Romeo closed the door behind him, looking at her in worry. He didn't say anything. He was just there, speechless probably, in shock most definitely. His presence felt heavy despite being silent.

Isabella, on the other hand, felt like they were leaving her because they had enough of her.

And while she knew it wasn't true, she was still an eleven year old girl who was confused as to why the only family she has left was leaving. It felt as if a tide was trying to wash away the sweltering fire that's just starting to bloom into a light.

Isabella, with all her might, tried not to cry as much. If she were to cry--if she were to demand them for a reason, for a moment where they should stop and listen to her-- she wonders if that adds to the list of reasons as to why they're leaving.

Maybe they grew tired of her?

Isabella understands how tiring she can be at times but she'll promise to try her best to be the opposite of that. She'll promise to be at her utmost behavior.

"Am I that hated?" Isabella muttered, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Her hands were shaking from the boilings of undecipherable emotions stirring in her chest. She felt abandoned and lost. It was as if they had put her in an island to show her how worthless she'd be without them.

Her mother hated her guts. She hated her so much that she probably wished her only daughter to disappear. That she'd be in a coffin. That she died in a ditch somewhere. She abandoned Isabella without a care and she threw her to Dante and her hermanos. And then she met Nicolai. Nico, the sweet and gentle boy who'd hold her hand, who was so proud to declare her his friend in front of everyone. Who was her only best friend, her true one.

But then he left too.

Without any goodbyes, without any letters, without any words, he left because that's how easy it was to leave Isabella broken. And she was left to wonder the why's in it.

And now they're leaving too. Just like how Nicolai did. And just like how her mother did.

So, she's just asking if, "am I that easy to leave?" Isabella asked, looking at her father while she clasped her hands together to avoid fidgeting. If she were to look weak then maybe--maybe they'd leave her.

She knows, deep down, that they'd her leave regardless. Isabella wanted to beg. She imagines herself kneeling below various of papers filled with names of people she doesn't know but was killed by people she loves the most. She'd feel tainted then. As if the sins of her family was crawling as she becomes all too aware of the papers below her with pictures of people who probably had a family, friends, a life that may not be clean but still a life left for them to live.

Oh, how could she not cry in this situation?

Nobody wants her.

Nobody stays forever for her. She expected too much from her privileged life that it's coming to bite her now.

Dante rolled his eyes expressively before giving Isabella a look that made her feel worthless. He looked at her like she suddenly became a burden, like a whiny, bratty child that he couldn't bother comforting.

Isabella felt like the world could swallow her whole as she stared at her father, petrified at the thought of her family leaving her. If it could, she'd allow it to swallow her whole. "You weren't going to tell me?"

"There are some things that are better left unsaid." Dante answered coolly. "You wouldn't understand."

"No, I don't understand, papa. This wasn't... You were supposed to tell me this! Stuff like this should be discussed with the family!"

"I already discussed this with your brothers and they agreed already." He snapped. The tone he used was anything but warm. The father she knew is disappearing right in front of her eyes. And, as if taunting her of her uselessness, no matter what she argues, he'd shut her down. No matter what alternative solution she comes up with, he'd close that off because he can and he will.

It hurts, she realized. Being unheard hurts. Being unable to place your opinions, your arguments hurts more than she'd like it to be.

But what hurts her more was the fact that they didn't have any ounce of consideration for Isabella. That they think that Isabella wasn't worth being in the discussion of this important and sudden decision. Dante only talked to her brothers. Not to her.

"Why not me?"

"That's enough, Isabella." Dante was trying to put an end to this conversation, Isabella realized. He won't let her ask. He won't let her have some peace of mind. He's letting this conversation brew inside of her head--letting the unanswered questions fly by her head.

That wasn't fair.

Dante then began to walk towards Romeo without even glancing at Isabella. Without even shooting her a look of concern.

This wasn't fair.

Isabella grabbed his wrist but he didn't turn to look at her. But his gaze steeled. His muscles tensed and his jaw clenched.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Isabella's voice was wobbly and weak but she didn't care. She doesn't even know that she was so close to crying again. "Dad, please. Please, please, I-I need to know why. You can't just leave me like this."

Her brothers agreed to leave without telling her. That's that? They didn't even come to show their faces to explain why. She just wants to know why.

"Pa--"

"I said that's enough." He said quietly. The room was so tense it was almost palpable. She would have left the room for having a tense, unbearable atmosphere but she couldn't. She can't come here for nothing. She needs to know why.

"Papa! You can't--"

"Because we're tired of you!" He shouted all of a sudden, causing Isabella to let go of him in shock. She couldn't believe his words. She couldn't believe that he'd say that.

His words were defeaning.

That was all Isabella realized. His words were loud to the point that her ears were ringing. From what, she doesn't know. Maybe from fear. Maybe from the buckets of emotions that she was feeling at the moment. Maybe from the overwhelming situation she was in at the moment. Isabella didn't realize that her hands were trembling now. She can no longer pretend that she wasn't weak.

Isabella can no longer pretend.

"We moved because of you. We can't search for a bitch because of you. We put a lot of guards because of you. We have to be careful not to scar you for life. We have to be careful not to taint the carpets with blood because you'd probably see it. We can't even do our job unless we leave our home!" The truth poured down like rain, leaving Isabella drenched. His words were the truth. Even Dante could no longer pretend to be the warm and caring father that she knew and loved.

