Ever since Lyra was born, very little -if anything at all- about her was displayed to the public. Damian was 12 by the time of her birth and he made it clear to his parents that having cameras shoved to your face when you're young is not a very good experience. His parents sympathized with him and decided to wait for her to grow and decide whether she wanted her life documented everywhere on the media or not. Just like Damian expected, she wanted to keep her life private and was so glad her parents didn't force her into the spotlight like her older brother.

Perhaps to me, it wasn't the best of her choices as I had absolutely no information on her and couldn't keep up with her well-being. Her parents never revealed her existence to the public in order to protect her from the entertainment and business industry.

Back then when I had disappeared, I thought it would be best for her and everyone else not to see me but now a few years later, I realized that maybe the path I took was the coward route and I should have stayed alongside them and told them about everything before it escalated.

But you knew you couldn't. If it was that easy then you would have fought for your love.

I heard my conscience speak to me, making me feel at least a tad bit better about myself.

***

Ava and I sat in silence for the next 30 minutes. So many thoughts were swirling in my head and she seemed to have a lot on her mind as well.

"How did you know about Lyra?" I asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I heard my parents talking about it while you were busy interacting with others at the event. Apparently when my mom went to visit his parents, she stumbled across a picture of her and couldn't hold back her tongue and asked about her. They were forced to briefly explain what happened to her afterwards. My mom didn't mean for me to hear, but she was warning my dad of approaching any topics that could be sensitive," she explained. I nodded.

"I- how long ago did that happen?" I asked. Ava gave me a sad smile and answered: "I don't know. I wasn't even meant to know about his sister. If not for you gushing about her all the time when you first came in, I would have thought he was the only heir to the family," she commented.

I nodded swiftly in agreement. I wished- just for a moment- to turn back time and meet her one last time and explain everything to her once and for all. Maybe then, the guilt wouldn't be eating me up as much as it is now. She passed away seeing me as the monster that I am and I don't blame her for that. In that moment, all the self hatred that I've been trying to keep locked away for years seemed to ambush me and not even my conscience could bring it to a halt.