842 Days in the Asylum: My Family’s Gift Chapter 04
Lyra’s POV
Matteo looked at me as if I were something precious, but all I wanted to do was tell him to stop pretending.
The Kane had been the ones to throw me into that hellhole. Where had this sudden concern come from? And if Matteo had really paid the doctors to take good care of me, then why had they treated me the way they did?
I still remembered the nurses forcing handfuls of pills down my throat, the restraints around my wrists and those endless hours tied to a bed, unable to even stand on my own.
They were monsters, and the Kane had been the worst of them all.
“Leave me… alone…” I whispered.
Matteo’s face immediately paled.
“Lyra,” he said quietly, “tell me who did this to you. Who hurt you in there?”
I turned my head away and refused to look at him.
A long sigh escaped him, but he didn’t leave. Instead, he pulled over a chair and sat beside my bed.
The room fell silent.
For a while, the only sounds were our breathing and the steady hum of the hospital machines.
“When will you and the rest of the Kane leave me alone?” I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper.
A tear slipped from the corner of my eye. “You never treated me well, but you never let me go either. Wouldn’t it be easier if you just let me find my real family?”
When I looked back at Matteo, his head was lowered, his expression impossible to read.
“It’s not that simple,” he said after a long pause. “Lyra, the Kane is your family. I…I am your family.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “My family?”
The words tasted almost funny. “My family wouldn’t treat me like a stray and garbage.”
My throat tightened. “My family wouldn’t throw me into an asylum and let people force pills down my throat.”
I had to stop for a breath. “My real family would never have done to me what you Kanes did.”
The tears came faster after that, one after another, soaking into the pillow beneath my head.
I wasn’t crying for the Kane family anymore. I had already wasted enough tears on them.
I was crying for the little girl I used to be-the girl who bragged to everyone about her perfect family. It
felt like I could never cry enough for her, for how foolish she was, and how powerless she had been.
The door suddenly opened.
A nurse walked in carrying a small paper cup. “Miss,” she said gently, “it’s time for your medication.”
The word medication alone was enough to make my entire body shake.
Memories from the asylum came rushing back-the pills, the restraints and the endless haze that
swallowed my days.
I scrambled upright, staring at the nurse in horror. “Don’t come near me!”
“Lyra!” Matteo was on his feet instantly, reaching for me.
I fought harder. “Is that why you brought me here?” I shouted. “So you can feed me more pills?”
Panic clawed its way up my throat as I struggled against him. In the chaos, my hand struck his face.
The slap echoed through the room.
But Matteo didn’t get angry. If anything, he looked heartbroken.
“Get off me!” I screamed.
Instead of letting go, he pulled me into his arms.
“Shh… shh…” His hand pressed gently against the back of my head. “Nobody’s going to hurt you again. I
swear.”
His voice was rough. “If you don’t want to take pills, then you won’t. I’ll talk to the doctors. We’ll find another way. Okay?”
For a moment, I hated how familiar it felt. Years ago, whenever I cried, Matteo would hold me exactly like this. Somehow, despite everything, a part of me still found comfort in his embrace now.
How could you, Lyra? After everything he did to you, how could you still let him comfort you?
The moment Matteo relaxed, thinking I had calmed down, I shoved him away with all my strength.
He nearly lost his balance.
“Mr. Kane!” the nurse gasped.
Matteo stared at me in surprise.
I gave him a cold smile. “I said, don’t touch me,” I said. “You made me sick.”
For a second, hurt flashed across his face. Then he forced a small smile. “I won’t touch you, Lyra. But please… just stay calm, okay?”
“Get me out of this hospital.”
Anything connected to pills, doctors, or the smell of disinfectant dragged me right back to the asylum
“But the doctor said your condition-”
Before he could finish, I grabbed the vase from the bedside table and hurled it at him.
The vase shattered against the wall. A sharp piece of ceramic sliced across Matteo’s forearm. Blood
appeared almost instantly.
The nurse let out a horrified gasp.
Matteo froze. For a long moment, he simply stared at me, like he was looking at a stranger.
I had never fought back before. I had never jumped out of a moving car. Never screamed at him. Not to
mention thrown anything at him.
For years, I had accepted every insult, every punishment, every betrayal. But not anymore.
Something almost like fear flickered in Matteo’s eyes.
Good. Let him be scared.
I hadn’t known how to protect myself before. But I was learning now. Anyone who dared to hurt me would pay for it. I would make them suffer twice as much as they had made me suffer.
“Lyra…” Matteo’s voice was rough. “Did you really want to hurt me that much?”
I didn’t answer. I just looked at him with empty eyes.
Matteo swallowed hard. For the first time, he sounded almost desperate.
“Fine. Okay. We’ll go home.” He held up his hands slightly, as if afraid of startling me. “Just… stay calm,
alright?”
I smiled. “Okay.”
Relief washed across his face so quickly it was almost painful to watch.
His shoulders slumped, and for nearly a full minute, he simply stood there staring at the floor. Finally, he
nodded. “Alright then.”
He turned and walked out. The nurse hurried after him.
A few minutes later, Matteo returned carrying a bag.
“I brought you a change of clothes,” he said quietly. “Get dressed, and then we’ll leave.”
Fortunately, jumping from the car hadn’t broken any bones. I had a few scrapes and bruises, but I could
still move without much trouble.
I changed clothes without arguing.
From the way he looked at me, Matteo probably thought I was finally behaving.
He had no idea. The only reason I agreed to go home with him was because my phone had been shattered
beyond repair. The information about my real family had been stored in it.
Lily was the one who had sent me that message. She claimed that she knew where my real family was.
Until I got that information from her again, I had no choice but to return to the Kane house.
