Song: End in Tears – KiDi (This is one of my most favourite songs right now)

*Unedited* (Stranger Things. I get the hype now. Anyway, my Netflix account is facing some problems right now so expect more regular updates)

"I knew it. I knew there was so much more dad was hiding from us. What I don't get is why he chose to disclose everything to you." Nathan said.

Kofi sat on the bed and glared at Wolfgang. "Because he knows how much of a pushover this man is."

"Devan," Nathan warned.

Wolfgang sighed. "No, he's right. Dad told me everything because all I live for is to please. I am a pushover."

"No, you're not." Nathan stood up and got closer to his brother.

I rolled my eyes, not willing to stay for this stupid family reunion or whatever it was, so I just opened the door and left.

I went to Kofi's room since I still didn't have my own, and set Elikem on the bed. I lay down beside him, tickling him and listening to the sound of his excited giggles. He looked generally happier now that he was with me and I couldn't help but feel happy myself.

Even though the rest of my family was still suffering, at least I had him back and I would take care of him and make sure he was safe. He turned on his stomach and crawled towards me, taking my hand and gnawing on it.

I didn't realise when we both fell asleep, but I was shaken awake in the middle of the night by none other than Kofi.

When I opened my eyes and saw him, he motioned with his index finger over his lips, telling me to be quiet. I frowned and he pointed at my baby brother, who was asleep beside me.

I turned back to him and frowned. "What do you want?"

He grinned. "You're sleeping on my bed."

"And so?"

"What do you mean by 'and so'? Where should I sleep?"

"I don't know. The floor looks comfortable though." I shrugged.

"The floor? You want me to sleep on the floor in my own room, in my own house?"

I looked at him with a brow raised. "Did I stutter?"

He just stared back.

I closed my eyes and turned on my stomach, getting comfortable.

"Hey, don't go back to bed, we're not done talking!" He complained.

"I'm done. If you want to stand there all night, be my guest."

"Who the heck do you think you are? You can't come out of nowhere and claim my bed for yourself."

I snored particularly loudly.

I heard him sigh. "The only reason why I'm not throwing you out right now is because of the child."

"Forgive me if I don't believe that. You've tried to kill me three times already, I can't possibly believe that you care about my brother."

"He's a child, it has nothing to do with him being your brother." He moved from wherever he was standing and lay down on the right side of the bed, far away from Elikem and I.

"What are you doing?" I asked, frowning.

"I'm not going to sleep on the floor," he said, like the idea of it alone was completely ridiculous.

I didn't want to wake up entangled with him again. I knew myself, I liked to cuddle, and my sleeping brain did not realise what or who exactly I was cuddling. It didn't care. "You're not sleeping here."

He chuckled. "It's funny that you think you have rights over my bed."

"You... you'll suffocate the baby!"

"I won't. Now shut up and go to bed," he yawned.

I bit my tongue to restrain any more arguments. I was dead tired and more importantly, he wasn't worth it. Besides, if we kept arguing, we'd wake Elikem up.

I turned away from him and within moments, I was asleep.

When I woke up again, the birds were happily chirping and sunlight was streaming into the bedroom. However, I was gripped with fear when I woke up to find that not only Kofi, but also Elikem was missing from the bed.

I jumped up and ran downstairs, frantically searching for the child. I rushed into the kitchen to see the Faye brothers having breakfast on the kitchen counter. Elikem was sitting there, suckling on a bottle of milk.

"Who gave you the right to touch him?" I asked all three of them angrily.

"Chill. You were asleep so we brought him downstairs to feed him." Nathan replied.

I glared at them. "My brother is not yours to take care of." I took the bottle out of his mouth and set it on the counter, then I grabbed him and was about to go back to Kofi's room, when I came face to face Michael at the door.

He looked at me with indifference. I couldn't see any pain or misery in his eyes or on his face like yesterday. "Hi." He said.

I was tongue tied.

I regretted it.

I regretted breaking up with him.

I was just so angry at that moment that I didn't realise that he was only trying to do good. He took Elikem, saving him from starvation. It wasn't his fault that his father kidnapped him, there was no way he could've known he would. Furthermore, he risked everything by rejecting his betrothed and running away to be with me.

