Stephen couldn't sleep. He tried for an hour before giving up.

It was pointless forcing himself to sleep. He blamed it on the past week, he had to stay up late for his upcoming exams and now it seemed like his mind had made a habit of it.

His eyes went to the clock in his room, it was past midnight already. He stood up deciding to check up on Eve and Aylin.

He was grateful to Diego. Even if he had his flaws he did help him with his responsibilities. For one, Stephen never had to worry about Noah or Eveline's wellbeing because Diego already had it covered.

He prayed he could be a little more considerate of their youngest sister as well. Stephen didn't want his sisters to grow up in a negative environment because it would for sure be detrimental to their mental health.

He wanted to give them a childhood he never got to enjoy. One where they could smile without a care of the world, free of worries.

But as time passed, he was getting further away from his goal.

As he reached Aylin's room, he saw the lights were on. For some reason, he didn't have a good feeling about this.

Pushing the slightly ajar door, he froze at the sight before him.

His father was there.

He was sitting on the bed, pressing a pillow against little Aylin's face while she struggled to get free from his deathly hold.

Stephen couldn't move his limbs for some reason. All he could do was watch as his father choked her with a pillow.

"Shh, don't struggle." He heard him whisper to Aylin, a maniac smile on his face. "It will all be over once you die."

Stephen had grown up admiring his father. He aspired to be like him. Ambitious and successful.

But the man in front of his eyes right now wasn't the same man who he prided in calling his father.

It was a madman who was out for his own daughter's blood.

"Let her go!" He willed his body to move, pushing his father away from her.

Aylin looked between her father and brother with fear in her eyes. And not even a moment later she jumped on Stephen's arms. She wanted to be as far away as she could from the monster who looked awfully similar to her father.

"I-I don't want to die," She whimpered against his chest.

Stephen felt his heart tear apart at her innocent plea. Her body was shaking with sobs, her nails digging against his back.

He clutched her tighter against him, stroking her hair to calm her down, "It's okay. I am here now, sweetheart."

"Son, you don't understand. I am doing her a favour." His father explained, his tone helpless like he didn't have any other way. "They told me to do this. They said it's the best way for everyone to be happy."

"Who are they, Dad?" Stephen asked, watching his father trying to justify his deeds until he could no longer continue to do so. He stood up wanting to take her away from here.

"You don't understand. Give her back to me." Fury took over his father's features when he didn't listen.

Stephen proceeded to carry Aylin to his room, ignoring the angry shouts behind him.

It was his own fault. The signs were always there. It was him who chose to ignore them. But how long could one go on with borrowed time?

It was time he accepted the fact.His father was sick. He has been for a long time.

And he never felt more weak and helpless when it dawned on him that there was nothing he could do to help Aylin.

He vowed one day he will aquire enough power to fight against the entire world and still stand victorious to protect her.

"Why does everyone hate me so much?" He heard Aylin whisper in a small voice, her tears soaking his shoulder. "Am I that bad?"

He forced back the tears that threatened to fall down, his hold on her tightening, "You are not bad, sweetheart. You are perfect."

Too perfect for this cruel world.

"Can I sleep with you tonight? I don't want to go back there." Aylin muttered, her voice heavy with sleepiness.

Stephen nodded but she had already fallen asleep.

He hadn't realized that night, how much that incident traumatized her.

It took him a while to notice that she had stopped sleeping in her room. She would always be either with him or Kai. He had never seen her approach their father after that night either.

He hadn't told anyone else about that night and neither had Aylin talked about it ever again.

... ... ...

Stephen traced the deep scars that ran through Aylin's small back. He had never felt like such a failure in his entire life.

Even though he now had enough power to bring down a nation to its knees with ease, he still couldn't protect her.

So what was the point of all his hard work?

Why did he plot for years, gathering his forces and waited for the perfect moment to take his father down?

When in the end it didn't even count, for the man he wanted to defeat, succumbed to cancer depriving him the satisfaction of making him suffer for taking away his sister from him.

