**Disclaimer: Some violence/gore and emotionally disturbing/triggering content in this chapter.**

Austin was in a foul mood while he chased down the woman decked in black.

She had been obviously worn out and he would have caught her if not for the interference. The father-daughter pair gave her a chance to run off and delayed him by repeatedly falling over themselves when trying to get off him in a haste. He ended up grabbing the back of their collars and throwing them off of him before giving chase. When they still wanted to follow him, saying that they will help, Austin sent a sharp glare at the men under him and they immediately stepped in to restrain the father and daughter pair.

When the mystery woman disappeared after entering the rundown house, his guts told him that the truth was likely as he guessed. Prove me wrong. Please, let me be wrong.

He immediately started searching the house for any hidden mechanisms or trapdoors that led to some hidden compartment or location. He flipped over anything and everything that could be moved, searched and probed every nook and cranny, and opened and took apart anything that could be taken apart. He first began with the main living area before moving on to the only bedroom in the small house.

Just as he bent down to flip the mattresses over, he heard familiar thuds of daggers being embedded into walls. He looked at the direction where they were thrown from and saw the woman decked in black running away into the forest.

When did she get there? Did I miss something? He thought to himself while breaking off into a run to catch the woman.

As he got closer to her, he partially drew his sword, ready to cut her down and prevent her from running anymore. However, the closer he got the her, the more the situation felt odd. Is she... Smaller?

He had attributed the drop in speed to fatigue and blood loss.

Suddenly, he recalled how Eva had went missing. With his heart in his throat, he properly sheathed his sword back in its scabbard before pulling the woman by the elbow to face him.

The bright sun clearly illuminated the golden flecks in her grey eyes. He could tell her trepidation from the look in her eyes. However, all he felt was the wringing of his heart and none of the comfort he used to feel.

He slowly raised his free hand, grabbed onto her mask, then pulled it down in a rough and fast motion. He let go off her elbow and staggered a few steps back. Tears welled up in his eyes, he clenched his jaw hard, and his face slowly scrunched up.

Eva stood there silently with a guilty and sad expression.

Not a word was spoken for a long time. Although Austin was beginning to suspect something like this somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he still found reality hard to digest.

Suddenly, he broke the strained silence with a strained whisper. "Do you really expect me to fall for this?"

She looked up at him with pleading eyes. She knew that he would not have fallen for such a poor gimmick.

He met her gaze with a pained one. He knew what she wanted. He could see her unspoken plea to let her family go. "I'm sorry."

Eva hung her head low.

"Follow me back or I'll have to force you to." He said in subdued tone with his back towards her.

When he heard the footsteps approaching him, he started to walk as well.

The entire walk back to Esmeralda's estate was quiet, heavy, and depressing.

When they finally reached back, the fire was already put out. Eva's family pretended to be full of shock when they saw Eva.

"Eva! There you are!" Her mother who was now covered in bad burns cried out. There was no sign of the injuries she should have gotten from her fight with Austin.

"What's with your get up?" Briana asked.

"Eva? You were the one trying to kill Esmeralda?" Her father threw more accusations onto Eva.

"What're the both of you saying?" Her mother continued the act. "What happened?"

"Eva was the one who knocked Esmeralda unconscious and set the place on fire! I didn't expect that she would go to this extent!" Briana explained to her mother then turned back to look at Eva. "And a direct assassination attempt immediately after? Jealousy has its limits Eva!"

Before anyone else can say another word, Austin shouted, "Enough! Hold them down!"

The men immediately moved according to his orders.

"What? Why?! What for?!" Briana cried out.

"Who're you to do this to us?!" Her mother challenged.

"Why're you doing this to us?! Just because we're her family doesn't mean we were in it!" Her father argued.

Dylan, who arrived at the scene quite a while before Austin and Eva did, was now with Esmeralda silently watching the scene unfold. He had came alone because he was concerned about seeing thick smoke rising from where Esmeralda's estate was at. Being a doting brother, he made Saddie wait for news back at home while he rushed out with Humphrey and some servants in tow.

Esmeralda knew that she was indeed pushed by Eva but she remained silent because she was still having trouble with digesting everything that was happening at once.

While Eva's family kept demanding for an explanation, Eva chanted to herself in her head. This is normal. This is to be expected. They're only acting like that because I'm supposed to take the rap for them. It's my role in the family. I have to fulfill my role or I'll disappoint them.

BaoBao could not understand Eva at the moment so did not know what to say.

Austin finally bit out in a threatening tone. "This is your last chance to confess all your sins."

"What sins?!"

"For bringing up such a daughter?!"

"We're sorry that we birthed such a useless daughter who only knows how to pine for something that isn't hers!"

"We're sorry that we failed to bring her up well and to know her place!"

"I'm sorry for not catching on fast enough despite being by her side almost all the time!" Briana chimed in.

Eva clenched her fist and her jaw and shut her eyes. Her entire body turned stiff as she tolerated the insults. It's just acting. It's must be acting.

"Eva! Aren't you sorry yet?"

"Why aren't you doing anything?"

"Are you still not repenting yet?"

Eva's body jerked at that reminder. Her feet moved on its own. While she walked towards her family, BaoBao could not take it anymore so he desperately cried out. This isn't normal, Eva!! Wake up, please!! Would your family back in your world do this to you?!

