Confrontation

"Ow." Lynne scratched her long wet black hair with a lot of effort, leaving red marks on her scalp.

There had been a lot of trash dumped all over her, but fortunately, she managed to clean most of it up.

Used like a garbage dumpster where she was kicked and thrown around, Lynne thought about Ava's ominous appearance, an unfamiliar face she once called her best friend.

"Ava, I didn't mean for things to turn out like that back then," Lynne mumbled. "Please… stop hating me."

[I still want to be your friend.] Lynne wanted to say these seven words to her, but she couldn't in the end. Even after everything she had been put through, she never gave up.

Walking out of the bathroom, Lynne was greeted with a familiar handsome face, leaving her at a loss.

"Br-brother?"

Standing outside the girl's bathroom, Tylem leaned against the nearest wall with an unknown expression, his demeanor that was even greater than the overbearing CEOs found in romance novels frightened Lynne.

"You—why didn't you pick up the phone?" Tylem asked, his unmoving face made it hard for Lynne to tell how he was feeling. However, if one paid close attention, it was the first time he had addressed her with 'you.'

"I… d-didn't see it." Lynne didn't dare to meet his gaze.

This side of him was completely different to the gentle Tylem back home.

"The real reason." Tylem stood face-to-face with Lynne, his bright eyes sharp. "Who was it?"

Unfortunately, by the time Kaden had discovered Lynne's location, the harassers involved were long gone.

In the bathroom, she had been cleaning herself up: the harassers weren't even in this building in the first place.

The actual harassment had taken place elsewhere.

During Lynne's silence, Tylem noticed the shattered silver phone protruding out of her right pocket.

Lynne also noticed the direction where Tylem was looking, and she realized her mistake. Quickly, she tucked it deep into her skirt pocket while playing it off with a casual expression.

"Show me your phone." Tylem ordered, hiding his anger.

"No… that's mine." Lynne's large eyes darted around in panic.

"Now." Reaching out his hand, Tylem's jade-like palm was placed in front of her.

"You can't do this, Brother!" Lynne cried out. "That's invading Lynne's privacy!"

Tylem's heart was filled with rage, but he kept his cool in front of Lynne. Taking a deep breath, he asked through clenched teeth, "Please, Lynne."

Regardless, Lynne kept fiercely shaking her head, tightly holding onto her blouse tie for comfort.

"I'll have to tell our parents then about the bullying." Left with no choice, Tylem threatened. It wasn't a true threat since he had planned to tell Emily and Weston ever since the beginning.

This one sentence caused Lynne's beautiful face to perk up, "No, please!"

However, Tylem did not relent, even after Lynne's continued pitiful begging.

"No matter how much you beg me, I have to tell our parents, Lynne. I don't want you to face this alone," Tylem said.

"Please, Brother. Just give me some time." Lynne pleaded.

"I can't. Something has to be done now." Tylem shook his head.

Suddenly, Lynne's face blew up in anger with tears in her eyes, a side of her he had never seen before.

"Brother, you can't butt in like this!"

"You don't even know the entire story!"

The entire story between Lynne and Ava? Was that what she meant?

The reason for Lynne keeping it a secret extended beyond what he knew. Of course, her silence had lasted for so long, after all.

This situation had started well before his arrival. It wasn't just a secret kept in order to keep him unaffected.

There had to be some sort of big personal reason beyond status as to why this little girl, who loved and trusted her parents so much, would end up not saying a single word to Emily and Weston about the bullying matter.

Closing his eyes, Tylem was finally a bit moved. However, he did not relent, "Lynne, I also don't wish to make a decision without knowing the entire story, so that's why I need you to tell me…"

"Lynne, I need to know what is going on."

In front of her unending tears, Tylem couldn't bear to straightforwardly say no. Just… what exactly was going on here? Did Ava and Onel have some sort of dirt on his little sister? Even if he infuriated Lynne, he needed to know more.

"Brother, I promise I will tell you one day, but please now is not the time." Lowering her head, Lynne begged with a pair of large watery eyes.

"I'll wait a week, but after that, I'll have to inform Mother and Father regardless of the reason. They deserve to know." Tylem compromised.

Tylem wished for Lynne to open up on her own.

However, Lynne was unwilling to accept, her little face becoming angry once more.

"Stop, you're not even my real brother!" In the heat of the moment, Lynne spewed out words she didn't mean at all.

The instant Lynne's voice came out, her face bubbled with regret.

"I'm not your real brother." Tylem agreed. "I know that best."

"No… Big Bro, I-I didn't m-mean that." Lynne panicked, beginning to choke up on her words.

"What did Lynne mean then?" Tylem, himself, was hurt. However, his serene face did not show it.

In the end, even if he tried his best to treat them like real family, the fact forever remained that he did not share a blood connection with them. It was quite unusual in the first place for Lynne to call him 'brother' so easily.

"I… don't know." Lynne was stumped on how to respond. The heavy emotion clouded her sound judgment.

"Mn." Tylem nodded with a smile. "I see."

Following these words, Tylem left the corridor without saying goodbye, despite Lynne piercingly calling to him in tears.

It was childish. In the back of his mind, Tylem understood he was acting like a child right now, but he couldn't help it.

"I'm selfish and narrow-minded." Tylem clenched his teeth.

* * *

In the blink of an eye, the end of school had arrived.

Tylem was walking to the designated detention room with Carol when his phone began ringing. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw the name, 'Emily.'

Picking up, Tylem was a bit hesitant as he answered, "Hi, Mother."

No matter what, he did not wish to lose this genuine love—his place in the sun.

The fear of being left behind.

Tylem's first life meant that he still had some doubts, but since he had promised to treat them like real family, calling Emily, his benefactor, 'mother' was the least he could do.

Years ago, it was once a taboo word, but with time he had even grown detached from it.

That connection was changing once again, however.

In fact, he was beginning to find new meaning to the word: a bright light.

"Wa-what, honey—could you please repeat that for me?" The beautiful voice on the other end implored.

"Mother, hi…" Tylem repeated, his heartbeat rising.

"Oh my god, honey. You're so cute! Mommy loves you so much!" Emily giggled. Tylem couldn't see, but an enormous grin encompassed her entire face. This was a special occasion. It was the first time he had called her mother!

In the past week, Emily had been careful to not use the word 'mother' because of Tylem's painful memories, but it seemed that he was moving on. Regardless of the reason, she was thrilled!

"Mommy is on her way to school right now." Entering the parking lot, Emily was in her car to pick up Tylem and Lynne. "Honey, where is your class?"

The detention didn't mean much to Tylem, so he replied in a casual voice, "I have detention right now with the PE teacher."

"Oh?" Emily raised her brow while stepping out of the car. "What for?"

Emily knew that Tylem wasn't the type of child to cause trouble for no reason, so she was not angry at all. Instead, she was more curious than anything.

"There was a person who hurt my friend, so I threw a ball at him during dodgeball." Tylem stated the events of this morning.

Of course, Emily was unaware of her son's power, so it did not sound that serious.

Rather than focusing on the nitty-gritties, Emily giggled with a proud doting smile, "Honey, you've made a friend on your first day? Mommy is so proud! Hehe, it's never wrong to get justice for your friends!"

This type of pure love could spoil a child rotten, but Tylem's youthful heart was being soothed. Thinking back to his little sister, he felt bad for leaving her like that.

Guilt tugged at his heart.