A Game Of Chess With A Vampire
Chapter 343: Do You Hate Your Sister This Much?

Chapter 343: Do You Hate Your Sister This Much?

Avelina, well aware of what she meant, nodded, snuggling into her warm hands.

"I know, mama, but I couldn’t help it. This man is everything I could ever ask for. He is perfection itself, and he’d treated me so much better than anyone would have ever treated me."

"You do not know this man, mama, so you cannot understand what I am trying to say."

"You are wrong." Annette laughed, amused. "I have once been deeply in love, but you see, I was not allowed to be with him. You do know your father and I’s marriage is an arranged one, right?"

Avelina nodded. "Mhm, I do."

Annette caressed her cheek. "We can’t always have what we want, and you just have to understand that. At least, for your own safety."

"You are back now, and I will do my best to take care of you and keep you safe. Your father mustn’t know about any of this, do you understand? Keep it a secret between you and me."

Avelina nodded her head, a saddening expression evident on her face.

Annette stood up from her seat. She said, "Rest up for now. I will make you something to eat."

"Later on, when your father comes to speak to you, tell him something different. Think of anything beforehand, okay?"

"Okay." Avelina agreed and watched her leave.

As soon as the door was shut, she took off the furry coat and laid down on the bed, hugging it to herself. It still smelled completely like Draven.

She couldn’t help but wonder what he could be doing at the moment. How was he coping with his family?

A soft breath exited her nose, and she gradually drifted off to sleep. Just a one-hour nap. When she wakes up, she will think of something—some lies to tell her father. Hopefully, he will buy it.

She needed to play it safe, just like her mother had suggested to her.

...

Arriving downstairs, Annette walked to the living room to meet Mr. Hamilton. She stood with a barely perceptible smile on her face.

"Well? What did you find out?" Mr. Hamilton questioned, his attention fixed on the newspaper in his grasp.

Annette shook her head. "She has refused to talk."

"What?" Mr. Hamilton arched his brow.

"Yes. She said she was not ready to talk yet. So I suggest we give her time to settle first, and then—"

"So you’re telling me that the one hour you spent up there with her bore no fruit?" Mr. Hamilton finally looked at her.

The mere look from him had Annette shivering and taking a step back. She could feel chills throughout her body. His eyes were too cold.

"When did you begin to lie, Annette?" Mr. Hamilton asked, standing up from his chair. "Did you think you could deceive me?"

Annette stared back at him with broadened eyes. She frantically shook her head and began to back off from him, but Mr. Hamilton reached out his hand, grabbing her harshly by the neck. He pulled her closer and forced her to look him dead in the eyes.

"I will not warn you again, Annette. The next time you lie to me..." Mr. Hamilton drew a deep breath. "...Well, I cannot force you to speak. I would rather find out on my own."

He threw Annette to the floor and stormed off towards the stairs to make his way to Avelina’s room. Annette, who knew things would not turn out well, quickly got up from the floor and rushed towards him.

She grabbed his hand, stopping him. "Micheal, please stop. Please just let her rest. This is our daughter, Michael. Please, I beg of—"

"Get off me!" Mr. Hamilton glared at her, pushing her off.

Annette staggered back, almost falling to the floor. She tried to once again hold Mr. Hamilton, but her daughter, Lucy, yanked her back, preventing her from approaching him.

"Mama, stop it! You are going to get hurt!" she scowled.

Annette looked at her with furrowed brows. "What do you mean? He will hurt her, and you know that, Lucy. Let go—"

"What do you think you can do?" Lucy questioned her, cutting her off. "Anything you try to do now will be completely futile. Olga smelt like one of them, and you and I know that Father noticed it too!"

"There is nothing we can do! He won’t let her off the hook, and that’s for sure, so just accept it and stop making things harder than they already are."

Annette stared at Lucy with disbelief in her eyes. "L-Lucy?"

"What?!" Lucy frowned at her.

"Do you realize that this is your younger sister that you are speaking about? So what if she smells like one of them? You don’t even know what might have happened to her. She has been missing for a whole year, and you don’t even feel the slightest bit sorry for her?" Annette shook her head, unwilling to even believe it.

"Do you hate your sister this much?" she asked.

"Urgh!" Lucy groaned in annoyance. "Jesus, I never said I hated her."

"Then why?" Annette pressed.

Lucy shrugged. "She smells like them, mama! Who knows if she has been turned or marked? Definitely one of them. It is only right that Father deals with her. We don’t want her to infect us pure humans and ruin our family. She deserves it."

"After all, she is the one who ran away in the first place. She was not kidnapped, she ran away, mama. So, it is her fault and no one else’s." She glanced at Annette.

Annette gazed at her daughter as though she were peering at a heartless demon. How? How had her eldest daughter become like this? When did her eldest daughter change into a heartless, apathetic individual like her father?

She was completely him—she resembled him, and she behaved like him as well. No tinge of empathy remained within her.

Lucy scoffed, able to tell what was going on in her mother’s mind. She rolled her eyes, warning, "If you don’t want to lose your life, you better stay down here. Otherwise, father might actually kill you accidentally. He is very temperamental, and I’m sure you are aware of that."