Kate's POV:

We were back home from the trip we had spent a month on, but everything felt different. The days blurred together, and my thoughts were a chaotic mess. Ever since returning, strange cravings had taken over. I couldn't even eat properly around the guys anymore. School wasn't an option either—my body felt like it was betraying me.

I'd spent most of the week with Rose. She had been nothing but supportive, sensing my odd behavior and trying to help in her own subtle way. I appreciated her kindness, but I hadn't found the courage to confide in her about what was happening to me. My emotions were all over the place, and deep down, I suspected something that scared me.

Pregnant. The thought lingered in my mind like an uninvited guest. I'd tried to convince myself there were other explanations—stress, poor diet, anything else. But the signs were piling up, and avoiding the truth was becoming impossible. Still, I couldn't face it, not yet.

Lucio had been absent lately. Whether he was busy with work or just ignoring me, I wasn't sure. Questions piled up in my mind, but answers were nowhere in sight.

The house was quiet as I wandered the halls aimlessly. That's when I noticed the door to the forbidden room slightly ajar. Curiosity tugged at me, and I found myself walking in. Lucio was on the floor, his shoulders shaking. Was he crying?

The sight of him broke something inside me. This strong, intimidating man was vulnerable, raw. The walls of the room were covered with scrawled messages, fragments of thoughts that felt like they were screaming out for help. Among them, a picture of a girl caught my eye. She looked around my age, her brown eyes hauntingly familiar.

"Get out!" His voice thundered through the room, but I didn't flinch. Instead, I knelt beside him and pulled him into a hug. For a moment, he resisted, but then he melted into my embrace, his tears soaking into my shoulder.

"She was my everything," he whispered, his voice cracking. "And now she's gone."

The pain in his words was palpable, and my heart ached for him. "Who was she?" I asked softly, afraid to disturb the fragile moment.

"My sister," he said, looking at the picture on the wall. "She was nineteen when he took her. She sent letters—those writings on the wall—but then they stopped. He said she was useless and... killed her."

My stomach churned at the raw grief in his voice. "Who?" I asked hesitantly. "Who did this?"

"Car—" he began, but before he could finish, Michen burst into the room.

"Sir, we've found him."

Lucio shot up like a bullet, storming out of the room without another word. I was left alone, staring at the messages on the wall. My eyes locked onto one phrase that stood out:

"He's our cousin."

The weight of those words sank in. This was bigger than I had imagined, and the truth felt like it was suffocating me.

I followed the commotion downstairs, but when I saw the scene in front of me, my knees buckled. A man lay in a pool of blood, his lifeless eyes staring into nothingness. My vision blurred, my breathing quickened, and my mind screamed at me to run.

Lucio's voice called my name, but I couldn't face him. My feet carried me back upstairs as tears streamed down my face. The image of the dead man burned into my memory, a gruesome reminder of the world I was entangled in.

I collapsed onto my bedroom floor, sobbing uncontrollably. My chest ached, my head pounded, and all I could think about was escape. How did my life come to this? How did I end up here, surrounded by violence and death?

I decided to take a bath to calm myself down. Fully clothed, I sat in the tub, letting the hot water scald my skin. The pain was grounding, a welcome distraction from the chaos in my mind. Steam filled the bathroom, and my vision began to blur. My body felt heavy, and I called out weakly, "Lucio..."

The door burst open, and I felt myself being lifted into strong arms. His voice was urgent yet soothing. "I'm here, love. Shh, I've got you." Those words were the last thing I heard before the darkness consumed me.

When I woke, the headache had returned, but I was in bed, safe. Tears welled in my eyes as the memories of the day flooded back. I had to leave. I couldn't stay here anymore, not after everything I'd seen.

Michen came into the room, his face a mixture of frustration and sadness. "You're leaving, aren't you?" he asked, his voice heavy with resignation. "Look, we all love you, but if that's what you need, we won't stop you. He's been trying to figure out how to let you go... for your own good. You've changed him, Kate. You've made him live again."

His words stayed with me long after he left. Had I really made a difference? Could I justify staying after everything I'd witnessed?

