Sant pressed his finger to Vero’s lips and then placed his other finger on his lips. “Shh,” he whispered. “Follow me.”Vero didn’t understand why Sant wanted her to follow him, but she could only nod and submit as Sant dragged her into a nearby room, which turned out to be a storage room for cleaning supplies.They squeezed into the small space, and Vero almost toppled a pile of brooms in the corner when her foot accidentally bumped into them. Fortunately, Sant quickly caught them and carefully returned the brooms to their place.They stood facing the door, with her back leaning against his chest, and she could faintly feel his steady heartbeat. Vero didn’t dare speak or ask questions. She felt the tension in Sant’s grip on her hand and his other hand still covering her mouth, as if he was afraid she would scream.After a short while, Vero saw black shadows passing through the gap under the door. There was no sound, only darkness that temporarily obscured the light in the cramped room
Moonlight beams penetrated through the gap between the curtains. Vero tried to close her eyes repeatedly, but her mind couldn’t shut down for a moment to fall asleep. It was still vividly imprinted in her memory how serious and worried Lev and Sant’s faces were.What actually happened? Why did Lev bring up the topic of blood tests? Did her blood hide a dangerous secret for both vampires and herself? And there was another thing that bothered her. Who was Castellar? Why were his servants looking for her?Vero shifted from one side to another. Her eyes were open, and her gaze fell on the veranda door. Suddenly, the air in the room felt so hot and stuffy. Though she had never felt swelter since arriving in Duradel.She pulled back the blanket that covered her legs, then hugged a pillow, trying to find comfort. But her anxiety continued to haunt her tonight.After a futile struggle for several hours, she finally succumbed to her mind full of questions. She sat on the edge of the bed, stari
Vero felt uncomfortable when she has to talk about who she was. She has never told anyone about her past trauma, her life before being adopted by the Windward couple.It is a chapter of her life that she wanted to bury deep and forget. She turned and walked toward the collapsed wall. Her hand touched the wall while her eyes explore the peaceful night view.She heard Lev’s footsteps approaching her. He stopped right behind her and whispered, “I won’t judge.”His voice sounds as gentle as the wind in her ear and sent a shiver throughout her body. Vero closed her eyes for a moment, swallowed, and took a deep breath. “I am... an adopted child.”Lev said nothing, so Vero continued her story.*The children at The Holy Mary orphanage always said that Verona was the nuns’ favorite child. But she never felt like it. The nuns who took care of them were indeed good people, and not just toward her.Although that was the reality, those children always used that as a reason to bully her, and Veron
Lev took her home that night after they saw the motorcade heading towards Noblebranch. Besides saying that his sibling was in one of the cars, Lev didn’t say anything else. Even when they arrived at Vero’s room balcony and Vero bid him goodnight, Lev only nodded and brushed his finger against the back of her hand before leaving.Once again, their conversation had failed. None of Vero’s questions were answered, but at least she got a little clue. Lev wanted to know who she really was, and her origin. And given that she was a discarded child, it might have something to do with her biological family.With that thought, Vero fell asleep.It was six in the morning when someone knocked on her door, calling her name.“Verona Windward!”Vero groaned and pushed aside the pillow covering her head. Rubbing her eyes, she got up from bed and walked towards the door. When she opened it, Ms. Caroline’s angry face greeted her.“Ms. Windward,” called Ms. Caroline in an icy voice. “Are you planning to
“You can go,” said the health worker.Vero half-jumped from her seat and exited right as the hunched man opened the curtains of her booth from the other side. She hurried to the back of the booth to find the door that Jia had mentioned. As her hand touched the door handle, she couldn’t resist the temptation to look back. For a moment, she caught a glimpse of the hunched man’s figure, and before either Vero or he could clearly see each other, she opened the door and ran out of the hall.*Henry swept his fingertips over the oak wood desk. The wood was hundreds of years old, but not as old as him. As he raised his hand and looked at his clean fingertips, Raphael walked in with a trolley.“The servants clean your workspace every day, Mr. Deammone,” said Raphael. He pushed the trolley to the coffee table near the long window and began arranging teacups and snacks.“Good,” said Henry with a smirk. He walked up to Raphael and observed his movements. Raphael seemed nervous, and Henry was ple
Henry suspects something.Lev has to be careful in answering his questions because he could twist anything Lev says. “They stick to me all the time.” Lev stretched his hand and placed it on the table, then tapped his fingers there. For a moment, he looked at the surface of the table, covered with a white tablecloth, and thought about how conspicuous it would be if a drop of blood fell there. Then he glanced at Henry. “I have a lot of fans.”For a few seconds, Henry was silent. Then he laughed. A loud, infectious laugh filled the entire room.“You realize how disgusting your statement sounded, don’t you?” scoffed Henry, with a residue of laughter coating his words. “Are they that obsessed with you?”“I’m sure if I told them I was a vampire, they would willingly give me their blood.”Henry laughed again. This time not as hard as the first, but his sparkling eyes showed that the laughter was genuine.“You should try it sometimes,” Henry suggested after his laughter subsided.“No, thank y
A piece of paper that Elijah gave was neatly tucked in Vero’s pants pocket, and it felt like she was carrying a pistol. Vero tried to act normal amidst the big question mark that now haunted her mind.Elijah didn’t say anything else after handing over the paper. He bid farewell and advised Vero to take care of herself. When Vero pushed him to open up about the whereabouts of her parents, he simply said, “They’re fine.”With a heavy heart, Vero walked back to her room to grab her bag. At this moment, she needed a distraction, and attending lectures seemed like an escape for her burdened mind.“Verona!” someone exclaimed while patting her shoulder. Vero jumped and screamed, then turned around to find Jia staring wide-eyed at her. Her face showed a mix of surprise and curiosity. “Why did you scream?”For a moment, Vero was frozen. She stared at Jia as if it were the first time she had seen the girl. Then she blinked, and the daze that had momentarily overwhelmed her vanished. “Nothing,”
The receptionist girl directed Vero to a small restaurant on the second floor of the motel. She climbed a wooden staircase that creaked under her weight. When Vero arrived there, there was no one else except a waiter and a visitor sitting in the dark corner of the restaurant.A woman dressed in all black was sitting there. She seemed to blend in with the shadows, and her face was hidden behind a wide-brimmed hat of deep black color. She must be Etana.Without wasting a second, Vero walked towards the table in the corner. “Etana?” Vero stopped next to the table and called out the woman’s name.As the woman looked up, Vero was immediately captivated by her face. It was the first time she had seen a woman so beautiful and graceful. Despite being in darkness, the shades couldn’t hide her charm. She was exactly like a queen.Her lips were adorned with bright red lipstick, which stood out against her fair and flawless complexion. Her bright blue eyes stared at Vero without any expression.“