Chapter 227 Against My Own Family

Chapter 227 Against My Own Family
MIA

“Uncle,” I called as I watched him fold my clothes and place them carefully into the bag beside the hospital bed.

The sight of him packing my belongings should have made me feel relieved. I was finally leaving this place. I should have been happy.

But something about the way he moved bothered me. He was too quiet, too careful, like his mind was somewhere else.

“Yes?” he replied, immediately stopping what he was doing and turning toward me.

The moment he reached my side, his expression changed.

His hand quickly came up to my face, his fingers brushing gently against my skin as his eyes searched mine, looking for something I wasn’t saying.

“Are you okay? Do you want to eat? What’s wrong? Are you feeling any pain?” he asked, checking every part of me like I was still the little girl he used to protect.

Like nothing had changed.

“I’m okay, Uncle,” I said, raising my voice slightly.

He frowned and slowly pulled his hand away. “Then what’s wrong?”

I looked down at my hands, twisting my fingers together. The words had been trapped inside me since I woke up, but saying them out loud meant I had to face the truth.

And I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

“I’m confused, Uncle,” I admitted.

His eyes stayed on me. “About what?”

He dragged the chair closer and sat in front of me, giving me his full attention. That was what made it harder, because no matter what happened, he was still the person who had always protected me.

“About Elara,” I said.

The change in his face was immediate. The warmth disappeared from his eyes, replaced by something colder, something that made my stomach tighten.

“I told you not to get involved with her,” I said, watching him carefully.

“But Uncle, I can’t,” I replied. “She is my friend.”

For a second, he didn’t say anything.

Then a small smirk appeared on his lips, and somehow that was worse than anger.

“Soon enough, you won’t see her again,” he said.

My brows pulled together. “What do you mean, Uncle?”

A strange feeling settled in my chest because I knew that tone. I knew that calm expression.

Whenever my uncle spoke like this, it meant he had already made a decision.

A decision he wouldn’t change.

“She will be going to Egypt soon,” he said, his voice steady.

I stared at him, waiting for him to explain, waiting for him to say something that would make this sound less terrifying.

But the next words that left his mouth made my entire body go still.

“And we will make sure she loses her memories and forgets about Alessandro.”

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe. My heartbeat became louder in my ears.

Loses her memories.

I knew exactly what those words meant. They weren’t talking about her forgetting naturally. They meant they would force it.

They would inject her.

They would take away pieces of her life, pieces of her memories, pieces of herself.

The thought alone made my chest tighten.

“What do you mean by we?” I asked, my fingers curling into a tight fist as I tried to control the anger rising inside me.

“I and Adrian,” he answered simply.

The way he said it made my heart sink, like it was nothing. Like they weren’t talking about destroying someone’s life.

A bitter laugh escaped my lips because I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“You actually planned this?”

My uncle didn’t answer, and his silence told me everything.

My eyes burned as I looked at him the man who had always protected me, the man I trusted.

The man who had always told me he would never let anyone hurt me.

Yet now he was the one preparing to hurt someone I loved.

“I will never allow you to do that,” I said, my voice shaking with anger. “Elara is my sister.”

His expression didn’t change.

“You both are not related by blood,” he said calmly. “You are just friends. You are Williams, and she is Moretti.”

Each word felt like a reminder. A reminder of the families, the names, the lines he believed we were not supposed to cross.

“Besides, Adrian and I have already made the decision,” he continued. “You won’t stop us.”

My heart sank, not because I believed him, but because I could see it in his eyes. He had already accepted the idea.

There was no hesitation, no guilt.

Nothing.

He leaned back slightly, looking at me like I was still the little niece who needed his permission before making a choice.

“Just sit back as the little niece you are to me,” my uncle said in a cold voice. “What I am doing is for your own good.”

My eyes burned as I stared at him.

For my own good.

That was what everyone said when they did something they knew would hurt me.

“I won’t allow you or Adrian to inject Elara,” I said, my voice firmer this time. “I won’t allow her to lose her memories.”

His eyes stayed cold.

For a second, I expected him to argue, to raise his voice, to tell me I was wrong. Instead, he reached out and touched my hair, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

That smile hurt more than his anger would have.

“Come and stop us, then,” he said quietly. “Let me see.”

He picked up my bag and walked out of the hospital room.

I sat there, watching the door close behind him.

The same man who had carried me when I was hurt, the same man who promised to protect me, was now the person I had to protect someone from.

My hands tightened around the blanket.

No matter what happened, I wouldn’t let anything happen to my Elara.

Never.