Under the Veil of Night

It didn't take a long time for authorities to come over and clean up the scene. After that, she lost track of what she did because there were just so many things that she had to take care of. By the time she arrived home, it was already late at night. Seeing her house, she felt her steps becoming much heavier.

The police must have called her home, so she was pretty sure that her sister already knew about their parents' death. In addition, the news had reported that there was a shoot-out at the square today. Since Laura knew where their parents had gone this morning, it wouldn't be hard for the girl to deduce what had happened.

Grasping the door knob, Kanae gathered her resolve. Even if it was difficult to do so, she had to tell her sister.

Kreet (sound of door opening) ...

Looking towards the mansion's living room, she saw that the light was dim but not completely off. Her younger sister was sitting on the couch in the middle of the hall. Turning her head around, Laura stared at the haggard-looking Kanae.

"Sis, is the news true? Mom and Dad left?"

The expression on her sister's face caused Kanae to falter in stepping any closer. It was so heart-wrenching to see the helplessness and pain on the young girl's face. Laura was clearly trying to hide it, but her gaze was all too apparent. Strengthening her resolve, she nodded slightly.

"They have left, Laura."

Laura didn't immediately reply and averted her gaze slightly. "I see."

Making her way to the couch, Kanae sat down beside Laura. The two of them didn't say anything, but Laura slowly lowered her head onto Kanae's shoulder, resting on it.

No words came out, but Kanae could feel her shoulder getting wet. She slowly raised her arm and caressed the girl's head. Both of them were trying to hide their grief. They didn't have anyone else anymore, only each other, with a lot of people eyeing them covetously.

At that moment, Kanae vowed that she would protect her sister. No matter how hard it would be, she would do everything possible so that Laura could live normally. At the very least, she didn't want to see her sister cry like this anymore.

"Everything is going to be alright," she said soothingly.

Laura knew that that was not true, but she nodded nonetheless. Even if it was a lie, she would believe it. Her sister would never disappoint her.

They stayed like that for a long time until the two of them fell asleep like that from being worn out.

…

Kanae didn't keep track of how many things she had to take care of. From her parent's grave to the matter of their inheritance, she took care of them all. So that Laura wouldn't worry, she didn't tell Laura anything and only requested for her to study hard when the new semester came around.

Today, she got a special guest, her aunt.

"Brat, do you need help? You seem rather tired," her aunt asked in a mocking tone.

Looking at her aunt, a beautifully dressed woman, in front of her, Kanae held the urge to not beat this woman up. Even though nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, she knew very well what this woman had done to her family. Not just this woman, but also her uncle and their daughter.

Kanae looked back at her aunt. "I want you to stay away from my family. You already got what you want, right?"

Her aunt's eyes narrowed. "Are you talking about the fake golden letter that you forged? Do you think that's enough for me to stay away from you?"

"You already threatened me to make it. I don't have anything of value to you anymore."

When she was young, her aunt came to her parents, asking for the letter. Her aunt used all kinds of means to make sure that she could get it. Towards her insistence, Kanae decided to forge one with the help of her parents, which surprisingly turned out to be a pretty well done letter.

Her parents gave the letter to her aunt and with that, she no longer bothered with them.

However, more problems had cropped up lately because the performance of her aunt's daughter was not up to par with the standard of the golden letter. As a result, she continued to ask her parents to forge her daughter's subsequent results to ensure that her daughter could stay in that prestigious school.

Now without her parents, there was no way she could do that anymore.

Her aunt sneered. "Indeed, a young girl without anything valuable. Your parents are too poor that their inheritance is not worth much in my eyes."

Kanae stared back at her aunt calmly. These few days, she has been dealing with a lot of derision from countless people. Adding one more to the count wouldn't hurt her at all because it was nothing but a verbal attack. Compared with the pain of losing her parents, it didn't amount to anything.

"Since I don't have anything valuable, it shouldn't be hard for you to stay away from me, right?"

Her aunt lowered her gaze. "Brat, do you think I can't leak the news about you forging the letter?"

"If you treasure your and your daughter's life, you won't do that," Kanae replied calmly.

Her aunt snorted. This brat sure knew quite a lot. Trying to fool the government would be the same as seeking death. With the power behind the government, no one dared to stand up against them and mess with their rules.

"You're lucky that I don't plan to do anything to you either. I'm already too busy," her aunt finally answered. "But let me remind you, brat. Even if you come to me while crying, I'll never lend you a hand."

"I won't."

The two of them stared at each other as her aunt examined the young girl's gaze. She snickered internally, this brat was truly someone who carried her sister's blood: determined and unwilling to give up.

Kanae watched as her aunt got up and left. This was only the very first step because there were still a lot of things she had to do. One of them was fighting for her parents' inheritance. Because she was still underage, the inheritance was supposedly placed in her uncle's hands for safekeeping.

She was worried that her aunt might intervene, so she decided to have this talk with her. Little did she know that her aunt would die just a few weeks after this incident because of some matters.

"Like hell I will let you get away with my inheritance," Kanae looked towards the sky in determination. Even if they tried to pressure her, she would never give in.

Scanning through the list in her hand, she knew that the hearing with the elders of the Nali Family would take place not long from now. She had to convince them that she was capable enough to take care of herself and not be sent to live with her uncle.

It would be very hard, as she was only a 14-year-old girl.

"I need money right now," Looking in her wallet, she knew that she already used up almost all of their money for the burial and many other things. They barely even had enough for living expenses.

Her eyes turned to the dark alleyway located not far from her view at the window. It was a narrow road leading directly to the nearby Black Street.

Black Street…

In the past, she had never thought about going there because of how dangerous it was. She had learned martial arts, but that wouldn't guarantee her safety because anything could happen there. Not to mention, the fact that she was a girl alone could attract lots of trouble if she roamed there.

"I don't have any choice, do I?"

Rummaging through her clothes, she found a black male uniform. It was the costume that she bought for a play last year. Trying it on, she found out that her build didn't change too much. Afterwards, she wrapped a cloth around the bottom part of her face in order to conceal her real identity.

Gathering her courage, she stepped out of the house and ventured into the dark alley.