Ask for coffee.

I'M SORRY, I'M SO, so sorry!

Juliette woke up with tears still streaming down her cheeks, her soul weighed down by remorse, and her heart aching with agony.

It had been three years since that day, but even though she was now safe and secure - safer than she had ever been in her entire life, truly...

The nightmare had never gone away, and she doubted it ever would.

I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!

Juliette wiped her cheeks dry and closed her eyes as she pulled her knees up to her chin.

Dear God, I'm sorry I was such a coward that day.

I'm sorry someone had to die because of me.

I hope she's with you now.

Prayers were all she could think of doing every time she was reminded of that day, and the irony of it sometimes made her want to laugh and cry.

I'm so, so sorry, Glynis.

The old lady's name was something she had worked tirelessly to find out as soon as she had recovered. She had also done everything she could to learn more about Glynis' life, in hopes that she could make it up to the old lady.

But there had been no chance for atonement.

Glynis had no living relatives, not even a pet for Juliette to adopt and care for in her stead. The old lady's life, according to her colleagues, was her work, and that was to save detained individuals like Juliette from being deported.

Having had to meet with a therapist every week for an entire year, Juliette knew what she continued to struggle with was survivor's guilt. But even though the rational side of her now understood that it wasn't her that killed Glynis but that creature—-

I'm so sorry, I'm so, so sorry.

It still didn't seem right or fair that someone noble like Glynis should've died for a nobody like her - a child who had been placed in the system because her parents had partied and OD'd their way to their deaths.

Maybe one day, she would figure out why God still needed her here in this world, but until she knew why that was—-

Oh, if only.

Juliette bit her lip hard as feelings of inadequacy rose up inside of her. She knew it was never a good thing to compare, but every time she thought about how the other wards could have done so much better if they had been in her shoes—-

If only she was as brave as Aprilynne...

If only she was as smart as Sydney or as powerful as Luciella...

If only, dear God...

Maybe Glynis would still be alive today if only it had been anyone else that captured the vampire's attention instead of her.

Oh, if only.

Memories of that day lingered in her mind as Juliette got out of bed to take a quick shower, and since it was still a quarter to four when she finished, Juliette put on an old shirt and tied an apron over it before heading down to the kitchen.

Cooking might be a chore for many, but it was Juliette's greatest source of comfort, and by the time the family's private chef and his staff came in, the past had retreated to the back of her mind, and she was able to greet everyone with a cheerful smile.

"Surprise!"

"Aww, my girl." Chef Francois sniffed appreciatively as the aroma of crispy-fried bacon and freshly-baked croissants swirled around the kitchen. "You shouldn't have—-"

She gestured to the kitchen island with flourish, saying, "I also have egg white omelettes with your favorite baby spinach prepared."

"—-but I'm glad you did, mademoiselle. "

"I thought you'd say that," Juliette said with a grin as she took her apron off. "And now, I just need help with serving—-"

"We will take care of everything," one of the sous chefs, Claude, assured her. "It is the least we can do, when the lady of the house herself has cooked our breakfast."

Juliette's cheeks turned red. "I'm no lady of the house—-"

Claude immediately covered his ears. "Sorry, I am not hearing anything." He turned to his boss. "Do you hear anything, Chef Francois?"

"Not a single thing either."

Juliette was still torn between feeling amusement and further embarrassment as Claude shooed her out of the kitchen. It was nice of them to always treat her like she was the lady of the house, but she had never thought of herself that way. She might be one of the Bellecourts' wards, but the world-famous brood of siblings was just completely out of her league.

After changing into her uniform, which students of UdLA were required to wear in their freshmen year, Juliette went back down and found the dining room still empty.

Mmm.

Juliette succumbed to temptation and took a peek at the newspapers that Jean Luc liked to read with a steaming hot cup of blood-laced coffee.

Ga?l Bellecourt has successfully taken over another human-owned pharmaceutical business.

Diomeds Incorporated was established in the late 1800s and considered one of the global pioneers for the development of vaccines.

It is also the fifth Fortune 500 medical enterprise that the Vice President of House Bellecourt has acquired in a span of eighteen months.

Similar to Bellecourt's previous acquisitions, this latest corporate maneuver is not without controversy. Several economists and business associations have publicly criticized the Caro entrepreneur of not even bothering to disguise his intention to monopolize the market for vaccines for vampire bites.

'Human governments must do something about this,' says Jeff Hamilton, President of the Human Rights Watch on Preternatural Abuses. 'If Mr. Bellecourt is allowed to do as he wills without punishment, then this will set a very bad precedent, and other preternatural CEOs may follow suit.'

Juliette shook her dark head disapprovingly upon reaching the end of the article.

Grr!

Mainstream media was being biased as always, and while Juliette was obviously human herself, she couldn't help feeling embarrassed and furious at the way some members of her own race were acting.

