Chapter 2: Everyone wants to kill me!

Hours had passed since the incident. Darin slowly awoke in his room, groggy but conscious. The maid, who had been tending to him, quickly jumped to her feet and hurried to call the others. The news spread quickly: the young master had finally regained his senses.

Barry, along with a few other servants, came rushing into the room. Seeing Darin awake and in better condition, a collective sigh of relief swept over them. There was joy beneath their calm exteriors, but Darin, still dazed, had a storm of questions brewing inside. The recent events had left a heavy mark on his mind—it was an eye-opening ordeal for him.

As Darin sat resting on his bed, Barry began to explain, "I’ve already implemented new protocols for how things will operate within this family. Several people will be dismissed soon. We’re also conducting thorough background checks to verify everyone’s history before allowing them to continue working here."

With a firm voice, Barry continued, "I am already closing in on the culprit responsible for this. It won’t be long before I bring their head to you."

Just as Barry finished speaking, Darin’s sister came rushing into the room, her face streaked with tears. She sat beside him, her sobs filling the quiet space. Darin, momentarily ignoring her, kept his focus on Barry. "I will get to the bottom of this," Barry reassured him, "and I promise this will never happen again. The safety of the family comes first."

His sister, still weeping, clung to Darin. He glanced briefly at her, a swirl of emotions inside. Despite knowing she didn’t hold him in the highest regard, he understood the depth of family ties. “Anyone would feel that way,” he thought. “No matter how much you resent your family, in moments like this, you still show up.”

He looked at his sister and gave her a soft smile. In his mind, he began to wonder—if something had happened to him, how would his sister have handled becoming the mistress of the household?

As he pondered, he caught the faintest sound. "How is he still alive after taking the poison?" Darin froze. He glanced around to see if anyone else had heard it, but the room was quiet. It was then that he realized—the voice had come from his sister. His heart sank as the truth became clearer. He looked once more into her tearful eyes, searching for answers.

Then, another same voice came: "If he doesn’t die, he’ll sell me away."

He realized, as soon as he made the eye contact he was able to hear her thought.

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Darin’s blood ran cold. It was her. His sister had tried to kill him. Stunned and devastated, he couldn’t fathom how much hatred she harbored for him. The revelation tore at his heart, leaving him shaken to the core.

The next moment, the doctor entered the room. He was an older man, likely in his mid-40s, with a calm demeanor. Without a word, he began checking Darin’s pulse and other vitals, then proceeded to mix the medicine right in front of him. Darin, however, paid him little attention, his mind fixated on one troubling thought: why had his sister gone to such extremes?

Perhaps it was the harsh reality of survival, he mused. In this world, you either die or live to endure it all.

After a brief pause, Darin gulped down the medicine the doctor handed him. Almost immediately, he heard a chilling voice in his mind: The poison has nullified. Startled but maintaining his composure, he took another sip. Once again, the same haunting message echoed in his thoughts: The poison has nullified. He realized with horror that the medicine was not meant to heal him—it was laced with poison, designed to kill, not save.

He fixed his gaze on the doctor. The man, seemingly oblivious to Darin's discovery, continued his routine as if nothing were wrong. His expression was neutral, betraying nothing. But then, Darin picked up a faint thought as he made a eye contact: Why isn’t he dead yet? I’d better have an explanation ready for the Barrar family.

It was a revelation—Darin now knew that the Barrar family was somehow involved.

Confusion and a whirlwind of emotions flooded his mind. He glanced at Barry, trying to gauge his partner's thoughts, but couldn’t read anything. Something was wrong. Normally, Darin could sense the thoughts of others as soon as he made the eye contact. He concentrated on the maids and servants, and their worries were clear: they were genuinely concerned about their futures. Darin was the last male heir of the Mears family, and his survival meant everything to them. If he died, they feared what fate would befall the household.

With a wave of his hand, Darin dismissed everyone under the pretext of needing rest. His mind was racing. He had already encountered two major threats the moment he regained consciousness, but his questions only multiplied. The fact that he couldn’t easily identify the poison gnawed at him. Alone in his room, he decided to take the medicine again. Just a sip. And once more, the same notification rang in his head:

The poison has been nullified.

Now he understood how he had survived—it wasn’t a miracle but one of his latent abilities. Darin possessed a unique trait that allowed him to survive the poison. Not only could he resist poisons, but he had also gained the ability to read the thoughts of others. Yet, this power had its limits: it only worked on those weaker than him. He couldn’t read the minds of stronger individuals like Barry, whose thoughts remained inaccessible to him.

As he sat there, Darin pondered his next move. There was so much to do. First, he needed to win his sister back, to regain her trust. And then, he had to deal with the Barrar family, who now stood in the way of his survival.

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