Yes, he was wrong for not telling me about it, but I guess that was just because he was afraid that I would've reacted exactly how I reacted. Plus, everything was fine now, wasn't it? I had my brother now, he was safe.

"Michael..."

"Can we talk," he looked at the brothers who were all intrusively looking at us, "privately?"

"Yes, of course. Let's go to the living room."

When we got there, I put Elikem on the floor and he began crawling around our feet. I was a little worried that he hadn't tried walking yet. He was of age.

"Are... are you okay?" I asked, putting my hand on his arm.

"I'm fine. I just wanted to let you know that I'll be leaving for the village today or tomorrow."

"What? Why?" I asked, taking a step back.

"Well, there's nothing left here for me anymore, is there?" He looked at me pointedly. I clenched my fists in agony. "I will get married to Diamond, but I will also try as hard as I can to bring my father down. I thought I should let you know that."

He was going to marry Diamond. "Michael... please don't go. Don't go," I begged him, bending my pride to my heart's will.

"Why shouldn't I go?"

"I... I need you here."

"No, I'm sorry, I have to find a job at Marvel."

"Michael..." I trailed off, regretting what I said to him yesterday.

"What? I'm not a toy Elorm, you can't keep tossing me about like this!"

At that, I frowned. "Don't act like you're innocent."

He sighed. "I know I'm not. I'm sorry from keeping that information from you. I should've told you from the very beginning, I'm sorry for that. But you ended things between us, and I've accepted that. I'll do what I can to help you and your family now. That's the least I can do after everything my father cost you."

"Michael," I didn't want to stoop to begging him, but I just couldn't see myself without him. The thought alone was just so incomprehensible, "stay for a while, at least. I..."

"You what?" He asked.

"I... I need you here," I diverted at the last minute.

I remembered the last time I tried to tell him this when we had a fight. It had just backfired on me.

"For what? Elorm, I can't stay here. I've seen for myself what my father is doing to these innocent children from his own village. I can't standby and do nothing." He said.

He was right, yet I couldn't let him go. "Well, why do you have to marry Diamond?"

"I need him to introduce me to the businesses like he planned. Once I'm inside, I can take all of them down."

"And then?" I asked. "Will you stay married to her?"

"Is that all you're thinking about?" He asked me, frowning.

"I just want to know what your plans are."

He sighed. "If we fall in love or I find her tolerable enough, why not?"

"Michael, really?" I asked incredulously.

"Maybe you and I just won't work out. Have you ever considered that?" He asked. "I mean, every time we try, we always fail. What if it just isn't meant to be?"

"I don't believe in that 'meant to be' crap. Things only work out if you put effort into making them work out. Michael, I don't know if you haven't realised, but we don't have the easiest love story."

"Love story?"

"I love you."

There.

I said it.

He just stared at me. "What?"

"I said––"

"No, I heard what you said, and you're just confused. Don't say that again."

I sighed. I should've listened to my own advice. He's never going to believe me when I say it so there's no use telling him. "Stay. Please."

"I can't. In fact, I don't want to. I must take my father down. Right now, that's my only priority."

"You're just an idiot." Both of us turned to the new voice. It was Wolfgang. "Both of you need to stop this foolishness. Prince Michael, I know you think you're invincible, but you're not. Yes your father is part of the syndicate, but there are two other partners and they won't hesitate to put an end to you behind your father's back."

"You know the other two?" Michael asked.

"That's not important," he countered.

"The other two are his father and Justus' father, though I assume you already know that."

At that, Michael raised a brow. "You never told me what you found out about Justus."

Telling him what Justus tried to do will only enforce his need to stop his father and his accomplices. "It's not important."

But Wolfgang had to open his big mouth. "He tried to rape her. He drugged her on their date, hoping to sleep with her as soon as the drug took effect."

Michael's eyes were wide as his nostrils flared with fury. "Is this true?"

I glared at Wolfgang. "Yes, but you indirectly saved me. I'm fine okay? Nothing happened."

"How did I save you?"

"Well, you followed me and brought that girl there, effectively ruining my mood so I asked to go back to the palace. He tried to pressure me into staying with him but you really pissed me off so I put my foot down. Thank you for that."

"Oh Elorm," he sighed, grabbing me and wrapping his arms around me. He was so warm and he smelt so good. I could make him my personal bed, "I'm so sorry."

