"Your kingdom will crumble soon, and you will all turn against one another. I'll be the first to watch if that occurs. This is just the beginning of the game."

**

Isabella had to stare at the audacity presented in front of her.

She found it hard to believe they would consider such a thing. Even now, after leaving her so damaged, she couldn't believe they would think she was capable of such a wrong crime.

It made her feel even more broken.

Her emotions had her in a bind. Since everything she did seemed bad, she was unable to accomplish anything. She had the impression that anything she performed would be of little service to her family. Isabella had to learn that what she did and will continue to do in life would tire out her family.

In contrast to the stinging sensation on her cheek, the torment she experienced from them was worse.

After they left, everyday was another day of torture. Everyday was just another day of living in a nightmare.

And gradually, the vibrant life she had been seeing become dreary and gray. Everything was chilly. Inside, she was bitterly cold. It seems as though the warmth she once had had been imprisoned. Everything she did and said suddenly became so exhausting that she had to think to herself, "What am I doing?"

What's the point?

What's the point of running after them? They left her.  That was it. They made a choice. And she realized that she wasn't a priority for them. She wasn't...

She wasn't enough.

To Nicolai, she couldn't be enough. Also, perhaps, she was a bad friend. Perhaps she was at fault. She might not be the companion he was looking for. Surely he wouldn't have left if she had made an effort to do better—if she had genuinely tried to be someone he could be satisfied with. He might have continued to be her friend.

It's the same for her family. Maybe she would have been accepted into the family if she had been helpful to them. They might not have slipped away if she had been more clever or better.

In her own thoughts, Isabella lost herself in it. imagining the possibilities that may have occurred if she had been enough.

If she could even be enough.

"Stop." Dante exclaimed and Lucius grabbed his youngest brother by the collar to pull him back. Elois was obviously seething with anger.

Elois screamed, giving her a withering glare, "all we worked for is crumbling because of her," he said, "all those fucking families that we befriended simply to keep this empire we made from crumbling suddenly vanished."

"Elois." Anthony warned but he looked slightly concerned, as though what Eli would say would be bad.

And it was.

"If we hadn't focused on her so much then we would have seen it. We could have fixed it." Elois said as Isabella's eyes widened, she held her breath, waiting for what he would say. "If she..." Elois was burning with anger that he didn't care what he says. He was mad.

They were losing everything.

And during those time, they were with Isabella. They focused on Isabella, unaware that everything they worked so hard for, everything that literally took years was suddenly crumbling.

"That's enough, buddy." Lucius whispered to his brother, grabbing Elois by the arm to pull him away from Isabella.

Elois looked at Lucius desperately. "It's true."

"But you don't have to say it." Anthony clenched his fist, looking so lost and tired. "We'll just work on it. We'll just rebuild it."

Elois looked at his brothers in despair and agony. "We can't." His tone felt raw and filled with horror and pain.

Isabella had to wonder what happened when they were away. What had they seen? What happened that changed them?

Elois shook his head, as though he didn't want to listen. He wanted to vent. He wanted to let out the anger, sadness and desperation that had been boiling for so long.

So, he continued because that was the only way he could vent.

"If she hadn't existed then—"

Before he could continue, as quick as the wind that blows in the sky, Dmitri closed the man's mouth with his hand and Ezri pulled Isabella to his chest and hiding her from the world.

Isabella suddenly couldn't breathe. Her ears were ringing as well. She was starting to panic. She could feel her heart crumble.

"Don't." Dmitri said, his tone unusually cold compared to his usual one. It grated Isabella ears to hear Dmitri talk so differently.

Romeo pointed his gun at Dmitri. "Don't, kid." Romeo warned.

"Don't fucking call me that." Dmitri glared at Romeo with so much anger and annoyance.

"Please." Raphael pleaded, his eyes looking worriedly at Dmitri and Dmitri looked back and there was some sort of silent conversation between them because Dmitri hesitantly dropped his hand and held them up.

Raphael continued. "Not in front of the kids. Please. Please." He started. "Let's just settle this l-like adults. Let's talk about this, whatever this is. Just don't...," he was about to give his speech but he looked as though he gave up on it and sighed shakily, "don't do this. Please don't do this. You'll just... You'll regret it, I'm sure."

Dante looked between Raphael and Dmitri in an odd look that they have never seen before before sighing resignedly. "Tienen razón Dejemos de actuar como niños." He said in a tone that left no room for discussion, causing Romeo drop his gun with a disappointed grumble.

(They are right. Let's stop acting like children.)

Dante moved first, moving past Isabella without even casting a glance at her. Same with her brothers. They moved past her without pity whatsoever.

She couldn't begin to start how painful that was. They walked past her as though she was only a stranger. A lone stranger that doesn't hold any sort of bond over them that once made them family.

Her shoulders started to shake and she looked at them forlornly. Isabella suddenly wondered why her gaze were suddenly blurry but she realized that she was crying.

Pathetic.

She was absolutely pathetic.

Isabella touched her cheeks and she suddenly closed her mouth because she was starting to wail.  She hunched her back and her legs were starting to wobble to the point that she almost fell.

It was as though all her strength disappeared, leaving her in a pathetic, worthless state. She was not even worth it. She couldn't be worth it.

Ezri caught her and hushed her gently as she gave a strangled blood curdling wail as her tears were falling down without a care.

"Shh, it's okay." He whispered.

It wasn't okay.

"You're okay." Ezri whispered softly in this gentle tone that would have comforted her. But it couldn't.

I'm not okay.

"It hurts..." Isabella sobbed desperately. She doesn't want his words to be real. After all these years, she was refusing it to be real.

"I know." Ezri whispered softly.

I'm not okay, Ezri.

"It hurts..." Isabella wailed, grabbing a fistful of Ezri's shirt and sobbing, desperately trying to believe she was in a dream.

Make it stop.

Please be in a dream. She wants it to be a dream.

Don't make it real.

________

I'm gonna have an exam soon. I'm having that freaking exam today and I'm feeling sad becuz of it so what did I do?

I write something sad ᕙ⁠(⁠ಠ⁠ ⁠ਊ⁠ ⁠ಠ⁠)⁠ᕗ

...

I should probably study, shouldn't I? XDXD

OH WELL...

I'm going down the same way my grades will then. 😌💀

BUT!! I hope you enjoyed this <3 <3