Chapter 159 Her Tears Are Everything
RAVIAL
My lamb was refusing to talk or acknowledge my presence after what happened.
She sat turned toward the window, arms crossed, staring at the passing trees like they had personally offended her. Every few minutes she would huff quietly, the sound adorable. I could feel the annoyance rolling off her in waves, small and completely ineffective against me.
I didn’t mind.
It only made me want to pull the car over and remind her exactly who she belonged to, the copy in the back seat be damned.
Her silence was louder than any scream. It meant she was thinking about me. About what I said. About how far I would go for her.
That was enough.
For the past forty minutes, I had been aware of the black sedan trailing us at a careful distance. Charles’s man, no doubt. The fool thought he was subtle. I had noticed the moment we left the villa, but I kept my silence.
Pathetic.
He thought he could follow me without being noticed. Humans always overestimated their cleverness.
I didn’t want Leitana or Avery to worry, so I said nothing. Let them think the drive was peaceful. I would handle the insect behind us myself.
I reached inward, letting my mind brush against the familiar threads that connected me to my most loyal.
Lucius. Aamon. Azazel.
Three presences answered instantly.
My lord.
I kept my face relaxed, one hand loose on the wheel while Leitana continued giving me the silent treatment.
There is a car following us. A black sedan, three cars back. Deal with it. Make it look like an accident. No survivors.
Lucius’s voice came back smooth and obedient.
Should we cause an illusion on the road, my lord? Make the driver lose sight of you?
A slow smirk tugged at my lips.
No. Kill him.
Aamon chuckled in the back of my mind. As you command, my lord.
Yes, my lord, they answered together.
I felt the connection sever as they moved to obey.
Satisfied, I glanced at Leitana. She was still staring out the window, jaw tight, refusing to look at me. The pout made her look even smaller and more adorable.
My chest warmed in that strange, unfamiliar way it only did for her.
An hour later the wooded road opened up to a tall, discreetly gated building nestled deep in the trees. The safehouse was secure, private, and impossible to find unless you already knew where it was.
Leitana finally broke her silence, eyes widening as the high gates came into view.
“Wow…” she breathed.
I drove up to the gate. It opened automatically.
Inside the courtyard, about a dozen suited men stood waiting in perfect formation in front of the main building. They bowed their heads as the car approached.
I drove through and parked smoothly.
A faint, satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of my lips as I cut the engine. Lucius and the others had been efficient, as always. No more black sedan in the rearview. No loose ends trailing behind us.
“Shall we, my lamb?” I asked, voice gentle now.
She huffed angrily, still refusing to look at me, and pushed open her door.
I chuckled under my breath and stepped out on my side.
One of the men approached immediately and bowed his head. “Sir. They are inside. They’ve been told of your arrival.”
I nodded once. “Good.”
I turned and saw Leitana already holding Avery’s hand. She was speaking softly to her sister, voice warm and steady.
“Take a deep breath, Avery. Those people need the truth. Yu can do this. Mi right here with yu.”
Avery was visibly shaking, face pale, but she nodded.
“Yes… okay.”
I watched them for a moment, my wife, small and brave, comforting someone who had once tried to take her place.
Leitana squeezed her hand tighter, then glanced back at me. Her eyes were still a little stormy from our earlier fight, but there was that familiar spark of strength underneath.
Every day she surprised me.
Every day I adored her more.
I offered her my arm.
She hesitated for half a second, then took it with another small huff.
I hid my smile as we walked toward the entrance together.
My jealous self was still quietly planning exactly how Ethan from Juilliard would disappear if he ever sent another voice note.
But for now, my lamb needed me calm.
And I would be whatever she needed me to be.
Even if it meant pretending I wasn’t counting every single text on her phone.
We stepped inside the large sitting room.
The Foster family was already waiting, four of them clustered together like frightened animals in a pen. Their eyes snapped to us the moment we entered.
First they saw Avery.
Then they saw me.
Then Leitana.
The reaction was immediate and loud.
Allison shot to her feet, eyes wide. “Avery? What the hell are you doing here?”
Eden, the youngest girl, looked between us in confusion and rising panic. “Wait… why are you here? What’s going on?”
Janette Foster,the mother, stood slowly, her face already crumbling with dread. “Avery… where is my son? Where is Leroy? We haven’t heard from him in almost a month. Please… tell me what’s happening.”
Avery’s legs almost gave out. I felt Leitana tense beside me, her small hand gripping my arm tighter.
Avery took one shaky step forward, tears already streaming down her face.
“I… I’m so sorry,” she choked out, voice breaking. “I’m so, so sorry…”
Janette’s hand flew to her chest. “Sorry for what? Avery, where is my boy?”
