Author POV-

The stars blinked above like curious little eyes, peeking through the velvet sky. The backyard was quiet now. The blanket lay across the grass, and Bella was curled in Athena’s lap, half-asleep, thumb in her mouth, one arm loosely wrapped around Athena’s middle.

Amaira had gone inside to prepare dinner, but not before setting out a thermos of warm milk and a few extra marshmallows “just in case Bella woke up for a midnight snack.” The night air was cool, brushing softly against their skin.

Dr. Paridhi, calm and composed as always, sipped her tea on the armchair nearby, watching the children with quiet care.

Amaira had been humming something light as she braided Bella’s curls,

Athena looked down at the tiny girl snuggled against her. Bella's curls tickled her arm. Her breathing was soft, slow, safe.

Athena had never known what safe felt like—until Bella.

Her hands, usually clenched tight with tension, now rested gently on Bella’s back. Her eyes, sharp and watchful, softened. The silence felt less lonely tonight.

Bella stirred slightly and looked up with heavy eyes. “Angel…?”

“Yeah?” Athena whispered, brushing a strand of hair away from Bella’s forehead.

“Why do you always look sad when no one's looking? Umm… why don’t you laugh much?”

Sean turned his head toward Athena, concern darkening his features. Amaira stopped braiding Bella’s hair. Even the fire seemed to settle into silence.

Athena looked at Bella, that tiny child who held so much power in her innocence. Part of her wanted to dodge the question. Deflect. But Bella didn’t ask to pry. She asked because she cared.

And that was different.

Athena’s eyes met Sean’s briefly. He gave her a small nod—gentle, steady, no pressure, just presence. He was there. He always had been.

So, for the first time in her life, Athena took a breath and let the words come.

“I see it,” Bella mumbled, her voice dreamy but honest. “When Amaira laughs… and you don't. When I hug you… and you freeze a little. I still feel it. You're sad-sad… but you don’t say it.”

Athena didn’t answer right away. Her breath caught in her chest.

No one had asked her that.

Not once.

Not ever.

Everyone just assumed she was cold, broken, distant.

But Bella… Bella saw her.

The room grew quiet.

Sean straightened where he sat, sensing the weight behind the question.

Athena looked at Bella—those big trusting eyes—and then over at the others. For a moment, she considered staying silent. It was easier that way. Safer.

But tonight, something in her heart told her she didn’t have to hide anymore.

She glanced at Sean. He gave her the smallest nod—reassuring, steady. They had lived through the same nightmare. She wasn’t alone.

Athena drew in a breath. Her voice came out quiet but sure.

Bella tilted her head, listening intently. The room stilled, even the fire seemed to hush.

Amaira’s lips curled into a small, aching smile.

“I wasn’t always like this.”

Athena looked up at the sky, her voice low and unsure. “It’s because… I forgot how not to be.”

Bella blinked. “Huh?”

Athena held her breath, then let it out slowly, like peeling back something that had been shut tight for too long.

Dr. Paridhi set down her tea, eyes narrowing with quiet fury at the image. Amaira’s fingers tightened around the blanket.

Athena smiled faintly. “ My mom didn’t… like kids being kids. She said playing was for lazy brats. So I cleaned. Cooked. Scrubbed floors. Even when I didn’t know how. She said joy made you lazy. She used to hit me when the house wasn’t clean or the food wasn’t hot, She didn’t like noise or messes or mistakes. So I learned fast. I learned how to clean the floor until it shone. How to cook with shaking hands. How to stay invisible."”

"If I messed up... even a little... she’d hit me. Slap. Pull my hair. Lock me in the dark"

Bella’s brows furrowed in confusion. “You were a baby. Babies don’t do that stuff.”

“I wasn’t allowed to be a baby,” Athena said quietly. “If I made a mistake… I got hurt. And when my mom met a new man—my stepfather—it got worse. They were cruel,Really cruel. But… I thought that was just how families were.”

Bella’s eyes grew wide with horror. She scooted closer, gently holding Athena’s hand.

