Her Rebirth.-Chapter 37

Amelia took a deep sigh before clicking the door to the principal’s office open.

She had been called by the principal of Ray High School, informing her that Ray had injured some students in a scuffle.

At first, she didn’t want to come. Besides, he had Mason, Eve, and Lilac, who apparently loved him very much, and for this, his sister, Ray, held hatred for her. However, maybe she was affected by the affection the original Amelia had for this brother of hers, so after contemplating, she had taken permission from Damien and found herself coming here.

Seeing her, a middle-aged man, who was apparently the principal, greeted her with a warm smile.

"You must be Miss Amelia."

Amelia saw Ray with a frown, his lips broken. Apart from that, he looked perfectly fine. On the other side of the room were three students with purple and blue bruises. It was obviously a one-sided assault.

Beside them were their parents, who didn’t look happy one bit.

However, the first words of anger didn’t come from the parents but rather from Ray himself.

"What the hell are you doing here?! After running away, you decided to show up now? Get out! I don’t need you!!!"

Amelia looked at him coldly and went up to him.

Pa!

Ray’s eyes widened in shock as he clenched his cheek, which had just been slapped.

"What the fu—"

"Utter one more thing from your mouth, and you won’t just be receiving a slap, young man," Amelia said coldly.

Ray, seeing Amelia’s temperament immediately shift, was scared. He knew that if he spoke any further, Amelia was truly going to do something more to him. So he clenched his teeth in anger but didn’t say anything more.

Amelia turned to the principal and sat down. Sitting up straight, legs elegantly crossed, her eyes were cold.

"Now, what happened?"

The principal was a bit surprised by her demeanor. He had heard that Amelia Cosgrove was a brash young woman, but from what he was seeing, it didn’t seem so. Instead, what was before him was a refined young lady.

He coughed.

"This afternoon, Mr. Ray got into a ghastly brawl with these three young men, leaving them greatly injured."

Amelia raised an eyebrow.

"And...?"

Before the principal could continue, one of the parents, a well-dressed woman, slammed her hand on the desk.

"And?! Is that all you have to say?!" she snapped. "Your delinquent of a brother beat our sons to a pulp, and you’re sitting there acting indifferent?!"

Another parent, a burly man with graying hair, scoffed. "No wonder the boy is so violent. With a guardian like you, it’s obvious he was never raised properly."

The third parent sneered. "You’ve clearly spoiled him rotten. Instead of disciplining him, you let him run wild, hurting other students! This behavior is disgusting."

Ray clenched his fists, expecting to be scolded by Amelia.

However, she didn’t act like he had expected. Instead, she turned to Ray, meeting his gaze directly.

"What happened?"

Ray blinked.

It was such a simple question, yet it left him momentarily stunned.

She... actually asked him?

For as long as he could remember, no one ever asked for his side of the story.

Normally, whenever Eve or Mason came, they would apologize, scold him a little, and then offer hush money to make the problem go away.

His grip loosened slightly before he clicked his tongue. "Those idiots ganged up on me because some girl one of them liked had a crush on me."

The room fell silent.

Amelia’s eyes turned to the parents. Then she smiled, but it was a smile as cold as ice.

"Ah... I see. So your sons are at fault."

The parents stiffened.

"Yet here you are, acting like rabid dogs, twisting the truth to paint my brother as the villain."

"How dare you—"

"How dare I?" Amelia cut them off smoothly. "It seems you’ve mistaken me for someone who tolerates nonsense."

The parents flushed in anger.

"That boy is lying!" the well-dressed woman snapped. "Our sons would never do such a thing! Besides, look at them—injured all over while he is only injured on his lips."

Amelia tilted her head. "Oh? Then it should be easy to prove, shouldn’t it?"

She turned to the principal. "There is security footage, correct?"

The principal nodded hesitantly. "Yes, we do have—"

"No need!"

The three boys suddenly shot up from their seats, looking panicked.

One of them, the smallest of the three, swallowed hard before blurting out, "We did it! We were the ones who started it!"

His two friends whipped around to glare at him.

"Idiot! Shut up!"

But it was too late.

Amelia’s expression didn’t change, but one could see a tiny smirk forming on her lips.

"Oh?"

The parents turned to their sons in horrified disbelief.

"What did you just say?!" one of the fathers barked.

The boys, now pale and sweating, hesitated before slowly lowering their heads.

"...Ray didn’t do anything at first," one mumbled. "We were mad, so we... jumped him."

The parents looked like they had been slapped.

The mother, who had been the loudest earlier, turned red with embarrassment.

She quickly cleared her throat. "W-Well, boys will be boys. It was just a small fight. Let’s not blow things out of proportion."

The other parents nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes. Just a little misunderstanding. No need to make it a big deal."

Amelia’s fingers tapped against the desk.

"A misunderstanding, was it?"

She smiled, but her eyes remained cold.

"You falsely accused my brother, berated me, and now that the truth is out, you want to sweep it under the rug? It’s only right you apologize."

One of the parents huffed. "Girl, don’t make things bigger than they should be."

The other parents nodded in agreement.

"If that’s the case," Amelia answered smoothly, "then I suppose it’s only right that the boys be expelled for assaulting a fellow student. After all, the school has a zero-tolerance policy for violence, does it not?"

The parents stiffened.

The principal coughed awkwardly. "Well, that is true, but—"

"Wait!" the woman cut in, gritting her teeth.

