your brothers. You need to calm down, little one."

She could hear her brothers speaking but her eyes were trained at Mark as she realized how much she had destroyed his perfect life in the past few months.

It's like she carried a curse on herself. A curse of destroying everything. A curse that had tainted her and tried to taint anything that came into her contact.

"Mark! For heaven's sake, if you can't clear up this situation then fucking leave! Can't you see that your presence is affecting her?"

This time Crist did not hold himself down as he shouted at his elder brother.

He was tired of Mark's stupid reaction as he kept looking at Emily which sad eyes. If the man really was sorry then all he needed to do was to speak!

"Mark, leave!"

This time, it was Domenic who spoke. Though his voice came out calm and low, there was no doubt that he just gave an order with no negotiations.

"Don't!"

None of them were expecting Emily to speak. Especially as she contradicted Domenic's order.

"You don't have to always push him away because of me. Why are you destroying your family for me? He's a part of your family. And I? I'm just someone you picked up from an orphanage. We are not meant to be a family, Nick."

This time Emily did not hold the tears that slipped from her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

"Emilia, stop talking nonsense. It's enough!"

Domenic had no idea what to do anymore. He just can't see his little sister in such a broken state anymore.

"I'm not speaking nonsense. Can't you see? Can't you see that in destroying your bonds? Can't you tell that I'm not suitable to be a part of this f-family?"

Her voice broke as the reality of her life settle inside her mind and heart.

"You are wrong! WE ARE A FAMILY - THE SEVEN OF US! Just because Mark is too naive to accept this truth, it's his fault. You don't need to look down on yourself to make him feel proud of his stupid behavior towards you." Leo shouted in anger as he looked at his sister with tears filling his eyes.

Emily shook her head as she opened her mouth to respond. However, suddenly someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her.

She felt arms tightening around her neck as if they were trying to choke her life out of her.

She felt her breathing stopping as an ear-piercing scream built inside her, but it never left her mouth.