Chapter 95 BOUNDARIES

Darius never meant to disclose such a crucial fact.

In all honesty, it was never his intention to interfere in Amara's life. However, Amara's actions today made him think otherwise. Plus, her willfulness knows no bounds. From the moment she saw him, she had been walking all over him. She seemed to have forgotten that he was still her older brother, superior to her.

Today, he wanted to teach her a good lesson to remind her of her right place. She can cross whichever boundaries she likes, but not his. Poking her nose at his business and belittling his mate under the guise of being a sister is such a horrendous scheme he couldn't buy. He was never fond of scheming creatures like her, and he felt secretly ashamed that she belonged to this family.

They'd grown into adults and harboring a liking to opposite creatures, is normal, but Amara's extreme possessiveness over him for decades pushed him to speculate. He just did it out of curiosity, but the result somehow awakened something inside him. From that moment, he decided to distance himself to prevent further complications between them. He feigned being oblivious to his discovery to keep everything in place. However, her actions finally snapped him out of it.

Amara's fingers tightened unconsciously and she felt uneasy. She didn't expect him to retaliate.

She couldn't believe that Darius was pulling this prank to keep her mouth shut in the presence of everyone. She found his words incredulous, so she scoffed, hiding the uneasiness bottled up in her heart. "You've got to be kidding me, Darius! I grew up in this family, how could I be an outsider?"

She was confident of her status as the young lady of the Cage family. Antonia has nurtured her since she was a baby, and she has had a lot of proof of that. Furthermore, she also recalled that both Darius and Arthur treated her as if she was the apple of their eyes during their childhood, so how come? Why the drastic change of treatment towards her?

Amara thought of Mystica and secretly blamed her for this. If not for her, meeting him, he would've remained affectionate towards her. She suspected that she was feeding him words that made him act this way. The thought of it made her burn with anger, and she swore to kill her as soon as she saw her.

She indulged herself in dreaming of victory for a brief moment, but his voice pulled her back to her senses, making everything crush like shards of glass, falling like crystals that pierced her heart.

"Why don't you try to ask yourself first?" Darius smirked, hinting at something. "Besides, I never joked on serious matters."

"Darius!" Antonia rushed over and slapped him hard. "How could you say such words?! Amara is your sister!"

Darius didn't even flinch, even if his face was marked with Antonia's hand. He merely looked at her with a scrutinizing gaze.

Seeing this, Amara's eyes widened in shock. Her face turned deathly pale. Shaking, she managed to ask, "Mother, is this true? Am I really an outsider?"

"No! That's not true!" Antonia refused to admit it, but her eyes betrayed her. "You are my daughter, and you belong to this family, Amara!"

Amara couldn't hear Antonia's words. Her ears kept buzzing, and her mind was clouded by Darius' words, making her dizzy and unsteady.

'No! No! This can't be true!' She thought. 'This is just a nightmare! You can escape from it! You just have to wake up, Amara! Run!'

'No! You should learn to face reality!' Her mind began playing tricks on her. 'You desired Darius for a long time, which makes his words real!'

Amara couldn't bear the humiliation so she attempted to leave. However, after taking a few steps, she staggered and lost her balance. With a loud thud, she fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Amara!" Antonia shouted out in panic. "Darius! Help me bring your sister back to her chamber!"

Darius stared at Amara coldly for a long time. Then he said, "The palace doctor is here. Why not let him take a look at her?"

At the mention of the doctor, the staff member suddenly surrounded them. Then they carried Amara to the nearby cushioned chair. The doctor then proceeded to check on her.

Darius, on the other hand, grows anxious. He badly wanted to find Mystica, so he attempted to leave his parent's chamber. He was about to step out but was stopped by Vladimir's feeble voice. "I thought you wanted to know where she is? Why are you leaving?"

Darius merely looked at him as he turned around. "Are you even willing to tell me?"

Vladimir went silent for a short while as if he was weighing things. Then he voiced out slowly, "I need to talk to Darius in private!"

Antonia's gaze darted at him, seemingly inquiring. After a brief moment, she understood what he meant. Thus, she ordered the palace doctor and his staff to carry Amara out of their chambers. She glanced at Darius before she headed out.

The door was tightly shut, leaving the father and son to their privacy.

Darius couldn't help pacing back and forth. He was restless. He feared that she might be in some sort of danger somewhere, but he really couldn't catch a trace of her scent anywhere, as if she was deliberately hidden from him.

"I know where she is," Vladimir finally admitted. "But I can't tell you where she is at the moment."

Darius' gaze turned frosty. He approached Vladimir's bed and glowered over him, "Why couldn't you tell me?! If you had her, why can't you tell me?!"

He clenched his fist tightly, knowing that Vladimir must be up to no good again this time. Everything about him was full of schemes. He never laid information easily without getting something in return, and he doubted if he wouldn't try to strike a deal with him this time.

Vladimir's lips tugged upwards. Even though he looked weak, he still held the same cunning smile. "You will see her again, I promise, but you have to go on with the betrothal."

Darius' expression turned grim as he thought in silence. 'I was right. He has ulterior motives. Taking Mystica has become his opportunity to comply with the agreement between kingdoms.'

Observing Darius' silence, Vladimir went on. "Arthur will return everything to you, and you will proceed to marry the newly appointed queen of the Sylph Kingdom. After that, you can see her and even make her your mistress, for the hell I care."

Darius had never thought of having Mystica as his mistress. He had no interest in any other female creature aside from her. He couldn't imagine himself waking up in the morning and going back from work while facing a woman who was a stranger as his wife. Furthermore, if Mystica happened to know about this, she would definitely leave him forever. That fact alone was enough to make him think rationally.

"What can you say?" Vladimir asked, thinking that Darius was listening attentively to his "perfect plan".

However, Darius' face grows colder than usual. Vladimir might've been thinking that his plan was perfect, but for him, it was all nonsense. He replied, "I'm not treating my mate like that! If you can't tell me where she is, then I'll keep searching for her until I find her."

With that, he turned around and walked to the door. However, Vladimir's response made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Then I will make sure that you will never find her!"