bChapter /b84

Nyssa por

“Mydy, take this,” Serena said, handing me a ss of water as the gazed down at me with worry, her expression filled with concern. I look it and pulled the nket she’d givente tighter around myself.

After I had screamed earlier, Serena had rushed in. And despite her shock at the state of the room, the had listened to me, called for the police, and now the police were here, investigating the room where blood stained the floor

We were currently sitting in the living room of Kieran’s home, waiting.

“Thank you, Serena. Are you okay?” I asked, my expression nk as i tightened my grip on the ss.

“Y–you shouldn’t be worried about me right now, Miss,” she said. I nced up at her just in time to see her wipe a tear from her eye.

“You must have had such a fright… but don’t worry, mydy. I’m sure Sir Kieran will be found soon. He’ll be okay,” she added, trying tofort me

But the corner of my lips twitched as I looked away from her and back down at the water in my hand.

You don’t understand, Serena. I don’t want him to be okay, I want him dead. But I knew he wasn’t. bWhoever /bhad taken him and Aria wouldn’t have if he was already dead.

Honestly, I was confused and scared. i had so many unanswered questions, and none of them were getting answered. was left in the dark, and that frightened me more than I wanted to admit

I was starting to fealize just how much had changed since the past… and not knowing what the future held made my mind spiral, What if it all happened again? What if I still couldn’t bsave /banyone?

Lwas breally /bscared…

My grip tightened around the ss, and I bit my bottom lip, keeping my head down.

“Everything will be okay, mydy.” Serena said softly, cing her hand on my shoulder. And even though she didn’t know what I was thinking, her touch wasforting

“Thank you, Serena Imurmured with a hall–smile.

Just then, the entrance door burst open, and I looked up to see my father and Benjamin walking in. My father’s face was etched with worry as he entered. but the moment his eyesnded on mine, that worry vanished almost instantly,

“Nyssa!” he eximed, quickly striding over to me. I stood up, setting the ss on the table just bas /bhe reached me, stopping only to look at me for a brief

moment

For some reason, the moment I saw him, my chest ached, and my eyes begin to water as I stared at my father, the man who meant everything to me

He frowned when he saw my expression and, without hesitation, wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close.

The moment his familiar scent surrounded me, my body trembled, and the tightness of his embrace made me feel safe almost instantly.

“Oh, my dear,” he whispered, soothingly patting my back. Before I could stop myself, I hugged him harder, tears bspilling /bdown my cheeks as li bface /bagainst his shoulder.

1.my

“Don’t cry, sweetheart. I’m sure… he’s fine,” he murmured, clearly bthinking /bI was worried about Kieran. But the tears weren’t for Kiwar was crying because, after everything I’d donest night after getting blood on my hands, I still hadn’t achieved what I’d set out to do.

I was crying because I was terrified the past might repeat itself.

“it’s all my

y fault,” I sobbed, voice breaking as I clung to him “don’t know if I can do it, I don’t know it can

…save you all in this lifetime.

The words died on my tongue could feel Serena’s and Benjamin’s eyes om her rently pulled hack and wiped the tears from my chicks.

“What do you mean it’s your fault, Nyssa?” he asked softly. “None of this is on you. We don’t even know what’s happened to that boy yet, and whatever it is, it’s certainly not your doing, all right?”

I looked at him for a long moment before managing a fragile smile.

Before I could say anything, the voices of the policemen behind me rang out as they greeted my father in unison.

“Greetings to the Alphab,/b” they echoed, and everyone turned to face them at once.

I watched bas /bthey lifted their heads after the greeting, and my father stepped forward before speaking.

“What’s the situation inside? I heard there’s blood scattered ball /bbover /bthe ground. Was it Kieran’s?” he asked, though I knew he wasn’t really concerned, it was for my sake.

One of the men stepped forward band /bresponded,

“Answering the esteemed Alpha. Yes, our forensic team identified Sir bKieran’s /bblood bat /bthe scene, but it was only a small amount, likely from a cut made by the dagger we recovered.”

My father’s brow lifted slightly in confusion.

“So if it’s not Kieran’s blood covering the floor, whose is it?”

The man’s eyes flicked to me for a brief second before answering

“We informed Miss Nyssa earlier and, following her instruction, ran a testparing the blood to Miss Aria’s. bThe /bresults matched.”

A heavy silence fell over the room.

-The blood on the ground belongs to Miss Aria,” he continued, “and the fingerprints on the dagger, which had traces of Sir Kieran’s bloodb, /balso match Miss Aria’s

Serena gasped in horror, and I could feel everyone’s eyes slowly shift to me as the same realization dawned on them all at once.

It wasn’t hard to piece together what the officer had just said.

Aria had been in Kieran’s bhouse/bb, /band her blood was sttered everywhere. It was impossible for anyone to lose that much blood and still be alive. And the fact that the dagger had Aria’s fingerprints on it meant she had most Ekely used it to attack Kieran, though he barely seemed to have lost any blood. And now, both of them were gone, without a trace.

To anyone hearing this, it would seem like Kieran had been attacked, Aria had tried to defend herself, and in the end, Kieran had killed her and taken the body with him.

it was probably what everyone was thinking.

That

That was what I wanted them to think