These bozos had to know that Diomeds Incorporated, just like all the other companies that Ga?l previously acquired, had already been infiltrated by the enemy. But instead of letting the public know the truth, those so-called professionals still insisted on portraying Ga?l as the bad guy.

Hmph!

Juliette angrily flipped to the next page to see if there was anything else written about Ga?l or the Bellecourts in general. Thank God there was social media to counter all of the lies being spouted by the press, and it was why, in spite of all the negative write-ups about him, Ga?l's name still ranked consistently among the Top 10 of lists that ranged from People's Hottest Preter Bad Boys to Wall Street Journal's Top 50 Preter CEOs.

Juliette reached for The Caro Examiner next, which was a bi-weekly magazine sharing the latest about the Bellecourts' race. The first few pages consisted mostly of the usual statistics for vampires that had been caught, Caros that had gone rogue, and humans that had signed exclusive blood contracts with this and that famous Caro personality. After that were articles about trending faux-blood recipes on Tiktok, an essay about an upcoming drug using Caro blood to cure human cancer, and when Juliette finally reached the magazine's section for social events and blind-item gossip, it was then she saw a colored photo of Ga?l leaving a trendy restaurant with a woman in his arms.

Ouch!

Juliette knew it was pointless for her to feel hurt, but—-

Uh-oh!

The sound of the door opening had Juliette rushing back to her seat, and she already had a smile pinned on her lips as the eldest of the Bellecourt brothers walked into the dining room.

"Good morning, Jean Luc."

"Good morning, Juliette."

Jean Luc returned her greeting with a brief smile, and she knew by now that this was Jean Luc already at his most affectionate. Thirty-seven-year-old Jean Luc had a reputation of being intimidatingly aloof, and it was only for members of his family that the Caro billionaire allowed himself to loosen up with a rare smile or two.

Juliette crossed her fingers behind her back as she watched Jean Luc take his seat at the head of the table.

Dear God, I hope I've put everything back in proper order.

Everyone in this house knew she was no bookworm, and if Jean Luc were to ever figure out the truth, he would want to know why she had cared to read today's papers, and that would be the end of her.

Since Juliette wouldn't even dare to think of lying to Jean Luc, she would have no choice but to tell him the truth about her feelings for his brother—-

So, please, dear God, please don't let him find out!

Jean Luc pretended not to notice Juliette squirming in her seat as he reached for Preter Today, which now had the society section on top and the major headlines from the front page at the back. It was no hardship to figure out it was Juliette who had gotten the reading order of his papers wrong, but because he knew the girl would only feel mortified if he were to confront her about it, Jean Luc simply continued to act as if nothing was amiss.

Juliette breathed a sigh of relief as House Bellecourt's lord and master started reading the paper like usual.

Phew!

Caros were anything but stupid, after all, and it was only thanks to pure dumb luck that even after having lived under the Bellecourts' roof for three years, everyone in the family remained clueless about how foolishly and helplessly in love she was with her guardian.

One of the staff came in to start serving coffee just as Jean Luc's own ward took her usual place in the table.

"Morning, guys." Aprilynne's tone was brisk and polite like her guardian's, and her smile just as slight.

Third-born Severin came walking in soon after, followed by the rest of the family. émilien, the youngest of the four Bellecourt brothers, entered the dining room with his ward Luciella by his side like always, and behind them were the Bellecourts' auburn-haired stepsister Sydney and finally, oh finally—-

Juliette's heart skipped a beat as she watched her guardian stride in and take his place at the table. He was villainously handsome like always, and as one remarkably eloquent gossip writer had put it—-

Although all Bellecourt brothers possessed their trademark white-blond hair and icy blue eyes, there's this air of danger and sin surrounding the second-born Ga?l that's reminiscent of a fallen angel...but one that has no plans of swapping his deadly fangs for a halo anytime soon. So watch out, all ye who are stupid enough to cross him. This particular Caro is the type to strike first - and rest assured it will be a deadly strike, and ask questions later.

Remembering those lines had Juliette mentally shaking her head. It was true that her guardian could be merciless, but it was only to those who did not deserve mercy. Other than that, he was really more like an angel than most people believed, and the proof was right in front of her, with the way his features softened as their gazes met.

"Good morning, Juliette."

"Good morning, Ga?l."

The whole family feigned ignorance at the way Juliette's face lit up at her guardian's greeting. It was no secret to anyone in the table that Juliette was in love with Ga?l...just like how everyone also knew that the second-born Bellecourt was completely unaware of his ward's feelings.

The staff came back to serve breakfast, and everyone knew right away it was Juliette who had prepared today's breakfast.

Sydney's expression turned blissful as she took her first bite of Juliette's blue lobster omelette. "Oh God, Jules. Marry me."

