Violet looked at her brothers carefully.
She never hid secrets from them.
But she wondered if she should hide the truth from them this time.
As she was contemplating on whether
to speak the truth or simply dismiss it
as it was no big deal ,
Stefan interrupted her thoughts.
"Don't try to hide anything from us.
No secrets. No excuse.
Definitely no lies. We want the truth."
Mathew nodded and said , " Tell us.
We're here."
Luis smiled and slightly squeezed her hand
to tell her that she was not alone in the circumstance she was going through.
" It's alright if you're not ready to tell us.
We can wait.
We will wait. Until you're ready.
We're always ready to listen to you.
But we hope you won't lie to us , Violet.
We're here for you. "
Violet looked at her brothers and
felt that she was so blessed to have them.
She smiled gratefully at them.
She was reluctant to tell them the truth because she knew that they would get hurt and furious on her behalf.
But finally , she decided that it was best if they heard it directly from her and not from outsiders .
Ultimately , there will be a time when the secret would be out in the open.
" Please promise me that you'll listen to the end and not storm out of the room.
Promise?",
Violet asked as she looked at her brothers.
"Promise!" , Matthew replied almost immediately.
Stefan and Luis nodded as they said
"Promise " as well.
Violet tried to keep her emotions stable but the tremble in her voice betrayed her.
" It.. it's about the Emperor."
"What did that jerk Emperor do to you?, Matthew bellowed.
"Matt , you will scare Violet.
We promise we'd listen to her till the end " , Stefan interjected.
" Go on , Violet.
What about the Emperor?" , Luis asked softly.
He was till holding her hands and stroking her back to calm her down.
"Brother Lu , what do I do? The Emperor....He has a.."
Violet had to take a deep breath before she continued to speak.
"Hmm?"
"A mis..A mistress."
" Mistress?" , Matthew screamed in shock.
" Yes. The Emperor has a Mistress."
"What?" , the usually collected Stefan shouted and stood up from the shocking revelation.
"That jerk. If I don't kill him.."
" Brother Matt , you promised."
"When did you find out?" ,
Luis asked as he tried to restrain his bloodlust against the Emperor.
To say they were shocked would be an understatement.
"The night of the wedding. He came to find me ."
Violet recounted the details of that night including the contract they signed.
She also mentioned the incident after Lady Olivia's visit
"What? How dare he!" Mathew roared.
He was beyond pissed.
"Why did you not send us a letter?
Why did you suffer on your own?
Did you forget that you have us?
Are we so useless to you?" ,
Stefan lightly scolded her.
His heart ache at his sister's predicament.
" I just..I just did not want to burden anyone. You have always had my back.
The three of you have always protected me and sheltered me as much as you could.
But in this place , it is not always possible for you to help me.
I wanted to be able to stand up for myself.
I didn't want anyone to think that I was weak.
That just because I was a 15 year old girl , I would be unable to think rationally. "
" Remember this , Violet Rossaria Vanidestine , you are not a burden to us.
You never will be.
You are our most precious person.
And it's okay to be weak sometimes.
To doubt. To fear.
It's what makes us humans.
But you have to remember that no one will always have all the answers.
And no one can always be strong.
That's why we need others. " ,
Luis told her gently.
" Thank you , Brother Lu. And I'm sorry , Brother Stef. And Brother Matt too . "
No one spoke for a good minute.
They just comforted Violet in silence.
"So you signed a contract with the Emperor?
And made him agree to a divorce after a few years ?",
Mathew asked her to confirm her words.