Chapter 49

After a while of feeling the cold wind, a sudden screaming voice brought Taria back to life. She ran towards the voice, ignoring Ray who was struggling to follow her, yet she regretted coming back just after she saw blood all over the place.

"RAY, DON'T COME", Taria shouted, looking at the corpses of the maids laying on the ground and covered with blood. She didn't understand what was happening, nor could she notice the strange steps getting closer to her. Tic, tok, tik, tok, and Taria raised her head finally.

"Who the hell are you? not a maid, of course, but not a Leo looking at your appearance. Ah, what ever, another kill won't be bad", a man said

Taria could feel her heart racing again with the pistol moving up towards her. A million thoughts were running through her mind, yet one name was highlighted, Ray. What will a little kid do after seeing his mother getting killed? Will he stay alive in the first place? Will that stupid man kill him next?

"Stop", a voice said, but that voice was the one Taria wished she wouldn't hear at that time.

Ray was standing in front of his mother, raising his arms as a shield to keep her safe though he was so tiny to be efficient.

"Ah, this is a Leo. Hello kid, I was looking for you. Is that your mother", the man said, leaning forward and getting closer to Ray, close to the point the small kid could easily take out the other pistol that was tied to the man's waist. A quick move that Taria couldn't see, then bang.

The shouting sound forced Taria to close her eyes, yet Ray's eyes stayed open. The whistling voice kept ringing in her mind, but she opened her eyes to see her son covered with blood, a blood that wasn't his.

Ray turned to face Taria with his face stained with the man's blood as well as every other part of him. He wiped his face with his sleeve calmly, then he walked towards Taria who was still on her knees.

"Are you ok, mom?" Ray asked

At that moment, Taria realized that she lost her son. She knew that she could no longer keep her sunshine away from being sucked into the dark sides of the Leo family, and she felt that she would never manage to pull him out of that blood river he fell in. She started crying, hugging him as if she was saying goodbye, then she wiped the blood off his soft skin and whispered so many words that he couldn't understand

"Ray, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't keep you safe", She said, moving her shaky hands all over his body

Ray thought that the reason why his mother was terrified after seeing him covered in blood was that she got some flashbacks she really hates, so he murmured "could you please stop seeing him in me".

Taria paused for a moment after hearing what her son said even though she wasn't sure if she heard it correctly as her crying voice distracted his calm low one. She looked at his eyes that were as sharp as they always were, then she held his small hands and covered her face with them. She wanted to hug him and tell him how much she loves him, she wanted to tell him that she would always be by his side no matter what, yet before she could open her mouth, a voice interrupted her.

"You killed him, ha. That idiot was never careful, he deserved it", a man said, walking over the dead body and heading towards Taria and Ray.

Taria stood up fast, hiding her son behind her. Her teary eyes became sharp, and her shaking body became calm as if she turned into a completely different person.

"What do you want?" Taria said calmly

"What do I want? Ha hahahahaha. I want my revenge", the man said, with a look in his eyes as if he was thirsty for her blood.

"What revenge? Who are you?" Taria asked

"Seven years ago, my father got killed in this mansion by this disgusting family, leaving me and my mother to face life alone, that's why I'm going to kill you all, right here, right now", the man said, raising his pistol towards Taria

Her eyes got wider, and she started breathing fast once she heard the sound of preparing the pistol for firing. She turned around fast and shouted "don't shoot him, Ray"

The man froze as well as Ray after hearing her shouting as if she was protecting the man from her own son. She turned to face the man again, then she took out her necklace

"Maoi Park, is that your father?" She said while her tears started falling again, but the man got furious and shouted "you dared to take his earring too, wasn't it enough to kill him"

Taria shook her head softly, then she said "our father gave it to me before he died", with a soft smile on her face that made the man stop blinking

"My name is Taria, and I think that I'm your older sister now", she said

"You are… that Taria in the picture", he said, then he fell to the ground as well as her tears.

Taria and the man went to the guests room to talk, leaving Ray safe in the lake room. The man turned out to be Taria's half brother, yet he didn't tell her his name.

"Father and mother never really loved each other. He would come to our house once a week, yet he would always treat my mother harshly. There was a photo of another woman and a little girl hanging on the wall, and they would keep fighting about it all the time. He once told me that the woman was his true love, but the girl took her away from him, he only said that her name was Taria", the man said

"Yeah, that's me", Taria said, fighting her inner cries and trying to keep calm in front of her younger brother that she didn't know existed until an hour ago, then she said "your father loved my mother crazily, yet after she got pregnant, she chose to stay out of the mafia issues to keep me safe, which meant leaving father. I lived with him for a year after she died, and… that's why I can't understand why you want to take revenge for him. That man isn't worth staining your hands with blood, you are still young for this"

"You only lived with him for a year, and you suppose that you have the audacity to judge him, ha, you are really as bad as he told me", the man said, standing up and heading towards the door

"That man hit me more times than you could count, he almost killed me many times, and he also stayed still while I was getting rapped, even after many years passed, he shot me again, but that was his last shot", Taria shouted, pressing hard on her fists and looking downwards to keep her tears inside.

"You may see him as the villain, but he was my hero", the man said then he opened the door calmly

"Think again, idiot", a voice Taria knew well said. She raised her head fast and ran towards the door where Ve was pointing a pistol towards the man's head

"Wait, Ve don't kill him", Taria shouted

"I can't do this, Taria. This man killed many of my people, and if I didn't kill him, the whole family reputation would be ruined", Ve said coldly

"He is my brother, and he is still so young", Taria said, pulling the man behind her back, yet he didn't let her continue defending him

"If you didn't kill me, I will kill you", the man said, raising his pistol against Ve

"Stop it, both of you. Enough blood for the night", Taria said

"Mommy is right, there is a dead body in the corridor already. We can say that the intruder was killed and sneak this man out", Ray said calmly while walking into the room

"You are supposed to be in the room now, Ray", Taria said angrily

"I can't leave mommy alone in a dangerous situation, I'm a Leo, and a Leo never leaves a beloved person", Ray said

Taria's heart started racing, beating fast to the point she felt a little dizzy. She felt Tian's ghost standing behind Ray, smiling warmly to her and putting his hands on their son's shoulder, so she smiled, then she hugged Ray tightly and started shedding tears

"I really love you, Mommy loves Ray so much", she said, then she carried Ray and headed out of the room, leaving Ve and the man holding their pistols against each other.

"Don't carry me like a child", Ray said

"You are a child, Ray. You are mommy's favorite child ever", she said, smiling warmly, then her smile got replaced with a sharp face and she said "Ray, I love you because you are you, not because you look like your father. I see him in you sometimes, to be honest, but you both are different people, and that is not a bad thing"

"... Will you love me even if I had blond hair and blue eyes?" Ray asked, burying his face on his mother's shoulder

"Of course I will. I will love you no matter what you look like or what you do", Taria said, feeling delighted as this was the first time she and Ray had this type of conversation

"I will love mommy no matter what too, and I will keep you safe", Ray said, hugging Taria's neck with his short arms, then she got out of the room carrying Ray in her arms, leaving Ve and the man to do whatever they wanted with each other