"Alright, child. Stop crying or you will end up having a fever." Domenic reminded his little sister as he rubbed her head softly to soothe her.

Emily hurriedly pulled away as she looked at him with a tear-stained face before asking in a small voice, "Will you stop being angry at me if I'll become sick?"

Domenic flicked her forehead immediately as he spoke in a serious and reprimanding tone, "Don't even think about harming yourself to get our attention."

She did not need to be a mind reader to realize that her brother was completely serious. Not like she was really planning to do something like that. She was not completely insane after all.

"I was just asking. I don't have any such plans. I really love my life." She muttered in reply, making her brother relax a little.

When Domenic once again became silent, she finally looked up at him only to find him sitting there with closed eyes.

"Nick....., why are you angry at me?" She once again repeated the question and kept her eyes glued on him while she waited for him to answer.

Her brother stayed silent for the next couple of seconds before finally opening his eyes and looking straight at her.

"You really don't know?"

His question made her hesitate just when she was about to immediately shake her head in denial but stopped when she started recalling if she had really ended up doing something stupid.

"Is...it....because I'm staying at Mount Ville?" She finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"Why did you not return to the mansion?" Domenic asked instead. Not like he really needed to confirm what she already had realized.

Emily sighed softly as she turned her face away and started staring at the night look outside the windows.

"It's not like I don't want to return to the mansion. But I seriously don't know how to face everyone. I don't think I'll be able to stay there when all my brothers are busy ignoring me. That's why....., I'm sorry, Nick. I did not mean to hurt you."

And just like that, Domenic felt his anger disappearing. Though he was already not angry at her anymore and all his complaints towards her had also vanished since she had explained the reason behind not staying at the mansion.

"You are not angry anymore, right?" Emily asked as she looked at her brother whose face was now carrying a calm expression.

"Don't be too happy. Just because you have explained your reason for not staying at the mansion, it doesn't mean that I'm happy about all this. I know that you are no longer the same Emilia of the past, you can now look after yourself and Shadow is also with you but as your big brother, I'm still worried for your safety. You should hurriedly solve the problems between you and the others and return to the mansion," Domenic told her in a serious tone as he moved forward to pick the magazine that was sitting on the table but got stopped by his sister.

"What about you? How are you going to solve the problems between you and them?" She asked seriously as she pulled his hands away from the magazines.

A small twitch appeared on Domenic's lips as he turned his attention towards his sister before he replied, "I'm counting on you. Once you will succeed in solving the problems between you and those idiots, the misunderstandings between us would automatically disappear. I don't need to do anything at all since you will be doing a favor to me."

Emily just stared at her brother with her jaw hanging open as she tried to wrap her brain around whatever her brother had just said.

"You....how can you.....I mean....."

She was unable to put her thoughts into words as she continuously changed her words and only ended up trailing off in the end.

"...were you waiting for the past four years and did absolutely nothing to solve the misunderstandings between you and the others only because you.......you were waiting for me to return and solve all this?"

Even she could not believe her own words but Domenic did not waste even a single second in nodding his head to answer her question.

"You....! Well done, brother! You have improved a lot in the past four years. You have successfully learned to use me for your benefits, I can hardly recognize you." Emily commented as she shook her head lightly as if she was still in denial of whatever she just heard.

"No need to be so dramatic. I just don't have too much time to spend dealing with stupid little siblings who are not even ready to hear anything......you are an exception in this case." Domenic replied as he stood up and patted the back of her head softly before walking away towards his desk.

"Wow! Did you seriously call them all stupid? And you are saying that you don't have the time to talk with them because you are busy with your work. Really, Nick?" Emily was still surprised by her brother's words. She was fully aware that Domenic cared about his brothers just as much as he cared about her. There was no way he would ever ignore them because of his work.

Domenic stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. There was a strange expression visible on his face for a few seconds before it disappeared and he just appeared tired.

"Let just say that most of your brothers are blaming me because they need someone to blame for all the hurt that they endured these past four years. There was barely any point for them to stay mad at you, after all, you were not here for them to let their frustration and hurt out. So they found a different target. They need someone to take out their anger, hurt, and frustration."

Emily watched her brother in silence for the next few seconds before she spoke in a don't voice, "...and you decided to become that target."

It was not really a question and Domenic did not need to answer.

A small chuckle escaped her lips but there was no humor in her eyes as she shook her head before speaking, "We don't deserve you, Nick. Because of us, you keep facing all the hardships, difficulties, darkness, and cruelty of this world but you never blamed any of us. Whenever one of us needs your help, you never hesitate. You never say no to any of our requests or demands. You never neglect us. You are always there for us - 24/7. But there's no one looking after you. We really don't deserve you and your unrequited love."

Emily moved to stand in front of her brother as she looked up into his eyes before speaking again.

"But not anymore. I won't let you burden all this alone. Don't worry. Not only I'll clear the problems between me and the brothers, but I'll also make them apologize to you. Then you can cut off their pocket money and ground them. I won't let anyone take advantage of your warm heart in the future and I'll protect you."

The smile that appeared on Domenic's lips was as genuine as it ever could. He did not say anything but just nodded his head in acceptance before rubbing his sister's head with affection.

"You should leave now. Shadow must be waiting for you. By the way, you are coming to the Academy's anniversary, right?" He asked before sitting down on his chair.

"En! I'll be there. As far as I can see, this anniversary is going to bring many new changes and surprises for everyone." Emily replied as she collected her purse and mask from the sofa.

"You are actually right. Many things have changed in the past four years and it's time to finally reveal these changes to the world." Domenic replied as he gave his sister a quick look before he turned his attention towards his work.

***

"Took you long enough," Shadow commented as soon as he saw the girl walking out of the building.

"How long have you been waiting?" Emily asked as she approached the big black car standing in front of the Alessandro Corporation.

"It's been around two hours or so, I think," Shadow replied as he opened the doir of the passenger side and helped her to settle down inside.

"I'll be waiting for you at the apartment. Though you are already twenty-two, I'm still not allowing you to stay out of the house past midnight. So make sure to return before that." Shadow reminded her as he closed the door.

"Huh?"

Emily was totally confused as she had no idea what he was talking about. But before she could ask him anything, he had already disappeared somewhere.

"Good evening, Sweetheart."

Emily hurriedly turned to look at the driver's seat and her gaze landed on Kaiden. What was going on now?