Chapter 2

The hospital room quickly settled back into its warm atmosphere, as if I had never existed.

Elena sat on the edge of the bed, taking small sips of the antihistamine Julian fed her, her face radiating contentment. She spoke softly:

"A classmate told me last week that the Caribbean has the most beautiful sunshine and beaches in the world."

"When I grow up, I want to go see it. I want to walk on the beach in the prettiest white dress."

Julian ruffled her hair affectionately. "Why wait until you're grown up? It's no big deal-we'll take you this year."

I stood outside the door, blood still dripping from my palm, but my heart felt like it had been packed with ice. I'd begged my brothers countless times to take me to the Caribbean, and they always refused with a frown, saying vampires naturally despised sunlight-it was torture for their skin.

Yet now, just because Elena mentioned it, they agreed without a second thought.

Silas even chuckled. "The timing works out. Julian and I both have time off at the end of the year. We'll be with you the whole trip."

They discussed travel plans as if I didn't exist, booking a private jet in under thirty minutes. Elena squealed and leaped into her brothers' arms.

After a moment, as if suddenly remembering I was still standing in the doorway, she tilted her head and asked me, "Do you want to come too?"

This was probably the best moment to tell Silas and Julian I was leaving.

"I'm not going. In a few days, I need to report to the Progenitor Council's isolation research center-"

Julian cut me off impatiently. "We don't care about your boring academic stuff. You don't need to explain yourself to us."

The words "I'm leaving for a hundred years" lodged in my throat. I forced them back down.

Julian seemed to remember something, his eyes turning cold again.

"Elena's being discharged tomorrow."

"Because of your 'mistake,' she got hurt, and it's inconvenient to care for her elsewhere."

"I'm going to have the housekeeper prepare the guest room-"

Before he could finish, I spoke quietly. "Let her have my master bedroom."

Julian stopped mid-sentence. He stared at me like I'd grown a second head, eyes full of disbelief. "What did you say?"

Silas frowned too. Clearly he thought I was playing some kind of reverse psychology game, and his tone grew even more hostile.

"Cut the passive-aggressive act."

"I know you're petty, but once Elena's healed, she'll move back to her own room."

I looked at them steadily. "Let her move in."

"She's a fragile human. She needs the best environment. In your castle, my room is the only one that gets sunlight."

"Besides, I won't be staying here much longer anyway?"

Bang!

Julian slammed his coffee cup down on the table. The sudden crash cut me off. His face was terrifyingly dark-he probably thought I was performing some pathetic guilt trip.

He didn't acknowledge me again. He turned, lifted Elena onto the bed, and pulled out a storybook to read at her side.

Just like countless times over the past six months, I was once again the unwanted, awkward outsider in this family.

I picked up my bag, my voice rough. "I'm leaving."

No one responded.

I suddenly remembered many years ago, when our parents died in that deliberate explosion. In the raging inferno, Silas and Julian had thrown themselves over me. The blast wave scorched their backs, and the shrapnel nearly tore them apart, but they never let go-not even as they died.

They were saved only because a passing Vampire King turned them in that moment of death.

Back then, Julian had held me as I trembled, his eyes blood-red, his voice impossibly gentle:

"Don't be afraid, little princess. You still have your brothers."

"As long as we're here, you'll always be our most precious treasure."

Liars. My nose stung so badly I nearly burst into tears.

That evening, I rushed back to the academy and went straight to the lab to finalize my data. I had seven days left. Seven days, and then I would undergo the Vampire King's transformation and leave for good.

I worked through the night. The next morning, after a short nap, I returned home to clear out the master bedroom. The family's old servant muttered indignantly as she helped me move my belongings to the guest room:

"What kind of family makes the heir give up her room for an outsider?"

I packed my books and a few simple clothes into a box and answered calmly, "It's fine. I won't be here much longer anyway."

Just then, an ice-cold voice came from behind me:

"Where exactly are you planning to go?"