When Dante finally, finally, looked at her, his expression wasn't painted in exasperation or in rage. He looked tired and defeated.

He looked at her like she brought him the biggest mistake of his life.

"We're tired because of you."

She shouldn't have come here. She shouldn't have decided to ask him. She should have played the fool, the child who lived in a fairytale world where everything and everyone was happy.

Isabella should have stayed in that world. She should have stayed in that fairytale world because she actually belongs there.

So, now she knows why.

So, it was her fault in the end.

It was her fault that they were leaving. It was her fault for their pain. It was her fault for being the burden in the family, it was her fault for being the youngest brat in the family. It was her fault for her father's failure for capturing the only woman he's ever loved. It was her fault for her grandmother's visits.

So, in the end... It was her fault.

That made Isabella realize how little her worth was. All her life, she thought that she was loved, that she was okay with them.

But then, now she knows that they're silently blaming her for everything.

Her life felt like a lie at that moment.

Romeo, looked at her in guilt. He looked as if there was nothing he could do to stop her from bleeding in pain. "Dmitri wasn't supposed to bring you here." He muttered reluctantly. "He wasn't supposed to let you know."

As if he knew he was being called out, Dmitri entered with a dark look on his face while closing the door behind him. "Oh, I wasn't? Sorry, I didn't understand the assignment." He said sarcastically.

"Leonheart!" Dante couldn't help but give out an angered call to the man, causing Dmitri and even Romeo to flinch. They were scared of the boss. "How dare you go behind my back! This wasn't your job! Your job's only to shadow her!"

"You assigned me to Isabella to protect her, sir." Dmitri reasoned, bowing his head respectfully. "Rafael couldn't protect her so you assigned me to her and from what I've seen, she needed to see her family so I brought he here because I won't allow her to fall apart. Not today, not ever. I'm protecting her from you and the others because right now, you're hurting her. You're giving her one of the worst pain a child could have. And that's abandonment. The least I could do is to lessen the pain by letting her see her family for one last time."

Isabella looks at Dmitri as tears began to fill up her eyes again. Dmitri, for his cold facade and uncaring attitude sometimes, really has her back whenever she needed it the most. He'd always be by her side and he'd fight for her, even if he has to fight men he's so scared of.

And that's Dante and her brothers.

But this... She doesn't want this anymore. All she wants is to look away from her father. To run away from him and this tense atmosphere.

She was just tiring the man. Isabella was a burden and she realized that they didn't want to look at her for one last time. They didn't want to say goodbye. They didn't want any any of this.

They didn't want her.

Dante glared at him. "That wasn't your responsibility."

"It is mine." Dmitri persuaded, looking at him without any hatred, without any malice behind those eyes of his. Just defeat. Just defeat with a little bit of desperation. "If I'm taking care of Isabella then it is my responsibility to make sure she's safe, even if I have to shield her from the impact of the fact that her family would be leaving her behind."

"So, you think letting her know about this will shield her from everything?" Dante laughed, placing his folder down to remove his glasses. "That's hilarious. You think you're doing her a favor by doing this?"

"I believe that, while the truth may hurt you the most, it's not going to hurt forever. She needs to know you're leaving. I can't just let her live in that house without letting her know why you left her in the first place." Dmitri said, finding the confidence to face the man he'd been so scared of from the start.

"It won't change anything. You're still going to get hurt in the end." Romeo answered, looking at Dmitri with narrowed eyes, as if he was warning the man. "Why do we need to argue about this? We're going to leave whether we hurt someone or not in the process."

He was specifically looking at the little girl this time with pity in his eyes when he said the last part. Isabella laughed humorlessly. Why should they pity her when they were the one going to leave her in the end? Why should they pity her when they won't care if they hurt her or not in the end?

Why should they care?

The pain was already there. She felt betrayed and angry, and worst of all, she's pitying herself. She pities herself for having a family that loved her but will still leave her in the end.

And she can't do anything about it. She can't scream at them, she can't get angry, she can't do anything but cry in th end because she doesn't have the rights. They are the one who's right. They have more things to take care of then her. She gets the message.

But is it that easy to leave Isabella behind?

The answer was obvious.

"That's enough, Dmitri..." Her voice sounded strange in her ears. It sounded strained. "I've already had enough. This... This isn't worth it anymore."

Isabella trudged towards Dmitri with a heavy heart. Since Dante didn't look at her when he walked away, she won't do the same.

"Isabel--"

Before Dmitri could say her name, she shook her head. "I don't want... I don't want to be here anymore. Please. Let's just go."

Dmitri searched for her eyes for any kind of reason but they both know that he won't find any. Not unless he asks her directly. He sighed, as if he didn't plan any of this to happen. But, thank goodness, Dmitri nodded, opening the door for her.

"Isabella."

Isabella glanced at Dante--not her father, Dante-- and shook her head. He already said why. She already knows why they won't show their faces at her for weeks. She knows why they're leaving.

It's because they're tired of her.

Maybes that's also the reason why the people in her life leaves her.

It's because they're tired of her.

______

And now the truth comes out ;_;

Fluff time's over, bois. We're going straight to angst (ಠ ͜ʖ ಠ)ゞ

Anyways, what do you think? Maybe Dante's just hurt and that's why he's hurt baby Isabella?

Maybe ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