Under the Veil of Night

It took Laura quite some time to calm down. Her mind was a mess from Kevin's revelation. It was… unacceptable to her. She just couldn't believe that things would turn out this way.

Fate truly played a cruel joke on them.

When Laura finally managed to calm down, she entered her sister's hospital room. Her nose and eyes were red, but her face was no longer stained with tears. Her hand was gripping a tissue that had turned damp because she kept on using it, despite the fact that she had replaced it a few times.

Looking at the sleeping Kanae, she slowly made her way to the seat next to her sister. Her hand touched Kanae's hand, which felt slightly rough from the training that Kanae did.

"Sis, you always hide it from me, but I know what you have been doing all this time," Laura murmured. "I know you have feelings for him, but don't you know what he did to us? If…If you knew, why did you still get close to him, Sis? You had to endure a lot in the past because of him, but you still stay close to him. Why, Sis?"

"Our parents' death changed the entire course of our lives. Even if you never say anything to me, I know that you had to sacrifice a lot of things to keep up with our daily needs. The life that was not supposed to belong to us has become ours."

Closing her eyes, she brought her hand that still held her sister's hand to her forehead. Tears streamed down once more as she recalled the day she found out Kanae's real work.

…

Three years ago

Laura knew how hard it was for them to fight back against those greedy b*stards of the Nali Family. She still went about her daily life as usual, but it was not the same with her sister. Despite being only 14 years old and in her second year of Junior High, Kanae had to work and fight against the Nali Family.

Kanae stayed silent and never divulged any of her difficulties, but Laura knew some of them. Once, she woke up late at night due to the sound of the door and heavy footsteps.

'Who is it?'

It was late at night. Laura looked at the door warily, scared that the one who came in was a stranger. However, the sound stopped in the living room. Out of curiosity, she sneaked out of her room.

It was dark, so it took several seconds to adjust her eyes to the darkness. She didn't wear her house slippers so that she could walk around without making a sound. The cold floor did nothing to deter her curiosity as she made her way towards the living room.

Their mansion was quite big. But the sounds tonight caused her to wake up, so she chose to investigate. Peeking into the living room, she saw her sister moving around. Her eyes lit up as she wanted to greet the other party, but her words stuck in her throat. What she saw made her unable to speak.

'She's bleeding.'

The word bleeding was not enough to describe Kanae's current condition. She was basically covered in blood from head to toe. Limping to the chair, Kanae was breathing heavily. Her hands were unrolling bandages as she tried her best to wrap up the wounds on her body. There were numerous bruises on her arm and legs, in addition to some sharp blade wounds on her arm that kept on bleeding.

At that time, Laura couldn't do anything.

'Sis, why are you hiding this from me?'

Kanae never told her anything. Laura knew that it was not something that could be said easily, but it was so scary. The sight of her sister covered in blood caused a sense of unease to appear deep within her heart. She was afraid to lose her sister after losing her parents.

As her voice threatened to come out, she used her hand to cover her mouth. Her eyes were wet from tears, and she tried her best to stifle her cries. She didn't know what her sister went through, but one thing was for sure: it was something dangerous.

'Sis…'

Tears streamed down even harder.

'I have to move.'

If she stayed there, her sister would discover her for sure. At that time, she wouldn't be able to explain to her sister what she was doing out of her bedroom in the middle of the night. She knew that her sister didn't want to be seen in this condition. Kanae wouldn't want her to worry. She couldn't possibly show herself right now.

Her stomach churned when she recalled Kanae's current appearance. It was horrible….

Stepping backwards slowly, Laura moved her trembling legs to her room. Her steps caused no sound as she tried her best to move slowly. When she reached her room, she shut her door softly. Before she could move another step, she collapsed to the ground.

Her knees felt weak, and she was unable to stand anymore. Laura slumped down on the floor with her back against the door and cried noiselessly. Tears stained her cheeks and clothes as she didn't make an effort to wipe them.

She knew Kanae didn't want her to know, so she tried to suppress her cries. However, it was impossible for her to not realize that Kanae did it for the two of them.

From the moment they lost their parents, she knew that their life was not going to be easy. She still didn't find any changes to her daily life as her sister told her not to worry about anything. But, would things still stay the same for her sister?

Obviously not.

At that moment, she hated the fact that their parents left them.

Why?

Why should they die?

If only they were still alive, her sister didn't have to do something so dangerous and risk her life like that. Her hand tightly clenched into a fist. She felt extremely useless to not be able to do anything while her sister braved through danger alone.

Only from getting involved in Black Street would her sister be able to earn enough for their living expenses.

Tears continued to fall for the next few minutes, or maybe even much longer. Laura didn't know how much time it took her to calm down. When she had finally calmed down, she crawled to her bed and slept until morning, trying her best to forget what she saw the night before.

The next morning, Laura opened her eyes slowly as her alarm rang. She barely slept at all because her mind kept on replaying the scene she saw last night. She still remembered everything from the night before. Would she see her sister in such a bad condition again?

She didn't want to lose her sister.

Her heart was filled with worry as she changed her clothes. She wasn't the slightest bit capable in martial arts, so she knew how useless she would be if she tried to involve herself in the Underworld. If anything, she would only become a burden.

Slowly, Laura walked out of her room. As she entered the living room, she saw her sister was standing near the door with a smile on her face.

"You wake up quite late today, Laura. I already took out and reheated the food from the refrigerator."

Laura opened her mouth but no words came out. Her eyes scanned the chair where she found her bloodied sister sitting on last night. It was clean and there was no trace of the mess from the night before. It was as if what she had seen before was nothing but a dream.

"Laura? Is anything wrong?" Kanae asked as she walked towards Laura in confusion.

Laura shook her head. Her eyes caught the sight of the bandage on her sister's neck. Because Kanae buttoned up her collar, it was hard to see anything. However, when she stood near her, Laura could see it very clearly.

'So, it wasn't a dream.'

Laura forced a smile. "It's nothing, Sis. I'm just thinking about something."

"What can make you think so hard, little girl?" Kanae chuckled. "It's not like the lessons are too hard for you."

Laura smiled wryly. Why did it have to be about lessons? However, she knew that the only thing that should matter for her right now was her lessons. It was no wonder that Kanae thought of that first.

Her mind drifted to the invitation letter that she received from overseas not long before their parents' death. She knew that her sister tried to hide it from her, and there was nothing much she could do in this city. Unlike her sister, she was never good at fighting.

She didn't want her sister to get involved in the Underworld, but how could two children get enough money to live on if not from there? She could just quit school and search for a job, but she doubted that Kanae would allow her to do that. Besides, the cost to maintain this mansion was simply too much if they were to rely on low-paying jobs.

It meant that she had to turn a blind eye for the moment to what her sister did on Black Street. However, there should be a way for her to be able to help.

Right now, there was just one possibility she could think of.

"Sis, do you remember the invitation letter that I received from overseas?"

"I thought you already forgot about it," Kanae arched her eyebrows.

Laura smiled slightly. "I'm thinking about accepting it. Do you mind, Sis?"

Kanae kept silent for a moment before shaking her head. "If you want to pursue a better education, I'll fully support you. Now, can you help me reheat the food? I'm hungry."

"Okay, Sis," Laura smiled faintly. Walking to the kitchen, she thought about her decision just now. It might be reckless of her, but if she couldn't do anything here, it would be better to learn more about other important things overseas.. That way, she would be able to earn a lot when she returned and become the one who protected her sister.