And now reality had hit him with an even harsher blow.

When his father told him he was going to send Aylin to a boarding school, he was more than against it.

He wasn't given much time to retaliate, not that he could in the first place.

But after a quick background check he couldn't find any fault in the institute. It rarely scouted students, every ten years or so, and the facilities there were great.

He decided it would be best for Aylin to stay there for the time being. She would be safe from their insane father and neither would she have to put up with the negative environment in their home.

Boy, how wrong he was.

And the proof now lied before him, slapping him in the face.

He recalled the conversation he had with Diego just a week ago. Thats when his suspicion had started and he had shared it with Diego. He had shown him the papers he found in their father's vault. And he had prayed with every fiber of his soul that he would be proved wrong.

That his father wouldn't do something so despicable as sending his own daughter to be experimented upon.

But the man who could attempt to kill a four-year old child in cold blood could do just about anything.

"Is she sleeping?" He heard Diego ask in a low voice from the doorway.

"Hmm, she just went back to sleep." He nodded, stroking her head when she shifted to find a comfortable position.

"Diego."

"Yeah?" Diego answered, sitting beside him in the bed.

"Do you really care for her?" Stephen asked, his eyes not straying away from Aylin. "Or is it your guilt that's making you be nice to her?"

"How could you ask something like that?!" Diego asked, incredilious. "You know I would die for her!"

"That's rich coming from you," Stephen scoffed. "Considering the number of times you have tried to kill her."

"Just because I chose not to say anything doesn't mean I was ever oblivious of your intentions." He added.

Diego looked down, his hands shaking from nerves. He didn't want to recall the despicable things he had done to her. Not now.

He was already losing his mind after seeing the carvings in her back. For he knew what they were.

One can't spend eight years in the warfield and not know what real torture looks like. Those methods were frowned upon but it's use was still ongoing to this day.

His mind wouldn't let him catch a break as it kept showing him visuals on the numerous ways she might have acquired those scars.

"Why are you bringing that up now?" Diego asked in quiet voice.

Stephen shrugged in response, "I just find it hard to believe that after years of tormenting her, you now love her to death."

"Can't I have a change of heart?" Diego responded.

"Do you even have one to begin with?" Stephen snickered. "Someone with a heart wouldn't be able to hurt a child, no matter the reason."

Stephen knew he should stop. In his heart he didn't doubt for a second about Diego's love for Aylin. But he needed someone to blame other than himself. He was human, too and there was only so much he could shoulder alone.

"Do you detest me, Steph?"

"I pity you." Stephen shook his head. "Regret is not something easy to live with. And you have enough of it to last you another lifetime."

Diego didn't respond to his words. He knew every word Stephen had uttered were true and he had no way to refute.

"What were you looking me for?" Stephen changed the topic at the sight of his brother immersed in self hatred. He shouldn't have poked past wounds but yet he didn't regret doing it.

"I got the information you wanted." Diego informed. "Do you want to go somewhere else to discuss it?"

"It's fine. She's asleep, she can't hear us." Stephen assured, he didn't want to leave Aylin alone here. What if she had a nightmare and he wasn't here to soothe her back to sleep?

"This is the list of students the institute has admitted in the last thirty years." Diego passed him the report he had received a few minutes ago from his subordinate.

"Why isn't there any information on them written here?" Stephen frowned. He hadn't expected Diego to give him a report this vague, with only the names of the students.

"That's the tricky part. They only take in orphans. Mostly from streets or remote orphanages. And they range from one to three, so there is next to no information on them."

"What about Aylin then?" Stephen inquired. "She was seven and neither an orphan."

"I don't know why they wanted her." Diego responded. "But we can be sure that they were the one to make the first move. Dad had no prior idea about that place so he couldn't have contacted them."

"Have you tried to contact any of the students that graduated from there?" Stephen asked instead.

"No student has ever come out of that institute as of today." Diego grimaced.

"Which reminds me, how did you bring her back?" Diego narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He was too happy at the fact that his sister was here with him and thus never bothered to ask Stephen about how she was back.

