"Em, are you ready? We are getting late!" Simon shouted from downstairs as he urged his little sister to hurry up.

"Just a moment, Moni," Emily shouted back as she double-checked all her assignments and projects.

Simon cringed at the nickname that his sister had suddenly found for him. He knew that she was deliberately calling him by that name so that he would stop telling her to hurry.

He just sighed and decided to patiently wait for the girl.

The holidays were over and her school had reopened, bringing a lot of assignments and projects for the students to finish.

It was almost the end of January and Emily had spent the entire month in the company of Jackson, Rylan, and Shane at the SA to complete their assignments and also so that she could continue her defense classes. She barely got any time to focus on the thousands of books on supernaturals that were sitting in the library of SA and were waiting for her.

She needed to focus on her studies for the time being.

Emily grabbed her backpack and hurried downstairs. She and Simon immediately set off towards her school.

"I heard that you have rejected Miss Scott's offer. Can I ask why?" Simon questioned as he kept his focus on the road ahead.

Emily chuckled lightly before she cleared her throat and answered his question, "Your information resources are not really that great because I did not reject her offer. I have just asked her to wait for me to first finish the book which I think I'll be able to do somewhere near the mid of April. After that, I can easily put my focus on my final exams and at the same time, I won't need to worry about keeping the story ongoing to not hinder the anime series. It's a win-win situation."

Simon looked impressed as he nodded his head in understanding before he commented, "You are becoming smarter with time. Keep it up! I sure don't want you to end up like either Leo or Crist."

"Come on, they are not that bad." Emily decided to defend her brothers but the smile on her face was saying otherwise.

And just like that, the time kept passing by. Emily was finally able to enjoy a normal teenage, well at least as normal as it could be. She no longer had any nightmares, not any new episodes. There were no new attacks and her bond with every single person around her, was becoming stronger.

Her friendship with Shane and Rylan was as strong and precious as she had always dreamed of. The boys really cared about her and most importantly, they enjoyed her company.

Her school life was also perfect. The teachers loved her because she was a topper, obedient, respectful, and also because she kept Rylan and Shane under control.

Though she did not have any other friends except the two dorks, most of her classmates liked her because of her friendly nature.

At school, no one ever dared to create problems for her since she was an Alessandro and also because of Rylan and Shane.

Her relationship with every single of her brothers was becoming stronger and so was the friendship that she shared with Sam, Bianca, and Jackson.

Shadow had literally become her shadow. He was always there for her, protecting her and making sure that she was always comfortable.

He was no longer just her bodyguard, he had become an important member of the circle of family and friends that she had around her.

Her three white treasures were also growing rapidly. They proved a wonderful companion for her. She always made sure to spend at least an hour every day in their company, playing with them and feeding them.

Her life was going on just perfect. But the question was - for how long?

--

"Miss Alessandro, can I join you?"

Emily looked up at the familiar figure who was standing at the other side of the table where she was currently sitting.

"Sure. It's been a long time, Mr. Sullivan." She greeted the man formally since he used the same way to address her.

They were currently in the library at the Supernatural Academy and just like usual, Emily was sitting at her favorite table in the very secluded corner of the huge library.

A small twitch appeared on Kaiden's lips as he pulled the chair closer to where she was sitting before he also took a seat. This made him sit directly beside her, close enough that their legs almost brushed each other.

"Why are you alone here?" He asked as he picked up one of the books that were sitting on the table and started looking through it.

"None of my brothers are here today and Shadow is downstairs in the cafeteria. As for Rylan and Shane, well they suddenly have some sort of emergency at their home so they left around five minutes ago." Emily replied with a small shrug as she continued to sketch the mermaid that she was drawing at the moment.

"Oh!"

That was all that he said in response to her reply. His eyes keenly observed as her hand manipulated the pencil to draw exactly what she wanted.

"Are you planning to pursue your carrier in art and design?" He asked after a few minutes of silence.

"I think so. I really like drawing and writing webcomics. Also, I want to learn about sculptures because it has grasped my attention during the time I was working on my school projects." Emily replied sincerely as she took out the crayons to fill the sketch of the mermaid with colors.

Kaiden stayed silent for the next few minutes as he did not comment on her reply. It looked like he was lost deep in his thoughts at the moment. He just sat there in silence as he observed the girl. His heart and soul were filled with calmness after being so near to her.

It was not until Emily completed her drawing of the mermaid and took a deep breath to relax her tired body, did he realized that almost half an hour had passed since he entered the library to find her.

His eyes landed on the drawing of the mermaid and he smiled softly as he praised, "It's beautiful." And it indeed was. She was really great when it came to shoeing her artistic skills.

"Thank you," Emily said softly as she turned to look at the man beside her. She would be lying if she refused to accept that his presence around her always helped her in calming down.

The fact that she kept working on her seeing and completed it without any idea that she was actually in a library with a man sitting beside her, was clear proof of exactly how comfortable she was getting around him.

"Why are you studying business management if you wanna pursue your carrier as an author and artist?" Kaiden finally asked the question that he wanted to ask from the very moment she answered his question about her carrier choice.

A small smile broke out on Emily's lips as she observed him in silence for the next few seconds. She took in a deep breath before she decided to answer his question.

"The Alessandro Empire is Domenic's biggest achievement. It's a name that my family has worked on with their blood and sweat. Today, the Alessandro Empire is where it is because, for centuries, every single member of our family has given their all to this business."

She stopped for a second before she continued.

"I know that Domenic has shouldered everything from a very young age. He never got the choice of having dreams about his future. He has sacrificed a lot for the business and our family. Though he never asked the others to help him with the business, I know that Daniel decided to help him because he was the only one who knew exactly how much our brother was struggling to keep everything in check. I know that even Simon is also preparing to enter our business so that he could help Domenic and Daniel."

"And even though I'm allowed to choose whatever carrier I wanna pursue in my life, I also want to make sure that if one day my brothers will need my help, that time, I will be able to step in and shoulder their responsibilities with them."

There was a smile on her face as she finished. Her eyes turned to look at the handsome face of the man sitting beside her and she found him looking back at her with eyes filled with pride.

She could see the trace of an almost non-existed smile on his lips but she knew that she somehow ended up impressing the man with her answer.

The realization made her smile brighten as she tried to look away from the alluring icy blue eyes that were staring right into her emerald ones.

She was about to turn away when she felt a hand resting on the back of her head as she found her face being pulled to face him again and before she could realize what was happening, it was too late.