Chapter 208 - Group Hug

Emily shook her head to get rid of her thoughts. There was no point in regretting the past anymore. She could no longer do anything to save that girl or her companions.

Back then, she was a coward who only wanted to free herself from the torture and cared less about the others. Not like she could have anything to save the others even if she was brave and kind enough to think about others.

"During the ninth month, an incident happened there. A group of captives revolted and tried to take over the limited guards that were stationed there on that day. It was one of those few days when the Fifth Sire left the dungeons with most of his men for a few hours. So many people died that day. It was the first time I saw someone dying in front of me..." 

Once again the image of that girl appeared in her mind but she hurriedly shook it away before she continued.

"Somehow I ended up among those people who succeeded in escaping from that hell on that fateful day... all thanks to those who fought and lost their lives. I escaped..."

Emily finished. While it was clear that she kept a lot of things hidden in her heart but all of them were about the torture that she went through or the girl. 

"Did you ever feel like that Fifth Sire was aware of your hidden powers? Like he was particularly trying to find your inner self?" Shadow asked as he looked at her with worry.

Of course, he was the first one among everyone to pull himself together and think practically about the situation.

Emily immediately shook her head in denial as she replied, "I have already thought about this possibility. But as far as I can tell, he probably had no inkling about my true identity. He was just intrigued by my ability to resist completion and their mind-reading trials. They just seemed to be curious to know what kind of supernatural I was. At least, I never felt like he knew anything about my powers or..."

Emily watched as Shadow got lost deep in his thoughts. Her eyes wander around the room, looking at her brothers who looked nowhere near calm, and Rylan who was just as unsettled as the others.

She finally looked at Kaiden whose knuckles had turned white because of how hard he was clenching his palms.

She let one of her hands cover his left fist and she felt him letting out a deep sigh before he grasped her hand between both of his hands tightly. His eyes were closed and she could tell that he was trying to pull himself together.

"Guys... please don't be like this. I really hope that nothing is going to change between us after this revelation. Just like the time when I revealed about mother... this time I also don't wish you guys to treat me like a broken doll." Emily found herself saying while she looked at everyone.

The first one to react was Rylan who immediately jumped to run towards her before pulling in a tight hug as he said, "I know my best friend is strong and I also know that you can fight with this. Nothing is going to change between us. I promise. We will stay just like we were."

He turned to look at Leo who was giving him a grateful look. A small smile appeared on Rylan's face as he spoke in a confident voice, "Trust me, Em. None of your brothers are going to react differently after this. Maybe they will become a little bit nicer after this but they will keep treating you like their precious little sister and not as a broken doll. Right guys?" 

Emily also looked at her brothers to see what they were going to say and a beautiful and sincere smile appeared on her lips when she saw all of them nodding their heads in agreement.

"It's a promise. Nothing is going to change between us." Daniel said as he returned the smile. He was feeling proud to see exactly how strong his Sorellina was.

"Yes, Emy. We promise." Simon said as he too smiled at his sister.

Emily's eyes finally landed on the person who was too quiet for her liking. As soon as Domenic felt her eyes on him, he looked up at her with sadness filling his beautiful eyes.

But Emily knew, the sadness and guilt in his eyes were directed towards himself and not her. She felt her heart filling with pain as she watched her brother in such a state.

"Emilia, child come here," Domenic called her in a soft voice as he raised one of his arms out towards in her direction.

Every time he used to call her child, Emily literally started feeling like a child but she loved that feeling. It almost made her think that just like a father, her eldest brother was always ready to sacrifice everything just to keep her safe and happy.

She hurriedly stood up and went towards him, placing her hand in his palm which folded itself around her small and soft hand.

Domenic kept rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb for a while as he thought about something. It was not until his sister cupped his face with her other hand, did he came out of his thoughts and looked at her.

The next moment, Emily did something that surprised everyone but they were also happy to see such a warm moment between the pair of brother and sister.

Domenic closed his eyes as he felt the soft kiss landing on his forehead before his sister pulled his head to rest against her shoulder.

"Don't blame yourself, Nick. If not for you, I would have never found so much happiness and love in my life. You are the best just as you are. You don't have to change my past for that. All I want from you all is to never blame yourself and to always love me as much as I love you. Can you do that, brother?" 

She whispered in his ear and waited for his reply. It took a few moments before she found him nodding his head before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her together into the hug. 

And soon enough, the rest of the men joined them in a tight warm group hug.