"I have my ways." Stephen shrugged it off. "Don't concern yourself with petty details. Continue."

Diego sighed, knowing he wouldn't be able to make him talk if he didn't want to.

"Luckily for us, Lili wasn't the only exception. The same year the institute scouted Lili, they went out of their way one more time and admitted Chloe Dawson."

"Robert Dawson's daughter?" Stephen echoed.

He knew Robert. He was more despicable than his own father. After his oldest son committed suicide a year back, he announced a new heir to his empire. His illegitimate daughter, Chloe Dawson.

Stephen had met her once in a charity ball. She was only twenty but she had already started taking over most of Dawson Enterprise. From the brief encounter he had with her, he knew she was a formidable enemy.

"She's the first person to ever come out of that place." Diego confirmed. "I believe she's the only one capable of providing us with answers."

"I will go talk to her today then." Stephen informed, sending a text to his PA to contact Chloe Dawson.

"What time?" Diego asked. "I will go with you."

"No." Stephen firmly shook his head. "You should stay with Aylin. She needs someone with her right now."

"She would prefer I wasn't here." Diego countered, knowing very well how much his little sister hated him.

"Irrelevant." Stephen shrugged it off. "Also, talk to Eve for me."

"Why?" Diego asked, confused.

"Bases on her reaction earlier, she already knew about the scars." Stephen stated. "She's hiding something else, too. Something related to Aylin. Try to get it out of her."

... ... ...

Stephen put his head against his folded hands. He didn't know if he could deal with any more surprises today.

"Did she copy your signature?" Stephen asked, his eyes on the prescription Ezra placed before him.

"No." Ezra shook his head. "I am sure it was signed by me."

"Aylin will be here in a minute. You can ask her yourself then." Stephen informed. He had texted Noah to send Aylin to his study after Ezra showed him the prescription he had found in her room.

"Did Iris tell you anything else? Like why she would need anti-psychotics?"

"No, she just told me she had lied before and the bottle of pills I gave her were anti-psychotics. She refused to say anything else."

"Can't you try again?" Stephen sighed. "Aylin's not going to tell us anything, that I'm sure of."

"I already broke up with Iris. Its pointless now." Ezra told him.

"You shouldn't have broken up with her. Aylin lied to her, too, you know." Stephen tried to convince him. "She was just trying to help."

Stephen could see how heartbroken his brother looked and he hated to see him in that state. He knew Ezra was serious about Iris.

Just a week ago, Ezra had asked him for the family heirloom, their grandmother's ring. Stephen didn't know the details but he knew Ezra was planning to propose Iris in New years Eve.

He had seen how happy he looked with Iris. And he didn't want him to lose all that just because of a misunderstanding.

"Do you know what anti-psychotics are for, Stephen?" Ezra asked quietly, a slight tremor in his voice.

"Schizophrenia?"

"Mostly, yes." Ezra nodded. "And did Iris not think for a second it was a serious matter that should be brought to my attention? Did she think it would be okay for her to keep me in the dark about my sister's mental health?"

"We all make mistakes, Ezra."

"Iris broke my trust. Its impossible for me to trust her again."

Stephen couldn't help but chuckle at his resolve. "You do know that Aylin doesn't trust us either, right?"

"Isn't it hypocrite of you to ask her to do something, you, yourself are not capable of doing?"

Stephen didn't want him to feel bad by reminding him of the past. He just wanted to show him that everyone deserves a second chance to prove themselves again.

"Aylin's here." Ezra spoke, hearing the light knocking from the other side of the door.

"Come in," Stephen commanded. He knew she was standing outside the door for almost five minutes now. He hated how she always found scopes to eavesdrop on his conversations. He had warned her multiple time that it was rude but she never seemed to learn.

But today he wanted her to eavesdrop. He had intentionally brought up the topic of Ezra's breakup.

He needed Aylin to realize that her lies came with consequences. And he hoped she would learn that before it was too late.

