I slowly made my way towards the tomb, I kneeled down in front of it and touched the name of my mother. "What happened to her?"

I hated what she had done to my father, but I never expected to see her in this state. I exhaled heavily. This is so depressing.

Bald man sighed heavily behind me. "You have every right to know the truth." He paused. "But your way of finding it before wasn't the ideal one." He stopped and touched my shoulder. "No one other than you must know." He too had kneeled beside me. "It was your mother's request, to find you. Now, I can finally face her again."

I looked at him. "Can I at least know your name, bald man?"

He's probably not as bad as I thought he was – like how I misjudged Don before. Maybe their kin has a way of starting a dance with the wrong foot.

My theory was right from the beginning, he was just being a good friend to Victoria. Protecting her in any way he can. Even to the point of being on his son's bad side.

He laughed at the nickname I made for him. "Daniel. Or just Dan." He sat onto the damp floor covered with twigs. "So, should I start the story?" I nodded. "Take a seat. This will be a long one."

I mirrored his position, but my eyes never left my mother's tomb.

"For starters. You are not Andrew's daughter." Immediately my head turned to him. "You are the daughter of the Prince. Sevyr is your legitimate father."

Holy shit.

My mouth fell open, I won't be surprised if suddenly a bat will make a nest inside. But I didn't say a single word. As shocking as it sounds, I didn't want to interrupt him.

"You were conceived as a half-blood but born as a turned." He paused, when he saw my perplexed expression, and laughed. "You have the same reaction as your mother, when she's solving crossword puzzles." He stopped and briefly looked at the tomb.

"So to be continued." Dan clapped his hands and looked at me. "Your mother was a hunter when she and Sevyr met. They briefly dated until she broke up with him, the moment she knew of her illness – a stage three breast cancer. She didn't want to worry him. So she told him a different reason, because she knew Sevyr won't let her go that easily if he knows the truth.

The hunters' society later on found out, though they kept it private. Then she was pulled out of field work, but refused to do nothing. So she was assigned on desk duties in one of your race's firm in New York, that's where she met Divina. Divina as we know it, was persistent and always gets her way out of everything.

She found out about Victoria's sickness and thought she had to do something. She then persevered the council to approve of her notion, and it was easy that time, because her father, Marcus, still has a seat. And we both knew what came after, your mother then became turned."

This time I reacted. "So, how did you know about all of this?"

"I'm your mother's mentor, and best friend. She tells me everything." He said with a sad smile, while looking at the tomb. Like he's reminiscing some past memories with her.

And with that, I realized – he loved her. That's why he was so willing to sacrifice everything.

He stopped talking and hydrated his mouth with his own saliva. "We should've brought water." He said and I simply laughed. "Okay, so where was I? Oh yeah... Well, your mother didn't realize she was pregnant then. Until it became slightly obvious.

Divina and Marcus felt responsible for her, so they took her to Rome. Away from the people who might question, or worse, harm her. You are the first born baby that was turned while inside the womb. Plus, you have a royal blood. People will want you. So, they have to protect you and your identity. And Marcus thinks that one way of doing that is to hide you away from everyone, including your mother. He lied to her and even to his own daughter as well, and made them think you were dead when you got out."

"So this was all his fault?" I interrupted him, my rage is slipping out of my hold.

"He did it to protect you from the queen."

"What? Was she against the affair of Sevyr and Victoria?" I asked and he nodded.

Damn. This is so cliché, I've seen it in most movies. Well, we are living in a life full of clichés – I guess these things are bound to happen.

He then puts a hand in front of him. "But kid, I don't have the answers on how you ended up on this country. Your mother never knew as well. But if you do want to know. You should ask your foster parents." I gulped at the thought. I'm not ready yet to confront them.

"So, how did my mother knew I was alive?" He told me a while ago that my mother's request was to find me.

He shrugged. "She had a hunch. Marcus never showed her the body of her supposed to be dead baby. I thought it was impossible, but, here you are."

"But why didn't she try to find me herself?" I didn't realize a tear had fell, but I wiped it almost instantly.

"She did. She was a wreck after your birth. So Jill had to make her forget about the pregnancy, and you in general." He paused for a brief second. "And hypnotism needs maintenance. So when she got away, slowly she remembered you."

"By means of got away – that's when she took off, after she murdered Andrew?"

Dan laughed, but it was more like a sarcastic one. "That too was a lie."

My brows scrunched up.

"People thought that she did it. But it was more like she took the bullet, to save her son – your brother, Will. He killed Andrew, or that's what she thought."

I shot both of my hands in front of me. "Pause that. This is so confusing. You're telling me, Will killed his father?"

"And I repeat; that is what she thought. Emphasis on the word thought." He said, amused by my bewilderment.

"Okay. So explain." I said, and gestured for him to continue.

"That day of the incident. Your mother went out and left her husband Andrew, with their four-year old son, Will, in their house in Rome. When she came home, what she saw was the most horrifying thing. Will was sucking every last ounce of blood on his father's wrist. The boy's face was blank and impassive..." I cut him off.

"Shark-mode." I said and he nodded. I buried my face under my hands.

Oh my god, Will.

"Should I continue?" He asked me and I nodded. Wiping the tears in my eyes that I failed to lock inside. "She had no time to be shocked and whatnot. Victoria regained her composure, as fast as a cat that's standing on her feet after being thrown from a building. She immediately thought of a solution, she then shot her son with tranquilizer and cleaned him. She hid his clothes and erased all clues that would point out to Will as the killer, and replaced it with hers. Then she left. It was hard for her to leave her son like that, but she had no choice. Everything must look like she's the one at fault and guilty of the crime she didn't commit, for his son's sake. "

This time I cried my heart out. "Mom." I paused. "I'm so so so sorry." I looked at the tomb, and touched her name. "She didn't deserve all of that." I paused. "Her life... is a big tragedy."

Dan scooped me up. "There, there, kid." After my sobs died down, he released me and looked into my eyes. "Do you still want to hear the rest?"

"There's more?" I asked in between hiccups. He simply nodded to my question. I sighed. "Okay."

I don't know if my heart can take any more of this, but I had to hear it all.