Athaliah Kensington's Pov.

"Can I see your arm?"

Zephyrus asked. My stomach tightens and my heart races fast. I controlled my face from becoming pale not to give any of my brothers any hint about the things that I am hiding.

Last night when Zephyrus left my room, I went to freshen up and change my clothes and saw myself in the mirror.

One of my eye contact lenses was missing. My one eye was purple and other one was black. I guess it fell somewhere in the club. I started panicking and called dad. I explained everything to him. He gave me the idea to abandon the lenses now. I need to move on from the bad memories that are attached to my purple eyes.

I cannot live like that for my entire life because this is my eye colour, I can't change anything about them. Therefore, I gathered some courage to face the world with my own eyes. Not the ones which are hidden behind the transparent coloured lenses.

I don't know why but I feel like Zephyrus knows something about me. His actions last night were enough to alarm me.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why are you asking instead of showing? Are you hiding something?" He counter questioned me.

"Your request seemed ridiculous."

"It was not a request."

"And I do not follow commands."

We stared at each other for some seconds before he spoke again,

"Show me your arm Athaliah."

"Or else what?" I stood on my ground.

"Will anybody tell me what this all is about?" Aldric asked.

"It's nothing. Your brother is making a fuss out of nothing."

"Oh yeah? Then why don't you show your arm. Are you scared of something?" Reuben graciously intervened.

I sighed. "Fine"

I was about to roll up the sleeve of my right arm when Zephyrus interrupted,

"Not this one piccolo. Your left arm."

I rolled my eyes at him and pushed up the sleeves of my sweater. The left one.

Suddenly the temperature of the room dropped. There was a pin drop silence.

"What the hell? How is your arm burned?" asked Royce.

"I am sorry. It was my mistake." Our maid, Anna, said trembling as if She is struggling to control her fear.

Flashback: a few hours earlier.

I was examining my bullet wound. I have a feeling that Zephyrus saw something at the club. If this is the case, I need to hide my wound as well. I have bandaged it properly and took antibiotics and other medicines so as not to get an infection.

It is 6 in the morning now. Breakfast will be in a few hours. I got a plan. If they are going to see a wound on my arm, better it be from someone they know.

I called Anna, our maid, from intercom.

"Hey Anna."

"Good morning young miss."

"Morning to you as well. I actually want some boiling water in my room. I want to take steam from it. I think I have a cold. It will keep my coughs at bay."

"Of course, miss. I will bring it there in some minutes."

"Perfect."

I hung up the intercom. Carefully, I covered my wound with a thick cloth and pretended it was there for taking steam.

A knock was heard, and I opened the door.

"Young miss, here is the boiling water. But be careful, it is very hot."

I nodded and gestured her to keep it on the table I was leaning on to.

When she came towards me with the boiling water, I put my foot forward and made her trip on it. Her grip on the pot containing hot water loosened and the water splashed on my forearm hitting the area of the bullet wound and the area surrounding it.

I felt an intense, sharp pain as the hot water made contact with my skin. The sensation is jarring — the heat immediately overwhelming me, and there's a sudden burning feeling in the area where the water splashed.

Anna was about to fall in the spilled water, but I immediately caught her, pulling her backwards.

"Oh my god. Your arm. Is it okay?" she asked in panic.

I rolled up the cloth just enough to hide my bullet wound and show the other new redness that has started forming on my forearm.

"Oh my! I am so sorry. I didn't mean to. Wait here, I will bring you ointment."

Saying this she went out of the room. I removed the cloth and hissed in pain. There are blisters forming on my skin. I immediately went in the washroom to pour cold water on my arm. Luckily, the cloth on my bullet wound protected the wound from being burn or else it would have been a torture.

I heard Anna coming, so I went out of the washroom. She saw me and tried to examine my arm. But I immediately said, "It's okay. You can give it to me. I will put on the ointment."

"No, it was my fault. I will help you."

I could not stand there and see her blaming herself.

"Anna, it was not your fault. It was an accident. Don't blame yourself."

"But.." She was about to say something when I cut her off and said,

"No but. I can apply the ointment. You can go and prepare the breakfast or else The Kensington brothers will be angry if not served on time."

She chuckled a lilted and with remorse returning in her eyes she said, "I am really sorry young miss."

"Don't worry. It will heal."

Flashback ends.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to." Anna apologized while sobbing.

"Can't you handle a pot of hot water?" Reuben yelled at her.

Anna just lowered her head.

"It wasn't her mistake. It was an accident." I said clearly confused why Reuben would care.

I am not going to let them blame her when it wasn't her fault. I know the feeling of being blamed, when you didn't do anything, damn too well.

"Still, she could have been careful." Ezekiel said.

"You are fired." Aldric announced.

I furrowed my brows. She is not getting punished for my secret to be hidden. Anna was about to leave when I said,

"No, she is not."

"Piccolo, you need to understand. If she can't cater our needs without making such mistakes that can harm us, she can no longer work here." Zephyrus said, sitting beside me and now carefully and delicately holding my wounded arm.

Disregarding what he said, I spoke, "She is not fired."

"Cupcake, your arm is full of blisters. It is a huge thing." Royce said.

"Yes darling. You must be in pain right now." Kaelen said, eyeing my blistered arm like he was the one in pain.

"She is not working here anymore." Reuben declared.

"She is not leaving her job."' I said looking at him in his eyes.

"You cannot stop that."

"Oh yeah! Try me." I challenged him.

We stared at each other. Our gaze intense.

"Fine, you are not fired. But if such incident happens again, you know the consequences better." The peacemaker, Aldric said.

Anna nodded repeatedly to show her gratitude and left for the kitchen.

After she left, Ezekiel asked, "Why you have bandaged only a little. Your whole arm is in blisters. You need immediate medical attention. It looks painful."

I snatched my arm from Zephyrus's hand and said, "It's fine. It doesn't hurt much."

"You need to go to the hospital." Aldric stood up and spoke.

I can't go to the hospital. The wound I tried so hard to conceal, even got blisters for it, will expose.

I know how to end this conversation.

"Don't worry, they are just physical wounds given unintentionally. They will heal. But the ones that were given intentionally to me still hurts a lot."

Nobody spoke after that.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ezekiel held my arm and asked while examining my inner wrist, "Is that the mark of a cigarette burn."

Fuck. I forgot about my old scars.

I immediately covered my arm and avoided any eye contact with the brothers.

"Who did this?" Aldric asked with a hint of anger in his voice.

I closed my eyes to calm my emotions. Once I was calm, I spoke in a monotonous tone, "It was me. I was trying cigarette for the first time."

"You said that you don't smoke," Royce said.

"Also, when someone tries it for the first time, they burn their fingers not wrists." Reuben said in an indifferent tone.

———🌸———

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