Immediately, he triggered her memories of all the times her siblings and parents stood in front of her or with her, whether it was to suffer a punishment together, or to drive an enemy away. The clear look of regret and despair on her sibling's faces and the heartbroken state her parents were in when she died from sacrificing herself lingered in her mind.

She froze in her steps just as Austin felt the impulse to stop her from taking another step towards her family. His hand was already half raised. he stopped when he noticed a faraway look on her face before tears welled up in her eyes and trickled down her face.

"Eva! Do you want to be the death of our parents?! Why're standing there and looking sad like you're the victim?!"

"We've really raised you wrong..." Her mother started crying.

"We shouldn't have pampered you so much... You don't care about anyone but yourself now..."

Eva slowly raised her trembling hands to cover her ears.

Austin could no longer take the verbal abuse they were hurling out at Eva and tore off his mask to reveal who he was.

"So are you going to pin my parents' death on her as well?!"

After a shocked momentary silence, Eva's father explained hastily. "I- I don't know how to break this to you but- But- Eva told me, that your father- He- Did inappropriate things to her as a young girl."

Her mother caught on and continued the story in tears. "Everything we did, we did for our daughter. We realise our mistake in spoiling her now. We're very sorry..."

"Eva... Please... Are you going to do nothing and drive our parents to their deaths...?" Briana cried.

Austin finally exploded in rage. "Do you really expect me to believe your disgusting act?! You may be good at hiding your tracks! At coming up with covers! But you lack foresight! At least half of the people here are the family members of the victims you ignorantly left alive thinking that we were weak and insignificant. Eva's too weak and small to be considered your double. You didn't raise her like a daughter, did you? All of you brought this upon yourselves, no one else!"

"You- You don't have any evidence!"

"Strip them!" Austin ordered.

His men that were holding onto them did as he said.

"Are the scars not enough? Don't worry, I'll soon have plenty more evidence once I uncover your hideout."

Briana stared at Eva in hatred. "Father and mother raised you for one purpose and you can't even-"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of several gunshots silenced everyone momentarily.

Briana's limp body toppled to the ground when the two men who had been holding on to her let go. Where her mouth once was, there was only a bloody mess left in its place.

Anyone who was not used to such a sight screamed in horror. Esmeralda shut her eyes as tears streamed down her face. Dylan hugged her head tightly to his chest as he continued to watch on. It took a while before Eva's and Briana's parents reacted.

"Briana!!!" Her father screamed and her mother shrieked. They fought hard against being held down, wanting to get to Briana's body.

They way they acted broke Eva's heart. They gladly sacrificed me because... Because that was what they kept me alive for...

She thought back to all the time she spent with her family. Those seemingly loving faces and gestures now felt so scary and foreign to her. Every single time they did and said something nice to me, every single time they smiled at me, who were they seeing? No, what were they seeing? Did they even see me as a person?

It suddenly made sense to her why they did not bother to put in much effort into training her. Why they did not want her to do anything. Why they did not see the value in improving their communication with her. They were simply feeding and growing an extra life for themselves.

While her mind reeled, her head started to hurt very badly and she felt increasingly sick. She started to feel a shortness of breath. All of a sudden, she felt a wave of nausea and she fell to her knees and lurched. However, nothing came out.

"It's all because of you!" Her mother suddenly shrieked, making Eva jump. "I should have-" Austin punched her mother across the face hard enough to knock a few teeth out.

Her mother was left barely conscious from the punch, but she persistently tried to continue the verbal abuse. "Usele-"

Austin threw another hard punch that knocked the daylights out of her.

Although her father showed more restraint than her mother did, his gaze full of hatred would have conveyed everything anyone needed to know about his thoughts. Fortunately, Eva was hanging her head low and BaoBao was clever enough to not bother reporting something like that to her. He was already in tears seeing the state that Eva was in.

Nonetheless, Austin kicked her father in the face, not liking the look in his eyes. He then took his frustration out on him and beat her father up until he was black and blue all over.

He hated how he was led by the nose and taken for a ride for so many years by someone like them. They were pathetic. So pathetic. But it had taken him so long to find them. He felt rage, frustration, and shame.

His fist suddenly came to a stop just before her father's face. His face was now so bloody and swollen that he almost could not be recognised.

Seeing that Eva's father was barely breathing, Austin stepped back. He did not want to give them an easy death.

"I'll be taking them." Austin said without looking at anyone in particular. Esmeralda knew that it was directed at her and did not voice any disagreement. Austin took her silence as consent and walked away from the father.

Just before someone else grabbed onto Eva, Austin grabbed onto her arm. "I'll be the one to deal with her. You help the others dispose of the trash or lug the other two back with me."

Everyone followed Austin's orders to a T. They cleaned the place well such that there were no traces of them having been there and secured Eva's parents well.

Just before Austin left, he asked Esmeralda for one more request. "Don't touch their house either. I'll deal with it."

Dylan looked up at Austin and found the sight far more intimidating than he would like to admit. This was their first time witnessing this cruel and angry side of Austin. The setting sun that dyed the entire sky and surroundings red and orange only served to highlight his bloodlust.

Dylan stiffly nodded in Esmeralda's stead.

Just like that, Austin quietly left the scene with Eva's family and everyone that came along with him.

Just as everyone thought that things have finally settled down, Esmeralda passed out in Dylan's arms.

"Esmeralda!"

"Lady Esmeralda!"

"Little Miss!"

Several people cried out at once.