Athena said. “My stepfather. He was worse. He hurt me more… but always when no one else was looking. I thought that was just what parents did.”

Amaira leaned forward, her hands clutched tight in her lap.

Athena looked toward Sean, her voice quieting.

Bella hugged her tighter.

Athena felt the warmth of those tiny arms, and something inside her began to crack.

“When I was five,” she continued, her voice shaking slightly, “they sold me. To bad people. Because they owed money. And I was just… something they could trade. I remember her smile when she did it.. I remember her smile. She said, 'Don’t come back crying.”

Bella’s eyes widened. “They sold you?”

Dr. Paridhi’s voice was barely a whisper. "Where did they take you, sweetheart?"What did they… do to you, sweetheart?”

Athena looked up. Her voice was steady, but distant—as if remembering from somewhere far away.

"To a compound. A training facility. Hidden. It belonged to one of the most powerful mafia families. The kind no one talks about out loud.

"W-what? Mafia?" Trio yelled out but compose

Dr. Paridhi leaned forward.

Athena hesitated.

Then, for the first time, she said it all.

“The people who took me weren’t like any people you’ve met. They were dangerous. Cold. They trained me to fight. Hurt. Survive. I was the only girl. They didn’t want me to learn. They wanted to break me. They took me to a place where people weren’t allowed to cry. Where girls weren’t allowed to exist unless they were silent and... submissive.” Her voice darkened. “But they didn’t want me for that. They wanted to break me—to prove a girl could survive the same hell the men were trained in. So they threw me in with them. I was the only girl. No protection. No kindness. Just fists and orders.”

Amaira gasped softly, one hand rising to her chest.

"I was the only girl. The boys—they were being trained. Hardened. But I was a joke. An experiment. A warning. They starved me. Beat me. Threw me into fights twice my size. Expected me to fail."

"But you didn’t," Dr. Paridhi said, her voice trembling. "You didn’t fail."

No," Athena whispered. "I didn't. I never cried. Not once. I learned to fight. To endure. To stop feeling anything at all. That was the only way to survive. No emotion. No softness. Just obedience and silence."

Bella’s tiny hand reached for hers. "But... you feel stuff now, right? When you hug me? You feel it, don’t you?"

Athena stared at her.

And then nodded.

Bella’s lip trembled. “Did they… hurt you?”

Athena swallowed hard. “They tried. But I didn’t cry. Not once. I didn’t let them win.”

Amaira’s hand flew to her mouth.

“They thought I’d break. But I didn’t. I bled. I bruised. I starved. But I never begged. I shut down every feeling. I had to. To survive.”

“And you did survive,” Dr. Paridhi said gently, her voice thick with emotion. “You’re here. You’re safe now.”

Bella’s eyes shimmered with tears she didn’t quite understand. “You were all alone?”

Athena nodded. “For a long time. I stopped smiling. Stopped feeling. That’s the only way to survive in a place like that. Feelings make you weak. Emotions get you punished.”

Bella looked up at her, confused and sad. “But… you still have feelings. I see them. You just hide them.”

Athena looked at Bella for a long moment, her voice barely a whisper. “I think you helped me remember them.”

Bella tilted her head. “Me?”

“You’re the only one who hugs me like it’s okay to be real. The only one who calls me Angel. The only one who doesn’t look at me like I’m monster.”

You’re the only one who made me feel anything again. When you call me Angel... I remember who I used to be. Just a little."

Bella scooted into her lap and hugged her tightly.

“I don’t think you’re monster,” Bella said fiercely, sitting up straighter. “I think you’re shiny on the inside. You just need help polishing it.”

Athena’s arms wrapped around her slowly, hesitantly. Then tighter. Her eyes burned with unshed tears.

Amaira leaned her head on Athena’s shoulder. "You never have to hide here. Not with us."

Dr. Paridhi stood slowly and crossed to them. She knelt beside Athena and took her hand gently.

"You are home now," she said. "With people who see you. Who care. And who will never, ever let you go back to that darkness."

