842 Days in the Asylum: My Family’s Gift Chapter 10
Lyra’s POV
My voice remained calm, almost too calm. “I could have died a hundred times, Matteo.”
His face went pale.
“Did she go easy on me? Did anyone go easy on me?”
I took a step closer. “She stood there while that man beat me. She stood there while you called me a stray…
She stood there while another girl took everything that was supposed to be mine.”
My throat tightened. “All because she wanted to fulfill some promise to her sister.”
Matteo opened his mouth, but I didn’t let him speak.
“I will never go back to see her again.” The words came out firm. “I don’t even want to see you.”
“Lyra, please…” Matteo begged.
“You walked in here on your own.” I gestured around the small restaurant. “The only reason I’m talking to you right now is because I work here and don’t have the authority to throw customers out.”
Matteo looked genuinely hurt. But I didn’t stop.
“In my eyes, Matteo, you’re just another stranger, if not worse.”
With every word I spoke, the color drained more from Matteo’s face. By the end, he looked almost as pale
as the wall behind him.
“Lyra, it wasn’t Mom’s fault,” he said weakly. “Aunt Alice saved her life once. She felt like she owed her
that much…”
I almost laughed. “What does that have to do with me?”
Matteo stared at me. “This isn’t you, Lyra. You’re kindhearted. You always were.”
“I used to be.” My voice was calm. “But all of you killed that girl, remember?”
His lips parted, but no words came out.
“What?” I asked. “Disappointed that your speech didn’t move me?”
I leaned forward. “Go back and tell them something for me.”
My eyes never left his. “They can die a hundred times, and I still won’t feel anything.”
Matteo flinched. “There are some things you can’t take back once they’re done. They should have thought
about that before deciding their daughter should pay the price for their guilt.”
My chest tightened. “They were cowards.”
Then I pointed at him. “You’re a coward too.”
“Lyra-”
“No.” I cut him off.
“The only reason you had the audacity to come here today is because you’ve convinced yourself you’re not the villain in this story. You tell yourself you didn’t mean for any of it to happen, so somehow that makes you innocent.”
I let out a cold laugh.
“You can pretend you weren’t involved. Pretend you’re just as angry as I am. Pretend you were never part of it.” My eyes met his. “But none of that changes what happened.”
Matteo stumbled back a step.
“You are a bully and an abuser.” My voice dropped lower. “You’re just as guilty as they are.”
Matteo’s lips trembled. The fight seemed to drain out of him all at once.
“Now leave.” I pointed toward the door. “And don’t ever show up in front of me again.”
For a long moment, Matteo simply stood there, his eyes fixed on me.
One second, there was a faint smile on his face. The next, tears were slipping down his cheeks.
He looked like he wanted to say something. But in the end, he just turned and left.
That day was the last time I ever saw a Kane.
After that, news of the family reached me only through whispers, gossip, and the occasional article in the local papers.
I heard Mrs. Kane had eventually been admitted to the same asylum she once sent her daughter to
Mr. Kane stepped down from his position and left the family business to Matteo. But Matteo no longer
had the drive for it.
Most days, he buried himself in alcohol instead of work. And little by little, the Kane empire that had
once seemed untouchable began to decline.
As for Lily, after being kicked out, she married a wealthy man nearly twenty years older than her But that marriage didn’t stay glamorous for long.
Just a year later, her husband was exposed for fraud, and most of his assets were frozen.
After that, rumors followed her from one wealthy man to another.
As for me… The restaurant owner expanded the business and eventually promoted me to manager. Now I ran the place myself.
In the evenings, after closing, I would walk to the beach and watch the sunset sink into the horizon. The sky would burn so orange and gold.
Was I happy now? I could honestly say I was.
The first half of my life felt like a distant dream these days. A painful one, but a dream nonetheless.
I used to believe there was a place waiting for me somewhere. A home filled with people who would love me unconditionally.
In the end, I learned that family wasn’t always about blood. And blood certainly wasn’t a guarantee of
love.
I closed my eyes and listened to the waves rolling onto the shore, one after another, while the sea breeze brushed against my face.
I no longer needed a family to choose me. I had chosen myself.
I was my own family, and that was enough.
