Chapter 92 Raye

Chapter 92 Raye
Elara’s POV

“We can leave tomorrow. I don’t want to spend another night in this place.”

Carl’s calm voice broke the silence that had settled over the room, pulling me out of the heavy thoughts that had been swirling in my mind for what felt like hours. Ever since we had returned to Ashmere Mansion, my thoughts had refused to stay in one place. They kept drifting back to Vincent no matter how hard I tried to push him away. It hurt, and I hated that it did. After everything Carl had told me, I knew where my loyalty belonged. If I had to choose between Vincent and the brother I had only just found, I would choose Carl over and over again.

So why did my heart refuse to make that choice as easily as my mind?

I looked up from where I sat on the edge of the bed. The room Vincent had given me was warm, spacious, and comfortable, yet it didn’t feel like mine. Nothing had felt like mine since the day my life had fallen apart. The soft lighting from the bedside lamp cast gentle shadows across the walls, but even that familiar comfort felt distant now, like a memory of a life that no longer belonged to me.

Carl stood by the window with his arms folded across his chest, staring out into the darkness that had swallowed the Ashmere estate. Exhaustion was written across every feature of his face, but beneath it was a quiet determination that made him look stronger than he had when I first found him. His shoulders were tense, but his voice remained steady, like he was trying to hold everything together for both of us.

“We’ll leave as soon as the sun comes up,” he continued. “There’s nothing keeping us here anymore.”

I lowered my gaze to my hands, my fingers twisting together in my lap.

Nothing.

The word echoed painfully inside me, settling like a weight in my chest.

He was right.

The only place I had ever called home now belonged to strangers. Every photograph of my mother, every memory we had shared inside those walls, every little piece of the life we’d built together… it was all gone.

Cassandra hadn’t simply sold a house.

She had erased the last trace of my mother.

A painful lump rose in my throat, but I forced it back down before it became tears. The thought of her packing up Mom’s things, signing papers, and walking away like none of it had ever mattered made my eyes burn. How could she do that? How could she erase us so easily?

Carl crossed the room and sat beside me on the bed, the mattress dipping slightly under his weight. “You don’t have to worry about clothes,” he said gently. “Or money. Whatever you lost, I’ll replace it. We’ll start over somewhere far away from here.”

His words were comforting.

They should have made everything feel easier.

Instead, they only reminded me how completely my old life had disappeared. The thought of leaving everything behind — the memories, the familiar streets, the last pieces of my mother — made my chest ache with a deep, hollow sadness. But at the same time, the idea of starting fresh with Carl, of finally having a family again, brought a small, fragile spark of hope that I clung to desperately.

After a long silence, I finally lifted my head, my voice barely above a whisper. “I’m not quitting school.”

Carl blinked in surprise, his eyebrows raising slightly.

“I promised Mom,” I whispered, my voice trembling despite my efforts to steady it. “I promised her I’d finish my education no matter what happened.”

The memory of that promise squeezed painfully at my heart. My foster mother had believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. She had worked herself to exhaustion just to make sure I stayed in school. Even during her final days, she had worried more about my future than her own. The thought of breaking that promise felt like betraying the only person who had ever truly loved me unconditionally.

Carl’s expression softened, his eyes filling with understanding. “You won’t.”

I looked at him, searching his face for any sign of doubt. “You’ll finish school,” he said with quiet certainty. “I’ll make sure of it.”

“But—”

“No.”

A faint smile crossed his face, warm and reassuring. “You’ve spent enough time worrying about surviving. Let me worry about everything else for a while.”

His hand rested gently over mine, his touch steady and comforting. “I’ll pay your tuition. I’ll make sure you have a place to live. I’ll make sure you never have to wonder where your next meal is coming from.”

Emotion tightened painfully inside my chest, a mix of gratitude and overwhelming sadness that made my eyes sting with fresh tears. “You don’t even know me.”

A quiet laugh escaped him, soft and genuine. “I’ve spent years wishing I could.”

His smile faded into something softer, more vulnerable. “And now that I’ve finally found my little sister…”

He squeezed my hand gently, his voice thick with emotion. “I’m not losing you again.”

The tears I’d been holding back blurred my vision, spilling over before I could stop them. For a long moment, neither of us spoke. We simply sat there together, mourning everything we’d lost while trying to believe there was still something left worth fighting for. The weight of the day — the loss, the uncertainty, the fragile hope — pressed down on us, but for the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel completely alone.

Eventually, Carl rose to his feet, his movements slow and tired. “You should get some rest.”

“So should you.”

He nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. “I’ll come for you in the morning.”

When he reached the door, he paused, his hand resting on the frame. “We’re leaving Ashmere tomorrow.”

Then he quietly left the room, closing the door behind him with a soft click.

I remained seated for another minute, staring at the closed door. Sleep was the last thing on my mind. Instead, another face appeared in my thoughts.

Raye.

The thought of her sitting alone after losing the only family she had left made my chest ache with a deep, aching sadness. I couldn’t leave her like this. Not after everything we had been through together.

Without thinking twice, I stood and quietly left my room.

The mansion was unusually silent. I walked carefully until I reached the guest room Vincent had prepared for Raya.

My hand hovered over the door before I knocked softly.

There was no answer.

After waiting a few seconds, I slowly pushed the door open.

Raye was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back partly turned toward me, still wearing the same clothes she’d had on earlier. She hadn’t even bothered to change. Her eyes were fixed on the window, but I doubted she was really looking at anything.

She looked…

Empty.

When she heard the door, she slowly turned her head.

The moment our eyes met, I crossed the room without saying a word and wrapped my arms around her.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke.

We simply held each other.

Then I felt her shoulders begin to shake.

“I’m tired,” she whispered brokenly, her voice thick with exhaustion and grief.

I tightened my embrace, holding her closer. “I know.”

She pulled back just enough to wipe at her eyes, though fresh tears immediately replaced the ones she’d brushed away. “I don’t want to go back home.”

Her voice was barely audible, filled with a pain that mirrored my own. “Everything there…” She swallowed hard. “Everything is going to remind me of Mom.”

Another wave of tears rolled down her cheeks, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. “I don’t think I can walk into that house without expecting to hear her calling my name.”

My own eyes burned with unshed tears. There were no words big enough to carry that kind of grief. Instead of searching for them, I simply took her hand, squeezing it gently.

“Come.”

She looked at me questioningly, her eyes red and swollen.

“Lie down.”

She didn’t argue.

Slowly, she stretched out on the bed.

I pulled the blanket over her before sitting beside her, gently brushing a few loose strands of hair away from her face. “Try to sleep,” I whispered, my voice soft and soothing.

She gave a tiny shake of her head. “I can’t.”

“You don’t have to force it.”

I rested a comforting hand against her back, gently rubbing slow circles the way my mother used to do whenever I couldn’t sleep after a nightmare. The motion felt familiar and comforting, a small piece of home I could still offer her.

After a long silence, Raye spoke again, her voice barely above a whisper. “…Will you stay until I fall asleep?”

A sad smile touched my lips. “Of course.”

She closed her eyes.

I continued gently patting her back, humming softly beneath my breath — the same lullaby my mother used to sing to me when I was little.

Little by little, her breathing slowed.

Her body relaxed.

Within minutes, exhaustion finally claimed her.

She had fallen asleep… still holding tightly onto my hand.