"See why you can't leave? You keep me safe even when you aren't trying." I looked up at him with the widest eyes I could muster.

"I wish I could take you with me."

"Now that would be a disaster," Wolfgang interrupted, reminding us that he was still there.

"He's right." I confessed.

"Elorm, I'm sorry but I really can't stay. I can't be at peace knowing that I can do something to stop this, especially after what I saw." He said apologetically, letting go of me and putting space between us.

I frowned. "You think this is easy for me? You think I don't want to do something about all this?"

"I know it's not, and I don't blame you for not doing anything. You're a victim yourself, you're trapped here. There's nothing you can really do."

I glared at him. "So... you're still going to marry Diamond?"

He sighed. "It's the only way."

I stepped back. "Okay."

"I think I should leave now," Wolfgang said, leaving before either of us could reply.

"Okay?" Michael echoed.

"Okay. It's your life, it's your choice." I said. "I'll be here. When all this ends, I guess I'll figure out what I want to do with my life."

"Elorm," he reached for me, but I jumped out of his reach.

"Don't touch me." I spat.

"Elorm, please, don't do this. Don't be like this."

"I shouldn't be like what? When I tell you that I love you, you don't believe me and now you're telling me you're going to marry another woman and develop feelings for her and stay married to her even if you don't have to–"

"Woah, slow down. I never said it was my intention to fall in love with her. I said it might happen, and we both know that you and I are not good for each other. We won't work. We've already given this enough tries."

I scoffed. "You're right. If you're not willing to fight for us, the–"

"Fight for us? I've tried. There's only so much that I can take. I'm sorry Elorm, but this is goodbye. For good this time."

I bit my lip. "I am not going to cry again," I told myself. This was all my fault for breaking up with him. It was better if I accepted my fate like a stoic. "Okay."

"Don't do that. Don't tell me 'okay' like it's that simple."

"What do you want? For me to beg and grovel at your feet and ask you to stay? No, I'm not going to do that." I came close to him and faced him. "If you ever remember me and think about us and what we could have been, I want you to remember that it was all your fault." I poked his chest with my finger. "Your fault."

* * *

Kofi was picking Elikem up and all I wanted to do was put a bullet between his eyes.

"How many times must I tell you not to touch my brother?" I wanted to forcefully collect Elikem from him, but I was afraid of hurting the child.

"He was trying to walk and he fell." Kofi said. He was still holding Elikem and Elikem was playing with his curls.

I just wanted to slap him so badly. "Stop lying, he hasn't tried to walk since we got here."

"So, what, he won't ever try to?"

"Just let go of him. I don't want you trying to kill him too."

"Elorm," he sighed, "I'm not going to try and kill a child, and I didn't try to kill you. I simply repaid your favour."

"Excuses, excuses, every day, excuses."

He smiled. "Shut up."

"Just give him to me," I held out my arms for the child.

He obliged. "Hey, there's something I think you should know."

"What?"

"Well, since you and your stupid boyfri–"

"He's not my boyfriend. Not anymore."

Kofi rolled his eyes. "That means you invited trouble for yourself for no reason then."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, now growing suspiciously fearful. Elikem was about to throw a tantrum so I put him on the ground.

Like Kofi said, he grabbed my legs and used them to balance himself as he stood on his feet. "Oh my goodness," I said, looking at him. He looked at me and gave me the cutest smile ever, filled with dimples that escaped both me and the rest of my siblings.

"Ah, he's so cute. I wonder how he's related to you," Kofi said.

I glared at him.

Elikem mustered the courage to let go of my leg and took a step that was too big for his small feet. He was tumbling down head first, but before I could grab him, Kofi had already done so.

He knelt before Elikem and the boy smiled and clapped his hands excitedly.

The loss of words I had in that moment was no small issue. When did Elikem cosy up to that monster? Why was Kofi even being nice to him? "Whatever you're doing, stop it." I said.

"Wait, let me just make sure he's steady so that he won't hurt himself."

"No, I mean stop being nice to him. We both know how you really are." I glared at him.

He looked at me and shook his head slowly with a small grin. "I give what I get."

"You give what you get? What's that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say that the way you've treated me ever since I got here was because of how I treated you first?"

