Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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Aldus told me that his sister is a jokester and eccentric, but I didn't think much about it. After all, it seems that eccentric runs in the family, and how bad can the joking part be? Well, it depends on the type of humor.

Calista was a beautiful blonde with a perky nose and a set of red eyes she didn't care to conceal.

She came in strongly, scrutinizing my human origin, and then telling me that if I call her Aunt, she will hit me. What's with those extreme mood swings?

And then she laughed while giving me a tight hug that squeezed the air out of my lungs.

It will take me some time to figure out Calista. It seems that eccentric is a mild description of her personality, but at least she doesn't seem to be hostile.

Aldus assured me that Calista will not hurt me, but I'm not concerned about getting hurt. I wish that she likes me. Am I being greedy? I already have an amazing father, is it too much to ask that the rest of my new family accepts me?

I was shocked to see Aldus after he changed his appearance.

Aldus told me that he is maintaining a mature appearance because no one in the business world would take a youngster seriously and I knew that he would probably look my age, but now that I'm seeing him, it's… unexpected.

Aldus looked at me with his red eyes and smiled a little. "Surprised?"

I was not sure how to respond to this. "It's different."

"Why don't you tell me how the two of you ended up in a father-daughter relationship?", Calista asked while her eyes moved from Aldus to me.

"Serina grew up among humans, believing that she is one of them.", Aldus responded. "I met her in Venice and offered her to come with me. Don't overthink it."

"It's not like you to house lost creatures, my dear brother.", Calista said with a smirk. "And this is more than just giving her a home. You gave her a name and our crest. What if she betrays your trust?"

Panic swelled inside of me, and I couldn't keep quiet. "I will not betray my father. I owe him my life."

"You owe him more than just life. This lifestyle…", Calista glanced up at the crystal chandelier that reflected the splendor of the villa. "I also read in the flight news that my brother introduced you as his heiress…"

"That's enough!", Aldus cut off Calista sharply. "Serina didn't ask for any of this. Everything I offered her was mine to give and if you have a problem with that, you should talk to me."

Calista lifted her hands defensively. "Can you blame a girl for watching over her brother?"

"Since when I need you to watch over me?", Aldus asked Calista icily.

She was right. I only appeared in Aldus's life recently and he gave me so much while getting nothing in return. I didn't ask for it, but I didn't refuse it either. It's not unexpected that people would see me as a gold digger who is taking advantage of Aldus.

I didn't want them to fight. Not because of me.

It hit me hard that Calista didn't like me. I guess things went smoothly so far, and I was caught unprepared for Calista to see me as an opportunist who is mooching off her bother. To make things worse, there was nothing I could say to prove her otherwise.

My chest tightened as tears started pooling at the edges of my eyes. Am I going to cry? That would be disturbing and it will make me look as I'm begging for pity.

I stood up with my head lowered, not daring to meet anyone's gaze.

"Excuse me…", I walked out of the dining room, and three steps later, I broke into a run without giving them a chance to stop me. I was too fast for that.

I ran outside of the villa, across the vineyard, and into the grove… stopping when I reached the clearing where I spent a few hours with Alex.

I sat on the soft grass and closed my eyes while wondering what am I doing with my life. This is my second chance, and I should make the most of it.

Yes, I became immortal recently, but I am not a child to expect handouts and others to solve my problems, yet here I am… depending on Aldus in every way possible.

He even took me to his company and introduced me as his daughter, announcing that we are working together and because of that the whole evening people fawned over me, while some females brimmed with jealousy.

What a joke.

I am not Aldus's daughter, and I am not his equal and if I thought about it for a second, I would see how ridiculous was the illusion that I can share his limelight.

Aldus is letting me stay here and he even hired all the tutors and is teaching me stuff, getting me fancy clothes and staff to serve me… why didn't I say how that was more than enough? Why did I go with him to London?

My eyes fluttered open and my gaze fell on the inside of my left wrist and the circular mark with the letter M, a crown, and a crescent moon. With this, I can enter any of Aldus's numerous properties, but none of those is mine.

I wished that I could remove the damned bracelet and give it back to Aldus. It's more than enough that he is letting me stay here, why do I need to get into any other place?

I want to travel? With what money?

I started scratching the mark, wishing to scrape it away. Why did it get inside my body?

The bleeding was minimal, and no matter how much I dug my fingers into my flesh, it healed back perfectly… all with a circle and a letter M, a crown, and a crescent moon. Crap! This thing is not coming off!

"Serina?", Calista's voice startled me, and I quickly clasped my bloodied wrist with my right hand. She could probably smell blood, but I didn't want her to see me like this.

"I'm sorry…", Calista said and sat on the grass next to me. "I spend most of my time surrounded by servants and people who are below me and I don't need to think about my manners. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

I knew that she was here because of Aldus. He probably demanded that she apologizes.

This was another example of how others treat me with respect only because of him.

Without Aldus's shadow over me, Lazarus would kidnap me and do who knows what, at the party last night they would shun me, Krob would suck my soul out, and even before all that, I would be dead. My sad and uneventful life would end with one spiked drink, being choked to death in an alley.

Without Aldus, I am nothing. Pathetic.

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