Her expression twisted in frustration before she forced out, "We’ll apologize."

The other parents nodded reluctantly, clearly swallowing their pride.

They turned to Ray with stiff expressions.

"...We’re sorry."

Their sons looked like they were chewing glass, but under their parents’ fierce gazes, they also muttered out half-hearted apologies.

Ray, still in disbelief over the entire situation, could only stare.

Amelia leaned back in her chair, satisfied.

"Good. Now, let’s make sure this doesn’t happen again."

The whole issue was soon resolved, and Amelia left the office. Wanting to go back to Liavenne, she had told Damien she would be coming back, after all.

"Amelia," Ray’s voice rang from behind her.

Amelia turned, looking at this little brother of hers. Studying his features now, he did look 70% like Amelia, the only difference being that instead of having crimson eyes like hers, he had deep blue eyes. It was quite pitiful that their relationship had soured despite the fact that Amelia greatly cherished this little brother of hers.

She said nothing, simply watching him.

Ray clenched his fists before blurting out, "Why did you come?"

There was no gratitude in his tone, no warmth—only confusion and lingering resentment.

"I didn’t need your help," he added, his voice quieter this time, almost unsure.

Eve and Mason usually came as his guardians, though it was Eve 99.9% of the time. However, Eve was unreachable today, and Mason was busy and told him to handle his problem. Lilac was currently attending lectures, so she couldn’t come. The only other person was Amelia. He had thought she wouldn’t come either. After all, she had left home for weeks now, and they didn’t have the best relationship. But she actually came.

Amelia raised an eyebrow.

"Is that what you say to someone who just helped you?"

Ray flinched. He hadn’t expected her to call him out so directly.

"But aren’t you supposed to?" he shot back, defensive now. "You’re my older sister, after all. Isn’t it your responsibility?"

Amelia let out a soft chuckle, though there was no amusement in it. "Oh? You think family works that way?"

Ray bit his lip, hesitating before speaking again.

"The time I needed you, you were never there," he muttered. "You were always pushing me away, pretending I didn’t exist. But now—now, after all these years, you suddenly care?!"

Amelia looked at this brother of hers. Yes, Amelia did distance herself when their mother left, but she was ten. She was still a child. When she had realized her wrong, hadn’t she apologized or tried to amend for what she did? Yet this brother of hers pushed her away. If he was still young, it was understandable, but he was seventeen now. He ought to understand that it was never Amelia’s fault but rather the father he so cherished.

"She was ten," Amelia said coolly.

Ray stiffened.

"You keep saying she pushed you away," she continued, her tone soft but cold, "but tell me, Ray, what did you expect a ten-year-old to do when her mother abandoned her? When her father replaced her family overnight? Did you expect her to smile? To act as if nothing had happened?"

Ray opened his mouth but couldn’t find the words.

"She was ten," Amelia repeated, her voice sharper now. "A child. And yet you, no, all of you, acted as though she was the villain for struggling to accept it."

Ray’s breathing grew uneven.

"Yes, she distanced herself from you. She won’t deny that," she admitted. "But when she realized her mistake, when she tried to come back, didn’t you shove her away?"

Ray’s hands trembled slightly. He remembered.

The day Amelia had tried to mend things, years ago. She had reached out to him hesitantly, awkwardly, as if she didn’t know how to be his sister anymore. But he had been cruel. He had pushed her to the ground, laughed at her, told her she was unwanted.

At the time, it had felt justified. After all, she had abandoned him first, hadn’t she?

But now, standing here, hearing her say it out loud...

"Do you know what the worst part is, Ray?" Amelia asked, tilting her head slightly. "It’s not that you pushed her away. It’s that you never once stopped to ask why she changed. You hated her without ever wondering if she had a reason to be the way she was."

Ray swallowed hard, his throat dry.

"You blamed her for everything," she continued. "For leaving, for distancing herself, for not being the sister you wanted her to be. But did you ever stop to think that maybe she needed someone too? That maybe she was just a child who didn’t know how to handle losing a mother? And when she tried amending things, what did you do?!!" Amelia sneered. "Did you expect her to grovel on the ground and kowtow to you?"

Ray clenched his jaw, his emotions spiraling.

"You say she wasn’t there for you," Amelia said, her voice quieter now, almost sad. "But tell me, Ray, were you ever there for her?"

Silence.

Ray’s breathing was unsteady, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. He wanted to argue. To fight back. To say something, anything. But nothing came.

Because deep down, he knew she was right.

Amelia exhaled softly, turning away.

"I don’t need your gratitude," she said. "But don’t ask me why I helped you today. Because despite everything, you’re still her little brother."

Ray’s chest tightened.

She took a step forward, her hair catching the wind.

"Amelia—" fгeewebnovёl.com

She paused, but she didn’t turn back.

Ray wanted to say something. Wanted to ask her to stay. Wanted to tell her, tell her what? That he was sorry? That he didn’t know she was this hurt?

But before he could figure it out, Amelia spoke one last time.

"Goodbye, Ray."

His breath hitched.

"Hopefully, fate won’t let our paths cross again."

And then she walked away.

Ray stood there, watching her disappear down the road as her hair fluttered with the wind. He felt something unfamiliar tug inside of him.

It wasn’t anger.

It wasn’t resentment.

It was something much, much worse.

It was regret.

And he hated it.