Echo was taken aback by his words. She turned to see Edward had managed to stand up, standing nervously at the door. He looked like he didn’t know whether to go in or back out, and it made her heart ache.
This was the rule of the Dark family, she realized. No wonder there were so few familiar faces in the main house-it had these kinds of rules. Now, Adolph and Ryan were teaching her.
After a moment of silence, Echo nodded and said, “I understand.” She quickly began eating, her expression calm, as usual, with no hint of emotion.
Adolph glanced at Ryan, a faint smile playing at the corner of his lips.
Ryan, however, was looking at Echo. She felt his gaze and glanced up at him, offering a small smile. She picked her favorite dish and placed it in Ryan’s bowl, smiling as she said, “I understand. I’m not mad.”
Ryan’s expression stiffened. “What gives you the right to be mad?” he muttered coldly, turning his head away.
Echo shook her head. His temper was truly overbearing.
“Little boy, you must be starving, huh?” Echo finished her meal at double the usual speed, then turned and took Edward by the hand, giving instructions to a servant before heading back to the room where Edward had been earlier.
Edward was gobbling down his food, his eyes full of pity as he kept shaking his head and offering Echo a reassuring smile.
Echo watched him eat, raising an eyebrow. The rules of the wealthy world really were something. She didn’t have the power to break them like Ryan could. She couldn’t even bring someone to eat without it being an issue. She felt sorry for the poor kid, who was so good-looking but got caught up in all this.
Suddenly, Echo snapped out of her thoughts when she heard Edward’s soft “Oh, Oh.” Looking up, she saw he’d finished everything on the table and was now staring at her with worry in his eyes, making gestures. His pure eyes were full of concern.
Echo smiled. “You should be worried about yourself, not me. And I don’t understand sign language, so I can’t read it.”
Edward immediately lowered his head, walked around the table, and sat down on Echo’s lap, hugging her waist while giving her a sweet smile. There was a mix of fragile strength and helpless charm on his face that made Echo furrow her brow slightly.
She gently picked him up and laid him on the bed. “I don’t like holding others, even if it’s a little boy. Also, if you don’t want to smile, then don’t. You don’t have to try to please me. I won’t throw you away. I told you, if I brought you back, I won’t just leave you. You don’t need to try to win my favor.”
Edward froze, his eyes soon filling with tears.
“No crying,” Echo snapped, seeing him about to start crying again. Her harsh tone made Edward swallow his tears, not daring to let them fall.
Echo sighed and said, “A thirteen-year-old kid shouldn’t cry so easily. I don’t care what your life was like before, but now you’re a man. Don’t cry so easily. I don’t like it. Whether you’re faking it or not, I don’t want to see it. I don’t feel sorry for tears.”
She had seen too much as a child-tears didn’t earn sympathy in this world.
Edward paused, his eyes softening with understanding. He bit his lip and silently said, “This is what my mom taught me… how to survive.”
Echo understood and shook her head, sitting beside him. She took his hand as she cleaned and treated his wounds, speaking softly, “Your tears are beautiful. They stir up feelings of wanting to protect and care for you. But don’t forget, this is the Dark family. No one here believes in tears.”
She paused, glanced at him, and then said calmly, “I know surviving in the underworld isn’t easy. You, an outsider raised away from the family, so small and fragile, yet you’ve survived all these years. You can’t fool anyone here. If you didn’t have any tricks up your sleeve, you wouldn’t have made it this far. Tears and weakness won’t help you survive in this world.”
After what happened with Ryan, Echo knew how dark the underworld was. A beautiful, fragile illegitimate child like Edward wouldn’t have survived without some extraordinary intelligence or skills. The more heirs there were, the more fighting there would be. No matter how weak they seemed, the threat of survival meant someone would take action.
In the Dark family, you had to fight to stay alive, especially with the legitimate line-people would kill to protect their place.
The fact that Edward had made it this far meant he wasn’t as innocent as he appeared. He couldn’t have survived this long in the underworld with just his purity and innocence.
Edward blinked, looking at Echo without that pitiful, weak expression anymore. His eyes held a calmness that wasn’t surprised by Echo’s discovery. There was no panic, no fear, no desperation-just a maturity far beyond his years.
Echo nodded approvingly. “That’s more like it. I believe someone from the Ford family should be like this-smart, sharp. That’s what matches your looks and your temperament.”
Edward couldn’t help but smile shyly, then looked up at Echo and silently asked, “Why are you telling me this?”
Once Echo saw through his mask, Edward couldn’t help but feel a little curious. It wasn’t surprising that she could tell he was pretending. After all, he was from the Dark family, a mafia dynasty that had been at the top of the underworld for over a hundred years. His tricks weren’t enough to fool them, and he knew he couldn’t hide anything. The moment he met Ryan and Adolph’s gaze, he realized there was no escaping the truth.
Still, the usual protocol would have been to play along and see what he could get away with. He wondered why they were being so blunt about it with him-he was curious about that.
Echo looked at him, watching his lips move, and smiled. “It’s simple. Everyone wears a mask and has their own tricks. I just didn’t want to see a clever kid pretending to be weak. I may not be as tough as the others, but don’t insult my intelligence.”
Edward laughed, nodding in agreement. “Yeah, I guess it’s a pretty big difference.”
Echo shot him an exasperated look, and Edward tilted his head, giving her a silent, questioning gaze. “So, how do you plan to handle me?”
“Handle you? What do you mean, ‘handle’?” Echo shot back.
Edward smiled a little, “Why buy me? Don’t tell me it’s out of the goodness of your heart. Is it because I’m also an illegitimate child, so you decided to show me some mercy? I just want to know what use I am to you.”
Seeing him tilt his head and blink those innocent, almost cute eyes, with his sharp words hidden behind them, Echo couldn’t help but raise her hand and slap him lightly on the head. “Stop overthinking things. I just think you’re pretty. I don’t want to ruin that. You really think you’re that important? A Ford family member with all that power still gets wiped out by Adolph. Your own boss can’t even survive, and you think you have what it takes to stir up trouble in the Dark family? Do you even know where you are?”
Edward, looking unfazed by her angry words, chuckled. “Looks like I’m really lucky.”
“Good, glad you get it.” Echo shot him another look, then tapped his head and suddenly spoke with a serious tone. “Stop thinking too much. The Dark family might not be a great place, but everyone here has pride. If you don’t stir up trouble, no one will bother you. I don’t want someone this good-looking getting ruined. In life, it’s fine to play along, but don’t go too far, got it?”
Edward stared at her for a long moment after she finished speaking, then suddenly muttered, “I get why Mr. Ryan loves you so much, but you are not respected by everyone in this family.”
Echo raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
Edward gave her a thoughtful look and murmured, “I’m impressed, honestly. I didn’t expect someone like you to exist in the Dark family.”
“What did you say?” Echo was taken aback by his words.
Without thinking, she threw a punch at him, but Edward was quick, rolling off the bed just in time to avoid it. Echo glared at him angrily.