Chapter 124: New hobbies.

July 28 2026, 1:34pm.

"He is your brother and you know it!"

The words descended in the room, echoing all around until they settled over Elara in a way that made goosebumps spread over her flesh and made her skin crawl.

Her eyes lifted slowly to meet her mother’s cold gaze, and for the first time in her life, she only felt one thing for the older woman: contempt.

She hated her mother in a way she had never hated anyone before—not even Nyx’ara —and the fact that her mother dared to say things like this to her, without considering the emotional state she was in at the moment, made it even worse.

She stepped back and folded her arms across her chest. "I know."

"Yet, you still follow him around like you’re some love-sick puppy. I have caught you sneaking around his room more times this week than I have in the past year... and you stand there, looking at me with your arms folded across your chest while you say—"

"I know." Elara chirped in again, sounding cold. Something in her voice felt detached— too detached. She seemed as though she had finally thrown caution into the wind and was about to make one of the worst decisions of her life.

As if she hadn’t been doing that a lot lately.

Her cold blue eyes raked along her mother’s body with the pace of a sloth, and her nostrils flared just enough to make her mother realize how irritated she was at her.

"All along you watched me sneak into his room and turned a blind eye despite knowing that we were siblings, so why the fuck does it affect you now? Why have you suddenly turned into some moral police whose job is to hound and control me... because I certainly do not see this as you loving or protecting me in any way."

Elara’s dry retort made Celine’s mouth hang open in shock. She staggered backward with her palm pressed against her chest.

They say that the more time you spend plotting against other people and the less you spend watching over your own children makes you produce a demon.

And the girl in front of her now was a demon.

A complete and utter devil.

She pressed her lips together and frowned. "I only allowed you to get close to Tristan because I wanted you to solidify your position in this house! I always wanted you to be two steps ahead of Nyx’ara and I knew that getting Tristan on your side would make that even more possible—"

"And now, am I two steps ahead of Nyx’ara?" Elara hissed, watching her mother with disdain etched across her face. She pushed her weight off the wall and stalked closer to her mother, and, with each step she took toward the woman, she could not help but notice how scared she was becoming.

Celine gulped as Elara pushed forward, her heart racing in her chest as she stalked her with the sure strides of a predator stalking its prey.

A long time ago, she used to believe that her daughter was only spoiled but after witnessing all the things the so-called ’spoiled girl’ has done these past few years, she was damn sure now that her daughter was capable of more evil than she has ever committed...

—And she has committed a lot!

Her face drained of its color when Elara slammed both of her hands on her shoulder, then she drawled; "You made me like this because you were always desperate to be one step ahead of your best friend, Nyx’ara’s mother... then you made me inherit your grudge by always putting me up against Nyx’ara!"

"Elara—"

"Didn’t you get what you wanted when I sent that poor girl to prison for three years? Didn’t you get what you wanted when you started the fire that—"

"Enough Elara! Enough!" Celine yelled, successfully shutting her daughter up. Her eyes glazed with fury as they dragged along the length of Elara’s body and her heart pounded against her chest at the thought of what her daughter was just about to spew.

That was a secret long forgotten. It was a secret that she had hoped would stay dead just as the person had.

Her hands balled into fists as she glared at her daughter— the reason she’d done all of it in the first place— and snarled;

"You shall not speak of that event ever again!"

"And why is that, mother?" Elara chirped in sweetly, "...are you scared that people would see you for what you really are? Are you bothered about the fact that by then, everyone would realise that this apple..." she drawled, pointing at her chest, "...did not fall so far from its tree after all?"

"Elara!" Celine yelled but was waved off with a dismissive flick of Elara’s wrist.

"Forget it mother, I am in no place to tell your secrets to people! I won’t say anything to anyone, as long as you keep your lips sealed as well."

Celine frowned. "I can’t do that! I cannot let you keep seeing that boy! He is your brother and you’re promised to someone else!"

"And you have no right to say anything about it! I decide what is wrong and what is right... and this, mother... This is right by me!" Elara clapped back so loudly that the veins at the sides of her neck popped.

At the sound of her voice, Celine stepped back slowly, her eyes widened in disbelief. She shook her head as tears sprang free from her eyes, her body shaking as she muttered under her breath;

"This is wrong... this is very wrong!"

"And you should look the other way this time, mother. You have no right to tell me what is wrong." She then continued by adding; "...also, because you and Kai have decided to keep me as a secret forever, even after knowing that I now know the truth, you shouldn’t say a word of this to Tristan. I will talk to him when I deem fit... and you should say nothing to my fiancé, Flynn as well."

"You should be cuddling up with Flynn, not saying these to me." Celine chirped back, her voice hoarse as she was mostly drained from this uncomfortable conversation.

However, she was even more flustered when Elara smiled at her, patted her gently on the shoulder, and hissed;

"Flynn should coddle up to me as well. He has been acting as if I disgust him these past few days... weeks even, so forgive me for distracting myself with... other things."

"And what other things have you been distracting yourself with?" A different voice asked, and Elara instantly froze when the deep masculine voice washed over her frail frame like an unwanted caress.

Her body stiffened as she turned slowly to the door and her breath left her lungs in one quick burst when she saw Flynn standing at the door, leaning against the frame while his eyes watched her closely.

There was something different about him today, she could not name it... But it rattled her to no end. However, after discarding this thought, she smiled at him and muttered;

"I have picked up new hobbies."