Everyone laughed, and even Jean Luc cracked a smile.

Ga?l shook his head when one of the servants was about to pour coffee into Juliette's cup. "Just juice for my ward."

Juliette looked at her guardian in confusion. "Why can't I have coffee?"

"Because you're about to have your period," was the blunt reply, and Juliette just wanted to die as everyone save for Jean Luc snickered at her guardian's straightforward response . She should've remembered how Caros like Ga?l could instinctively sense any blood-related changes in a person's body, and Juliette felt like shrinking in her seat as Ga?l went on to give her a list of dos and don'ts to alleviate her condition.

Twenty-five might be the legal age for Caros, but she was human, and at eighteen, that meant adulthood for her kind. She appreciated how much her guardian cherished her well-being, yes, but she just wished he could cherish her as a lover, or at least see her as the woman she already was rather than the child she used to be.

émilien glanced at Luciella, asking mildly, "Should I have given you the same pointers when you first entered university?"

His ward looked at him, horrified, and émilien's lips curved in amusement. Luciella might be a quiet little thing, but she absolutely knew how to express her opinion even without saying a word.

Jean Luc reached for another set of dailies, but this was only for show. Ga?l's actions towards his ward had been on his mind of late, and the way his brother was acting right this moment was definitely giving him more food for thought.

This brother of his was considered to be the most ruthless of all Bellecourts, and Jean Luc had no trouble imagining how the world would be left reeling, if they were to hear the way Ga?l was presently talking to his ward.

Juliette was only about to have her monthly visit, and yet the way his brother was acting, one would think the girl was suddenly suffering from some terminal illness.

Then again...Juliette was more vulnerable than most. The girl was too damn kind, and preters - most especially Caros like him - typically viewed such kindness as a tool to exploit. He could understand why Ga?l was overly protective towards Juliette, and Jean Luc wondered whether he himself was better off when his own ward was Juliette's opposite.

It was three years ago when the underground facility in which Aprilynne's parents worked as psychologists had been attacked by vampires. It was the same facility Luciella and her grandmother had been sent to, and it was also where Ga?l had rescued Juliette from.

Most of the humans that night had been frightened out of their wits, and their fear had cost them their lives. Aprilynne, however, was one of the few who had dared to fight back, and the only one who had managed to kill a vampire on her own.

At that time, his ward only had revenge in mind, having seen vampires decapitate her parents' heads in order to turn their bodies into fountains of blood. She hadn't cared about keeping herself alive, and she would have gone after another one if Jean Luc hadn't arrived in time to haul her back.

She had been such a feral little creature in those days , Jean Luc mused, and unfortunately, despite his best efforts to the contrary...his ward had only grown more reckless and bloodthirsty over the years.

C'est la vie , Jean Luc thought with a mental shrug. Such was life, and one could only make do with what the Fates had bestowed. In his case, he had a young wild animal masquerading as a lovely, twenty-something woman now on her first year in graduate school, and it was his duty as her guardian to ensure she didn't get herself killed in her never-ending quest for hunting down vampires and vidange.

And as for Ga?l, well...

Eighteen-year-old Juliette had already blossomed into womanhood, but if his brother insisted on seeing his ward as a child, just like what he was doing now...

"Do not challenge me on this, Juliette," Ga?l warned.

"I am not," Juliette answered right away in a soothing voice. "All I'm saying is that it's the first day of class, and other people's first impressions of me would be terrible if they find out that I ditched school because of..."

"Your menses?"

Juliette winced. "Yes."

"Are you saying you've been faking being hurt all this time?"

"Of course not—-"

"Then what is the problem? Other people are other people," Ga?l dismissed with a curl of his lip, "so why must you care about what they say? Should not my opinion as your guardian matter the most?"

Severin couldn't help rolling his eyes as he observed the way Ga?l was acting towards his ward. For so many years, grief had made his brother a shadow of his former self, and it was only when Juliette had become his ward that his brother found a renewed reason for his existence.

As for Juliette, it hadn't taken them long to figure out the girl's growing feelings for Ga?l...and vice versa. But what still completely baffled Severin was how someone as cunning as his sibling could be so damn dense.

How in the fucking world did Ga?l not see what was right in front of him?

Perhaps it was time for Severin to rock the boat, just give it a fun little shake, and see which of the two would—-

Severin grunted in pain when his stepsister, who also happened to be his own ward, suddenly kicked him under the table.

Sydney glared at her guardian in warning. Don't even think about it! Severin was a man of little patience, and she had known right away the moment he had gotten it into his head to try speeding things along between Juliette and Severin's older brother.

While there were many things in life that could benefit from speed and efficiency, love was one of the few things that should never be rushed...and this was especially true for someone like Ga?l, who swore never to lose his heart to any woman again.