"Yes." He simply replied, not bothering to elaborate.

"That doesn't even make any sense! What did I ever do to you?" I threw my arms up in frustration, gesticulating wildly as I spoke.

All of a sudden, he fixed a dangerous look on me. "You are you."

"Care to explain?"

"No."

I groaned in exasperation. "Talking to you is like talking to a wall."

"Okay."

I kept quiet and watched as Elikem took two steps this time before falling again. Kofi picked him up and checked him all over to see if he'd hurt himself, and all Elikem did was laugh. He laughed a lot. He was a happy baby.

I was terrified of this gentle side of Kofi I was seeing. It struck me with wonder how someone could just change their colours like a chameleon like that. It didn't make sense, and what did he mean by 'I give what I get'? I never treated him badly.

Maybe I said a few rude things to him sometimes, but... wait. I saw the pattern now. Each of the times he tried to kill me, I thoroughly pissed him off. The first time was something minor. I simply insulted his manly pride.

The second time was more serious, because I'd unintentionally managed to temporarily ruin his relationship with his brothers. The last time was the worst – in my opinion – because I drugged him.

What did this mean? If I started treating him nicely, he'd treat me nicely too?

How do I even do that?

"Do you think we should get him... I don't know some kind of softer floor so that he wouldn't fall and hurt himself? How about a helmet and knee and elbow shins?" He said.

This was all so weird for me. It was hard to process. Now he was asking if he should get something to keep my brother safe.

"Kofi?"

"Huh?" He looked at me. He was smiling. Not those devious and malicious smiles, smirks, and grins that I was used to, but a genuine one.

My stomach turned over. I was going to puke. "You were about to tell me something. You said I got myself into some kind of trouble?"

Elikem leaned onto Kofi, reaching for his curls. Kofi lay on the ground, using his elbows to prop himself up so that he wasn't lying on his stomach, just so that Elikem could reach them.

My stomach turned again.

He looked at me and frowned. "You need to get your brother out of here. Heck, perhaps, you need to get out of here yourself."

"Why? Stop beating about the bush, ugh, what is it with you men and this annoying crap?"

He rolled his eyes. "Chief Amegah is coming. He'll be here any minute."

Have you ever felt that kind of fear that leaves the tips of your fingers cold and your whole body paralysed? You feel tingles and an unfamiliar sensation crawl up your spine and reach into your throat, gripping it and squeezing it shut so that you can't even squeak?

That's how I felt.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

"Did you hear me?" He jumped up, picking Elikem up with him. Elikem was content as long as he was touching his silky curls.

I still couldn't even talk. My voice had packed and moved out of my throat.

"You're so useless." He said. "I'll take the boy to my flat in the city until the chief leaves."

Then, my voice flew back in. "I trust you no more than I trust him. I'm not letting you take my brother anywhere."

"Really, Elorm? You'll put your pride before your brother's safety? That's really disgusting." He said, shaking his head.

"You're what's disgusting. You knew this and you were here wasting time, talking about how you give what you get." I spat. "Give him to me." This time, I just snatched Elikem away from him. Elikem looked at me, his eyes wide with confusion, and all I could think of was how someone his age shouldn't even know that emotion.

"What are you going to do then?" Kofi asked.

"So what if he sees Elikem? What will he do?" I challenged.

"You're so stupid sometimes." He facepalmed. "If even Nate and I aren't supposed to know about the organ harvesting business, how much more you? He'll know how you found out Elikem's whereabouts, then that's it. You're finished."

"Then he won't know Elikem is here. If I can't leave, then Elikem is going nowhere. I don't trust any of you with him." I told him.

"You're foolish," he said. His phone started ringing immediately and as he answered it and spoke, I heard a few of the things he said. Apparently, Michael's father was already here.

"He's here, isn't he?" I asked.

Kofi nodded. "Take the child and go to my room. Lock the door and don't open it for anyone. Don't be stupid and try coming out."

I exhaled and nodded. "Th-thank you."

He frowned. "Don't be stupid. I'm doing this for the boy, not you."

"I'm saying thank you on behalf of Elikem, not myself, you twit." I glared at him.

He chuckled and shooed me. I ran as quickly as I could to his room. When I got inside, I shut the door and turned the knob, locking it.