The hallway outside Lucio's office was dimly lit, the shadows stretching across the walls as if echoing the weight in my chest. I stood there, hand hovering over the doorknob, my heartbeat loud in my ears. Something in the air felt off—a tension I couldn't place but knew I shouldn't ignore.

I knocked softly, my knuckles barely brushing the wood. No answer.

"Go in," Steven's voice came from further down the hall. I turned my head to see him leaning casually against the wall, his face unreadable. "He's in there. He won't bite."

I nodded, swallowing hard. I wasn't so sure about that. Turning back to the door, I pushed it open hesitantly. The room was dim, lit only by the soft glow of a desk lamp. Lucio sat in his chair, his back to me, facing the window. Another man stood near him, speaking low, but the words that spilled from his mouth hit me like a freight train.

"She was just a good fuck."

The blood drained from my face. My breath hitched audibly, and the world seemed to tilt on its axis. I froze in the doorway, my body going numb as the words repeated in my head. Good fuck. Was that all I was to him?

Lucio's head turned sharply at the sound of the door creaking open further, his green eyes meeting mine. For a split second, there was something in his expression—shock, maybe guilt—but he quickly masked it, his face hardening into a cold, detached stare.

I stepped into the room, my legs trembling but refusing to buckle. My voice was steadier than I thought it would be, though the pain in my chest made every word feel like a razor slicing through me. "I'm leaving tomorrow. I won't be your 'good fuck' anymore."

Lucio stood abruptly, his chair scraping against the floor. "Kate, wait—"

But I didn't give him the chance to finish. I turned on my heel and walked out of the room, my movements mechanical. My vision blurred as I made my way back to my bedroom. The weight in my chest grew heavier with each step, but no tears came. I was too drained, too hurt.

A loud knock on my bedroom door startled me from my daze. I ignored it, but the door slammed open, and Lucio stormed in. His face was a mix of anger and frustration, his jaw tight and his green eyes blazing.

"You're leaving? Just like that?" He demanded, his voice sharp and demanding.

I stood from the edge of the bed, meeting his furious gaze. My own anger bubbled to the surface, mixing with the hurt I had tried to suppress. "What else am I supposed to do, Lucio? Stay here and be used? Stay here and let you talk about me like I'm nothing?"

"That's not what you heard—"

I cut him off, my voice rising as the tears threatened to spill. "I heard enough! 'She was just a good fuck.' That's what I mean to you? After everything, that's all I am?"

Lucio's fists clenched at his sides, his body taut with tension. "You don't understand—"

"Then make me understand!" I shouted, taking a step closer to him. "Make me understand how you can look me in the eyes one moment and then say something like that behind my back. Do you have any idea how that feels?"

He stepped closer, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. "You don't know the context of that conversation, Kate. You're jumping to conclusions."

I laughed bitterly, the sound foreign even to my own ears. "What context makes that okay, Lucio? Enlighten me."

His lips pressed into a thin line, and he exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair. "I was trying to protect you, damn it. This life isn't for you, Kate. You don't belong in it."

"Don't you dare tell me where I do or don't belong!" I snapped, my voice cracking. "You don't get to make that choice for me. And if you were trying to protect me, you failed. You've done nothing but hurt me."

Lucio's jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened. "I hurt you to keep you safe."

"Safe? Safe from what?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Because it feels like the only thing I need protecting from is you."

The words hung heavy in the air, the silence deafening. Lucio's face softened for a moment, and something unspoken passed between us. But just as quickly, his defenses went back up.

"You think you can handle this world, Kate?" he said coldly. "You think you can stomach what I do, what I've done? Because if you can't, then maybe you're right. Maybe you don't belong here."

The finality in his tone was like a punch to the gut. I took a step back, my hands trembling at my sides. "I thought... I thought you cared about me."

"I do," he said, his voice low but firm. "But I can't change who I am. This is me, Kate. Take it or leave it."

The tears I had held back finally spilled over, hot and blinding. I shook my head, unable to form words. As I lay in bed that night, the emptiness consumed me. My tears had dried up, but my heart still ached. Tomorrow, I would leave. Tomorrow, I would start over.