UNMASKED

CHAPTER 17

VLADIMIR’S POV

“I have your daughter, she looks just like Eli,” my father said, his voice brimming with excitement as he watched me walk into the room. His eyes sparkled with a strange kind of admiration, a pride I could never quite understand. 

“How did you get her? The last news I heard was that she was with Sophie,” I asked, my voice laced with suspicion. 

Father leaned back in his chair, the smile on his face widening. “She blew up Sophie’s house along with hundreds of Vixens who tried to take her. Sophie pretended to protect her and let her escape, but the truth is... the enemy was waiting outside the entire time. She used Sophie to get away. Brilliant, isn’t it?” His voice echoed with admiration, as if he were talking about a prized possession, not his own granddaughter. 

My mind raced, trying to comprehend the situation. This wasn’t just a girl fleeing from danger. No, she was already thinking ten steps ahead, manipulating everything and everyone around her from the start. Her first kill was Sophie, and the way she did it… it chilled me. She heard Sophie begging the Elder, promising to sacrifice her own child—Ice—if the experiments failed. She killed Sophie without hesitation, without a second thought. 

I left her in Father’s care, hoping for her to have a normal life. I was wrong. So wrong. 

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As I watched her grow, I realized everything about her approach to Father was calculated. It wasn’t innocence; it was manipulation. She used the fact that she was his granddaughter to feed off his wealth and influence. At a young age, she understood exactly how to bend people to her will, how to make them dance to her tune. I was amazed at first, but then it dawned on me—this girl, this child, was playing a game far more dangerous than any of us realized. 

She wasn’t just taking advantage of Father’s wealth. She was using it to build an empire of her own, a foundation of control that would one day make her untouchable. I couldn’t stop her. I didn’t even know how to. 

To keep her off the radar of the Elders, I erased her existence. No records, no trace. It was as if she had never existed. 

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But that was never enough for her. One day, Father came to me with a request. The Nerraw family was getting in the way of his business dealings, and he wanted them silenced. He chose Hyra to do it. And she did it perfectly. I couldn’t help but admire her efficiency. She had no remorse, no hesitation in eliminating anyone who posed a threat. She was becoming something else, something I couldn’t control or even begin to understand. 

The next time I saw her, she had entered the dungeon. A place filled with criminals, outcasts, the forgotten. When she emerged, she was different—stronger, colder. 

Father told me she had made a marriage certificate, claiming she liked some boy, someone she didn’t want to let go. But when I looked closer, I realized it was all part of her plan. She had already claimed a territory, and no one could stop her from taking more. 

Then came the day I lost track of her. 

She went into the Underground, a cesspool of illegal dealings and hidden secrets. The last thing I wanted was for her to enter such a place, especially at her young age. But she was already too deep, too far gone to be stopped. 

I had nothing to hold her back with anymore. I couldn’t control her.

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The next time I heard from her, she was no longer just a child—I was dealing with a monster. She had taken on the identity of *Demon* in the Underground, a figure of fear and reverence. She had manipulated Saphora into pretending to be her, using the girl as a puppet.