I sat there, my heart pounding as I cradled my little brother, until curiosity got the better of me. Also, Elikem was tired of my antics and he looked like he was about to throw a fit, so I let him go.

He slapped my thigh in agitation and crawled away from me quickly.

So he's not the snuggling type, huh?

He held the edge of the bed again and stood up. When he saw that he was steady, he turned and smiled at me, then took a step. He was still holding the bed so he didn't fall. I smiled and went nearer to him, but when I did, I saw that the glass door separating the bedroom from the balcony was left open.

Luckily, the curtains were covering the room, but they were still blowing. I ran over to close the door, but when I got to the balcony, I couldn't resist looking down.

I saw him.

All I felt was unadulterated rage.

He was smiling with Wolfgang – our resident pushover and people pleaser – and Michael was standing behind Wolfgang, looking as enraged as I felt. Kofi, of course, had an expressionless look on his face, the one I was used to receiving before we got to know each other. Nathan was absent.

The chief then turned to his son, and even though I couldn't hear what they were saying, I could read from Michael's body language that he was fuming. His fists were clenched and the way he was talking, it looked like he was just spitting.

Chief Amegah remained as calm as ever with a 'pleasant' smile on his face. He'd always been a pro at smiling like everything was alright when he was actually seething inside. I couldn't determine exactly how he felt at that moment.

I was about to head back, when, to my astonishment, I saw Elikem beside me. He was on all fours, meaning that he had crawled here. I saw tears pooled in his eyes, and the way he was biting his bottom lip, he was about to throw a crying fit. I wondered whether he was hungry, since I hadn't allowed him to have his breakfast milk.

I quickly carried him and was about to dash inside when he let out a loud cry. I ran anyway, wondering whether they'd seen me.

They'd definitely heard his cry but I hoped they didn't see us. I quickly shut the glass door behind us, but he was still crying; his mouth opened so widely that you would've thought he was trying to swallow a horse.

"Calm down," I cooed. I bounced him on my hip, but he wasn't having it. When I lifted him up, I saw that he was trying to reach for my breasts. "you are hungry, aren't you?" I sighed.

There was no way I could just leave him to cry. I needed to get into the kitchen, but I couldn't take him along. He was screaming. I also couldn't leave him behind though. What if someone came in and took him while I was gone?

He was still reaching for my breasts, so I put him on the bed. He started crying even louder, if that was possible.

I needed to think. Maybe I could trick him into drinking water, thinking it was milk. Though the only water source over here was the bathroom sink. No one drinks water from the bathroom sink. Is that even sanitary?

I was about to pick him up when the door suddenly burst open with an enraged Kofi standing over there. "Are you crazy?" He asked, breathing hard.

"He heard Elikem, didn't he?" I asked calmly, even though I was scared.

"Apparently, he saw him too. He wants to see you and your brother now, Elorm. I warned you, you idiot. You should've just let me take him to my flat. You can't hide a baby, don't you know that?"

"What do we do now?"

"Nothing. All you can do right now is try and appeal to his good side." He came closer to me. "Shut that mouth of yours. Put that sharp tongue to sleep. You do not want to mess with this man, Elorm. Don't."

"Why do you care so much?" I asked him, frowning.

"Um, because I'm a human being with compassion?" He asked me angrily. "I don't care whether you think I tried to kill you – though I did not – but this man definitely will."

I froze.

"I will miss being wicked towards you but only for a few minutes. However, your brother is just a child who has no fault in all of this. He doesn't deserve what that beast downstairs will do to him–"

"Kofi–"

"Shut up and listen to me! You need to be on your best behaviour, do you hear me? They took him–"

"Kofi–"

"Elorm, shut up. He wanted to have his organs harvested, Elorm. The organs of a young child who can't even walk yet. Wha–"

"Kofi!" I cut in again, as the terror wrapped itself around my spine. I could only stare.

"Will you shut up! What the heck are you even looking at?" He turned around to see who I'd been looking at.

Chief Amegah smiled back at him.

* * *

Finally! Finally, the real drama is about to begin! Muhahaha, I'm so excited I think I'm going to cry. Next chapter... tomorrow? If we get to twenty votes, we'll see. 😊

Don't forget to vote!🌟