"Are you sure that it was Rylan Sullivan and not someone else?"

Emily almost felt her heart freezing as her ears registered Daniel's question.

Fear of getting caught surfaced inside her and she felt her body losing its warmth as a chill descended over her.

"The information is totally verified. Rylan Sullivan was indeed seen in the Star Xander Mall at the same time when the incident happened."

The person who replied with a tone filled with confidence was unfamiliar to Emily as she could not seem to recognize his voice.

"This is not a piece of small news. If the Second Young Master Sullivan actually dared to set his foot inside the Star Xander Mall, then there's definitely something that we are not aware of. Assign a team immediately to search more about this."

This time, it was Domenic's sharp and powerful voice that made its way into her ears.

"I'll instantly allocate a team to gather more information about this."

The strange man replied and then the sound of footsteps leaving the living room could be heard.

"What's exactly going on? Was it really Rylan? No matter what but I just can't believe that he actually appeared at the mall. Moreover, the incident of Sorellina and his visit to the mall at the very same time is just too much to be a mere coincidence. Something is not right here, Dom."

Daniel's voice was filled with worry but it was nowhere near the level of worry that was eating up Emily from inside.

She was rooted to her hiding position behind the pillar and her forehead was covered in sweat as she tried to control her harsh breathing.

Somehow she knew that Rylan had nothing to do with the masked man but she had no idea about the reason that brought him to the mall.

Even though she trusted Rylan to not be the culprit behind the mall incident, it did not mean that her brothers would share the same thought with her.

Who knew what would happen if her brothers found out about Rylan and his interest in her just because she was the sister of the Alessandro brothers.

She was not ready to be caught, not yet!

She almost got a heart attack when a hand clamped over her mouth and stopped the shriek from making its way out through her lips.

Her already intense breathing and accelerated heartbeat only increased as she turned her face and found a very familiar face looking down at her with cold eyes.

The hand that was clamped over her mouth slipped away and she was finally free to shriek or scream as much as she wanted or as loud as she needed.

However, not a single sound came out of her mouth as she looked at the person who caught her red-handed as she was spying on her brothers.

No words got exchanged between the two of them before Emily found herself being dragged upstairs.

She made sure to not make any noise that would end up attracting Domenic's and Daniel's attention towards her and her companion.

It was not until she looked up to see where she was being dragged that her eyes landed on the familiar hallway where the magnificent library was located.

In the next few minutes, she was standing inside the first section of the library where sofas and bean bags were arranged neatly around a coffee table and plant pots were placed all around the room, increasing the comfy look of the section.

She did not dare to look at the man who was definitely staring right at her meek and cowering form.

"Can you explain why you were eavesdropping on Domenic and Daniel's conversation?" Mark's low but demanding voice made Emily shrunk even more as she kept staring at her bunny slippers.

She was shivering, not due to cold but because of the fear of the punishment that she soon would be receiving.

A part of her mind tried to reason with her that in the past few months that she spent with her brothers, none of them punished her harshly even when she broke many rules which simply meant that they would never hurt her.

However, the bigger part of her mind was surrounded by fear and could no longer concentrate on the fact that the person standing in front of her was her brother and not one of those monsters of her dark past.

"I'm asking you something!" Mark's voice came out sharper as he looked completely frustrated after seeing her reacting like he was about to kill her.

"I........I-I d-did not....mean t-to....listen to w-what....."

Emily could not help but stutter due to the fear that was making it impossible for her to reply.

However, the darkness that had started surrounding her mind suddenly retracted as Mark pulled her closer to him as he cupped both of her cheeks with his large hands to make her look into his dark green eyes.

Though she could not find any warmth or love in his eyes but there was also no trace of anger and hostility for her.

"I'm just asking you why were you eavesdropping just now. Take a deep breath and calm down before answering." Mark said as he looked directly into her eyes.

His voice wasn't exactly filled with warmth and tenderness, but it still succeeded in bringing Emily's mind out of the darkness of her past that was ready to pull her into the deep abyss.

It was not until she was almost back to her calm self that she opened her mouth to answer his question.

"I....I-I went downstairs to get a water bottle but...b-but heard t-them talking with someone. I f-first stopped because I did not want to disturb but then I-I heard them talking about today's incident at the m-mall."

She didn't say anything more. Her eyes, filled with sincerity, that were staring into the very similar eyes of her brother till now immediately dropped to her sneakers once again.

Her performance was so good that Mark immediately believed her. Moreover, there was barely any lie in her answer.

Who knew that she was about to present a brilliant performance for the next half an hour just to get away from the deadly clutches of her brothers?