“He’s… he’s gone,” Avery whispered, the words cracking like glass. “Leroy… he passed away. Charles… my father… he had him killed.”
For a second, no one moved.
Then chaos.
Eden screamed first. “What kind of sick talk is that?! Stop it! That’s not funny!”
Allison’s face went deathly white. She stumbled forward, shaking her head violently. “Please… Avery, where is our brother? Who are these people? This can’t be real. Tell me this is some kind of joke!”
Ryan blinked rapidly, looking from Avery to his mother, mouth slightly open like he was waiting for someone to say it was all a prank.
Janette shook her head slowly, face draining of color. “No… no, Avery. Don’t say that. Leroy was just going to talk to your father. He was coming back. He always comes back to us.”
Avery broke completely, sobbing harder. “I’m sorry… It was all my fault and Mathew… he took Mathew too. I’m so sorry but I will get him back.”
Janette’s knees gave out. She dropped onto the sofa with a raw, guttural scream that tore through the room. The sound was pure animal pain, the kind that comes from a mother’s soul being ripped apart. She clutched at her chest, rocking back and forth as heavy sobs wracked her body. “No! Not my boy! Not my Leroy! Please God, no!”
Allison rushed to her mother, tears already falling, voice breaking. “Mom… Mom, breathe. This can’t be real. Avery, please tell us you’re lying. Please.”
Eden stood frozen for a moment, then exploded. “You’re lying! You have to be! Leroy wouldn’t just die like that! Where is he? Tell us where he is right now!”
Ryan’s eyes filled with tears. He didn’t speak. He just stood there, small shoulders shaking, looking completely lost.
I watched the entire scene unfold from a few steps away, arms loosely crossed.
Their pain was… boring.
Janette’s screams, the way her face twisted in agony, the ugly, wet sobs ripping out of her, it all felt like background noise. Human grief was always the same: loud, messy, pointless. They would cry, they would rage, they would eventually break or adapt. I had seen it thousands of times across centuries. It never changed and it never interested me.
These people were nothing but collateral in a game Charles Hale had started. Their suffering was inefficient and wasteful.
My gaze shifted to Leitana.
She was crying too, tears sliding down her cheeks. My lamb’s heart was too soft for this world. Her small body trembled against my arm, empathy radiating from her like warmth from the sun.
She felt everything so deeply it made something inside me shift uncomfortably.
Just the fierce, all-consuming need to protect her from even the sight of pain.
I moved forward instantly, cupping her face with both hands, thumbs wiping her tears away.
“Why are you crying?” I asked, voice low and urgent. “Are you in pain? Do you need to rest? We can leave right now if this is too much for you.”
Leitana looked up at me, eyes wet and shining with that endless, stubborn kindness that still baffled me.
“Mi Ravial… this is so sad,” she whispered, voice thick. “These people just lost someone they love. That’s why mi crying.
I glanced back at the Foster family, Janette still rocking and wailing, Allison trying to comfort her while crying herself, Eden shouting through tears, the little boy looking lost.
I felt… nothing.
No pity, sorrow or discomfort. Just mild irritation that their noise was upsetting my wife.
But I couldn’t let her see that.
I pulled her gently against my chest, one hand stroking her hair, the other resting protectively on her lower back and pressed a kiss to her forehead, voice soft and careful. “I see. Their pain is… difficult to watch. I’m sorry it hurts you, my lamb. You have such a gentle heart.”
“I know it hurts you to see them like this,” I murmured against her temple, keeping my voice soft for her alone. “You have the kindest heart I’ve ever known. But you don’t have to carry their pain, little lamb. Let me handle it. You’ve already done enough.”
She sniffled against my shirt, small hands fisting in the fabric.
“Mi just…wish no one had to hurt like this.”
I pressed a kiss to the top of her head again.
“Then I’ll make sure no one else does,” I whispered.
At least not anyone you care about.
Avery continued explaining everything in broken, tearful sentences, Charles’s threats, the way he had used Leroy and now Mathew as leverage, how she had tried to protect them all by bringing them here.
I listened with perfect calm on the outside.
Inside, I was already calculating how quickly I could make Charles Hale disappear forever without Leitana ever connecting the dots.
For now, I simply held my wife tighter and murmured against her hair, “You’re doing beautifully, supporting your sister like this. I’m proud of you.”
I held Leitana closer, letting her cry quietly against me while the humans fell apart around us.
Their suffering meant nothing to me.
But her tears?
Her tears were everything.
My perfect, tender-hearted lamb.
So full of light.
So completely unaware of the devil standing right beside her, feeling absolutely nothing for the human wreckage in front of us.
I would keep it that way.
Always.