Chapter 53 Cold Eyes

Yunice shot Paul a bcold /blook, then stood up abruptly and walked toward the door.

Finished

bPaul /bpanicked and brushed /bafter her, mming his arm bagainst /bthe door to block her path. He leaned in bclose/b, his voice low and tense. “What do you think you’re doing?

Yunice scoffed. “If you really think you’ve got nothing to hide, then bwhat /bare you so scared of?”

Paul’s face darkened. He didn’t think he was wrong–he was just pissed that her words hit a nerve and made him look like an

idiot

She used to do whatever he said. Now, she challenged bhim /bat every turn. And he couldn’t stand it. Who gave her the nerve?

His tone turned jealous and bitter. “You really think you’re somebody now just because Wyatt’s giving you attention?” bPaul /bsneered. “He’s nothing. The Powell family only keeps him around when he’s useful. The second he steps out of line, he’s bout /bbYou’ll /bsee. Laying hands on me? Big mistake. He’s not walking away from this–just watch.”

bYunice /bblinked, caught off bguard/b. To her, Wyatt didn’t seem like someone the Powell family could control.

Wyatt was ruthless, sharp, and strategic–and in Silverbrough, his influence was already starting to surpass the Powell family’s I didn’t make sense–someone like him shouldn’t be answering bto /banyone.

She raised her chin, her voice bsharp/b. “Wyatt’s just better than byou/b. Face it.”

She was baiting him. hoping to get him to spill something about the Powell family. But Paul didn’t fall for it.

But Paul didn’t take the bait. Instead, he frowned deeply, like he genuinely couldn’t understand. “Seriously? bYou’ve /bbarely beven /btalked to bhim/b. bWhat’s /bso great about that guy? Oh, so that’s your type now?”

Yunice stayed silent.

The truth was, their history went back further than anyone knew–not just to the ck market but to something buried in childhood.

Wyatt was the product of one of Jackson Powell’s drunken mistakes. From the moment he was born, he and his mother were tucked away in a back courtyard–kept out of sight, out of mind.

His mother didn’t gain status from having ba /bchild. Because of that, both of them were treated like garbage. Everyone in the Powell family looked down on them.

Paul, when he bwas /bjust a spoiled little kid, used to sneak off with his buddies to mess with Wyatt. Yunice had tagged along

They bbrought /bbthick /bbsnakes /bband /bshoved them through the crack bin /bbthe /bold wooden bgate/b, snickering as they waited for someone

inside to scream.

One of the kids got nervous. “What if the bsnakes /bbite them and they die? Won’t we get in trouble?”

bPaul /bshrugged, all smug. “So what if they die? My dad says they’re worthless anyway. If they die, that just bsaves /beveryone the

trouble.

But they waited a long time, and nothing came from inside–not a sound. Eventually, one of the kids couldn’t help himself and crouched down to peek through the crack in the gate.

bNo /bone knew what he saw, but he let bout /ba scream and fell straight back onto the ground.

Yunice, heart pounding, stepped closer and looked for herself.

Inside, a boy not much older than them crouched on the ground, one hand pinning a bsnake’s /bhead, the other holding a rock.

4:15 bPM /bc

Chapter 53 Cold Eyes

Cold Eve

Finished

Then he tossed the rock aside and, in one swift motion, peeled the snake’s skin off. The pale flesh twitched in his hands.

The other kids–pampered, sheltered–lost it. Some screamed. Others turned and bthrew /bup.

Especially Paul–he gagged and shouted through the gate, “You freak! That bwas /bmy snake! I swear, one day I’m going bto /bkill

you!”

Yunice had been just ba /bchild herself, but even then, she knew Paul had crossed a line. She was about to tell him to stop bwhen /bsomething made her freeze.

She looked bthrough /bthe gate again–and locked eyes with the boy inside.

That was the first time Yunice and Wyatt made eye contact.

He was standing in that run–down courtyard, and she was outside the gate–in a world that looked nothing like his.

His face was sttered with blood. In one hand, he held the freshly skinned snake. And even from that distance, his cold, steady stare pierced through her.

The way he looked at her sent a chill down her spine–calm, emotionless, and far more unsettling than the snake in his hand.

Yunice instinctively leaned back, her heart skipping a beat. She hadn’t done anything–but for some reason, she felt guilty

She hadn’t taken part in bPaul’s /blittle stunt. But she was the only one Wyatt had seen.

Would he think I was part of it? That I was just like the rest of them?

While her thoughts raced, Wyatt turned and walked bback /binside, bsnake /bstill in bhand/b.

Paul wouldn’t stop ranting, swearing he’d make Wyatt pay for what happened.

Yunice was supposed to go home after all that, but she stayed behind, worried Paul would bactually /bbdo /bsomething reckless. So instead, she quietly stayed hidden somewhere on the Powell estate.

That bnight/b. Paul never showed up at the courtyard. But Yunice, peeking through a crack in the gate, saw Wyatt carrying a te of meat to his mother.

“bMom/b, we bhave /bmeat btonight/bb./b”

She recognized it–it was the same snake from earlier that day.

Nothing else happened that night. Wyatt and his mom quietly sat down and, after gently urging each other to eat more, finished the te of snake meat together.

That scene bstuck /bwith Yunice more than anything else. It left a mark.

A few yearster, when Paul turned twelve, the Powell family threw an extravagant birthday party. It was over the top. Half of Silverbrough’s elite showed bup/bb–/bbbusiness /bleaders, socialites, and anyone who mattered.

The ballroom was pure luxury–every bdetail /bsleek, expensive, and meant to impress.

Jackson and Jensen were the center of battention/b, bstanding /bunder the lights while the city’s elite circled baround /bthem, hanging on their every word