Nina was annoyed by her slow recovery. The pain had almost left her body for good. But she still had moments where she couldn't hold back the urge to cry in pain. Especially when the doctors checked her internal wounds. From the outside, she was completely healed. Not a single scar was visible on her body, but her internal wounds were still vulnerable. Despite that, she could now stand without any support and even walk, though it was only for a short time. 

For a warrior like her, being bedridden was nothing less than a slap on the face. But when she thought about the life thriving inside her, she relented and took Alice's advice to rest. Yesterday, Arnold had informed both her and Nicole about his decision to leave for China after Nina had recovered enough to take care of herself. 

The news was a shock to both of them. Nicole wanted Arnold to forget about what their uncle and his family did to them. But Arnold had already made up his mind, no matter how much Nicole persuaded him to forget. At last, Nicole only told him to be careful out there and left as she was scheduled to clear a dungeon. 

After she left, Nina asked Arnold why he was dead set on leaving the family. No one had informed Nina about the annihilation of Andrex's family yet, because of her condition. She only knew that Andrex was responsible for attacking her and Arnold took care of him, that's it. No details regarding the destruction of the body count were given to her.

At first, Arnold tried to dodge the question. Trying his best to divert the attention somewhere else because he didn't want to stress over something that can't be undone. But Nina could be as stubborn as him if she made up her mind to know something. At last, Arnold relented and told her the vanilla version of the story. 

Essentially, he informed her about Andrex's plan to screw them over in his absence and what not. He was hesitant to tell her about the massacre, but he knew Nina wouldn't believe him if he told her Nathan disowned him because he took care of Andrex. Nathan was stubborn but even he wouldn't have disowned Arnold if Arnold hadn't killed hundreds of people. So, he told her the truth. 

Nina went numb for a second. Just imagining the carnage was more than she could bear. But then she saw the look on Arnold's face. It was an expression only those who despised themselves had. Nina used her hands to push herself off the wheelchair and hugged him tightly. She knew Arnold wouldn't have done something as inhumane as that if his hands weren't tied. 

"It doesn't matter what you did," She remembered whispering into his ears, "what matters is, why you did it. If our roles were reversed, then believe me I'd have done something far worse to them, than what you did."

Arnold smiled before replying, "Well, then it's good that no one would even dare to go against me for a while now."

"That's true, Mr Deathless."

That was the last conversation they had before they received an invite. It was an invitation to Allen's induction ceremony as the new head of the family and Arnold was named the guest of honour. 

"Seriously... Nathaniel, why are you so dead set on including me in everything even though I've left the family..." Arnold sighed heavily when Nina handed him the invitation card. 

"Maybe it wasn't Nathaniel but Allen? You know that he's closer to you than anyone else. Of course, he'd want his 'brother' to be by his side when he achieves something he had been desiring for so long." Nina chuckled, "I don't care if you won't attend the ceremony for Allen, at least attend to keep me some company."

"Fine... It'll be nice to see everyone one last time before I left for China." 

***

The next evening... 

For the first time ever, Arnold had seen the Black mansion elegantly decorated. It felt as if Christmas had come early for the Blacks. The sun had left the skies but it seemed like the Blacks wanted to make a sun of their own. Everything was perfect. After all, it was the first party ever since the swamps were taken care of.

People were excited to attend as they have been waiting for something like this to happen. Arnold almost felt uncomfortable because it felt as if none of them had any recollection of what happened to Andrex and his family. 

The guests were arriving one after another, forming an endless stream of vehicles in front of the main mansion. Although there was no mention of a dress code within invitations or a request to wear special attire, most of the people were wearing extravagant clothes. The women wore evening gowns and precious jewels and most of the men were dressed in formal articles of clothing like tuxedos. Those who got off the vehicles, casually walked in to be greeted by the hosts. Thus quite a few people were surrounding the gates, busy chattering among themselves.

But it all came to a halt as soon as Arnold stepped out of the vehicle. The place that had been hustling and bustling just a moment ago went eerily silent. Arnold didn't even need to turn around to feel the countless eyes on him. Regardless of that, he ignored them and helped Nina with her wheelchair before wheeling her inside. 

Arnold wasn't much of a fashion enthusiast. Still, he had a decent taste when it came to clothing. He was wearing a standard formal black shirt and had buttoned it up halfway to the top, showing off his chest like an alpha wolf. Over the shirt, he was wearing a plain black tuxedo which complemented the black trousers he was wearing. He might've left the Black family, but his love for black clothing wasn't going to fade away anytime soon. 

However, in comparison to his partner, all of his efforts were pale. Nina was wearing a black gown. The dress barely covered her shoulders with two spaghetti straps on the side while the dress flowed down into a beautiful round neckline. It's a close fit which gives the dress a classy and polished look.

All in all, the two looked like a power couple that everyone strived to be. Everything was fine until Arnold saw Nathan standing in front of him.

Nathan no longer resembled the confident guy Arnold had known him to be, but rather a drunkard. It looked like he wanted to say something but before he could, Arnold walked inside, completely ignoring the man whom he once called his brother.