"They need to pay the price."
Leah had never dared to think about it before. All she wanted was to leave this place and start a new life with John.
However, when the opportunity dangled right in front of her, it was like the chocolate cake from her childhood. It tempted her to take just one step closer.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
Nico'ss presence was like a wolf lurking in the shadows. "I'll give you the opportunity, but I won’t act personally."
In that instant, Leah understood that since Leon's father was Nico's older brother, he wanted her to step into the light and become the knife he wielded from the dark.
What she didn’t understand was since Nico already held a lot of power, why did he have to go that far?
However, she quickly understood. She and her sister were blood relatives, yet they had turned into enemies. Family ties meant nothing in the face of betrayal.
Just as their agreement settled in her mind, a knock sounded at the door.
Thinking it was the housekeeper bringing her meal, she opened the door, only to find Leon standing outside.
"What do you want?" she asked.
Leon noticed how her once lively eyes instantly turned cold at the sight of him. His chest tightened with frustration. "Come with me to Ella's birthday banquet," he ordered.
A birthday banquet?
Leah suddenly laughed.
Her sunny smile caught Leon off guard. It made him take his eyes off her.
"Leon, my sister and I were born on the same day."
His heart clenched. He hadn’t forgotten. When they first Leah always seemed gloomy on her birthday.
Later, when they got together, he finally learned the reason. Her parents had never celebrated her birthday and she had never gotten a single gift from her relatives.
Back then, he had pulled her into his arms and promised, "From now on, I'll celebrate every birthday with you. If they don't cherish you, I will."
But now, he had become just like her parents. He was thinking only of Ella on this day.
"I'm not going," Leah rejected him outright.
"You have to!" Leon’s voice was firm.
Ella strutted over in high heels in an arrogant manner. "Leah, the media has been making a big deal about your release from prison. If you don't show up at my birthday banquet, what will people think of our family?"
What did that have to do with her? It was true that was her family, but she had never been one of them.
Ella's sharp nails dug into Leon's arm before he finally said hesitantly, "Leah, don't make things difficult."
Leah suddenly let out a soft laugh. "You want me there so people can mock me? Leon, thanks to you, there’s not an inch of my body that isn’t scarred."
With that, she shrugged off her coat, revealing only a thin camisole underneath. Her body was riddled with old scars and fresh wounds.
Leon's breath hitched. He had never paid attention before so he hadn’t realized how badly she had been hurt. She had always been afraid of pain. How much must she have suffered?
Ella quickly stepped between them, her voice sharp. "How shameless can you be? Are you taking off your clothes in front of my husband to seduce him?"
Leah chuckled bitterly. "Sister, have you forgotten? He was my fiancé first."
Back then, their father, Jeff had wanted Ella to marry Nico. However, when Leon, Leah's classmate, proposed, their father reluctantly agreed to their engagement. Yet, their relationship never even made it to the wedding when something happened.
The brutal truth hung between them, but Ella refused to acknowledge it. "You were never officially engaged. What kind of fiancé was he?"
"So, you admit you stole your sister’s boyfriend?"
A cold voice sliced through the air like a blade. Nico's gaze was so sharp that it seemed it could see one heart and there was a tint of coldness in them.
Ella hadn't expected Nico to be home and the suppressing force of his aura made her too frightened to speak.
Leon, on the other hand, was clearly flustered. "Uncle, why are you back? Weren’t you staying at a hotel?"