"You called me?" Aylin asked, her eyes avoiding the two other person sitting inside the room, looking anywhere but them.

"Yes, take a seat." He gestured to the the empty chair next to Ezra. "Ezra wants to ask you something."

"What do you want to ask?" Aylin turned to Ezra, glad it wasn't a confrontation about last night.

"Recognize this?" Ezra placed the bottle of anti-psychotics he had confiscated from her weeks ago in the table.

Aylin nodded lightly, already knowing where the conversation was going.

"What are they?" Ezra asked, giving her a chance to come clean.

"Anti-psychotics." Aylin answered without missing a beat.

Stephen was surprised she was telling the truth for the first time. After months of observation, Stephen had come to the conclusion that Aylin was a compulsive liar.

She lied for no apparent reason. Lying had become second nature to her and now the only thing he could do was force her to tell the truth by extreme measures.

"And how did you buy them?" Ezra continued. "The chemist wouldn't sell them without a prescription."

"I stole them from the infirmary at school."

"Don't lie," Ezra spoke, his eyes holding slight anger. "This is not something you will get in a school infirmary."

"The doctor in my old boarding school had prescribed them to me." Aylin sighed, like it was hard for her to accept. "I happened to still have the prescription with me."

"By any chance, do you mean this prescription?" Ezra pinned down the paper before her with a slam. "With my signature on it?"

Surprise flickered in her eyes, not expecting the sudden turn of events. Her hands trembled a little as she tried to conjure up a way to get out of this predicament.

"Were you snooping around my stuff?" She raised her voice a little. "Can't I have the slightest bit of privacy in this house?!"

"Don't change the topic." Ezra gritted out. "How did you get my signature here?"

"Okay, I'll tell you. Stop getting so angry." Aylin compromised, "I copied it."

"How did you get my signature, Aylin?" Ezra repeated.

Aylin looked around, buying time for herself to come up with another lie but by God's grace decided against it.

"Remember the time I asked you to sign my assignments because I said my grades were too poor?" She asked and waited for Ezra to refresh his memory.

At his nod, she continued, "I tore a blank paper from your notebook while you were asleep and then sneaked it in with my assignments."

Betrayal flashed through Ezra's eyes. Even though it shouldn't be that unexpected, he still felt hurt that she would play with him like that.

"You mean to say when I genuinely wanted to help, all you wanted to do was take advantage of me?" He voiced out, finding it hard to wrap his mind around it.

"Don't put it like that." She mumbled, looking down.

"Why are you taking anti-psychotics?" Stephen asked seeing as Ezra was still processing the last bit of information he heard.

"Just because." Aylin shrugged, facing Stephen's fierce glare without flinching.

"Do you want me to call Kai here?" Stephen bluffed, he wouldn't hurt him again after already brutally beating him last night.

"He has nothing to do with this. Keep him out of it." Aylin hissed, her hands trembling at his threat.

It was working, he noted. He knew it was despicable of him to blackmail her but he couldn't find any other way to make her speak.

If she doesn't tell him the problem, how was he supposed to solve it?

"Diego?" He picked up the telephone in his table, pretending to dial a number and pressed it against his ear. "Can you send Kai--"

"Stop!" Aylin shouted, her tone desperate. "I'll tell you. Please, don't hurt him again."

He placed the phone down again, asking her to continue. He felt like a scum for causing those tears in her eyes.

The past week had been hard for him. He had to break her heart so many times. He wanted to curse Diego even more, how dare he eat the food she especially cooked for him?

He had wanted her to open up to him. And he believed guilt tripping her would be the easiest way. When that didn't work he tried a softer approach, a more vulnerable one.

But after seeing the scars in her back, he had already lost it. He couldn't wait around anymore when she was hiding so much pain in her heart.

And even if the truth came at the expense of his younger brother, he didn't regret it. He knew Kai would understand, too. He just needed to talk to him.

"I hear voices. Multiple of them. I-I thought they would stop if I take those pills." Aylin muttered quietly, her eyes filled with fear of their response.