Athena couldn’t speak. She just nodded, blinking furiously as the tears finally fell. Sean reached across and placed a hand over hers. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t need to.

They were family now.

And for the first time since she was five years old, Athena believed she might actually be safe.

She believed she might finally be free.

That made Athena laugh—really laugh—soft and unguarded.

Bella reached into her hoodie pocket and pulled out a tiny sticker. A pink star.

“I was saving this,” she whispered. “For someone really special. It’s magic. When you feel too cold inside, look at this. It means you’re not alone.”

She pressed the sticker gently onto Athena’s palm.

Athena stared at it, her throat tight.

For the first time in years, tears prickled behind her eyes. Not from pain. Not from fear.

But from warmth.

From being seen.

Loved.

Safe.

Athena looked around the room. Bella curled against her side, Sean sitting across with guilt in his eyes, Amaira trembling, and Dr. Paridhi—steady, kind, warm.

“I don’t know how to be normal,” she whispered. “I don’t know how to smile unless Bella makes me. I don’t know how to laugh at dinner or feel safe under a roof.”

Bella looked up at her with glassy eyes. “But I see your smiles. Even the tiny ones. I see them in your eyes.”

Athena swallowed hard.

“I never had a real home. Not until... here. With all of you.”

Dr. Paridhi rose and crossed the room. She knelt in front of Athena, gently reaching out.

“I want you to know, with every part of your heart, that you never have to earn your place here,” she said. “You already belong.”

“I don’t know how to be normal,” she admitted, voice cracking. “I don’t know how to play, or laugh at dumb jokes. I don’t even know how to hug right.”

Bella climbed into her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’ll teach you.”

Amaira scooted closer, wrapping her arms around her. Sean followed, silent but present.

Bella wrapped her little fingers around Athena’s hand and whispered, “I love you even if you don’t smile. But I hope one day… you smile all the time.”

---

Later that night, after Bella had fallen asleep on the couch with her teddy tucked under her chin, Athena sat on the porch with Amaira. She hadn’t spoken to anyone about her past since she got to the house. But tonight, something had shifted.

Amaira passed her a warm mug of tea.

“You okay?” she asked gently.

Athena nodded. “Yeah. I think I might be.”

There was a long pause. The kind filled with unspoken understanding.

“She told me you were her Angel,” Amaira said with a soft smile. “She’s not wrong.”

“I’m not anyone’s Angel,” Athena muttered, staring at the stars.

“Maybe not the kind with wings,” Amaira replied. “But you’re the kind that protects. The kind that survives so someone else doesn’t have to suffer.”

Athena looked at her, startled.

Amaira just sipped her tea and smiled.

And for the first time in years, Athena didn’t feel like a weapon.

She felt like a person.

She wasn’t alone anymore.

She was home.

Later that day, after lunch and after Bella had run around the backyard until she’d collapsed into Amaira’s arms, Athena found herself alone in the hallway.

She stared at the framed photo of Dr. Paridhi and a much younger Amaira, arms linked and grinning at the camera. A life of warmth. Of safety. Of belonging.

She touched the edge of the frame.

“You okay?” came Amaira’s voice behind her.

Athena didn’t jump. She was getting used to being seen without feeling threatened.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Maybe. A little.”

Amaira stepped beside her, not crowding. “You were amazing last night. Brave.”

Athena gave a small scoff. “I didn’t feel brave. I felt... like if I didn’t say it, it was going to eat me alive.”

“Sometimes that’s what bravery looks like.”

They stood quietly.

“I thought telling people would make it worse,” Athena admitted. “Make it more real. But now... it feels lighter. Not gone. Just... like I don’t have to carry it alone.”

“You don’t,” Amaira said. “Not anymore.”

Athena turned to her, then hesitated. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you and your mom let us stay? You didn’t know us. We were just three unknown maybe little broken people.”

Amaira smiled. “That’s why. Because we know what broken looks like. And because you were never just broken. You were brilliant, even if you couldn’t see it.”

Athena blinked fast. “I want to be someone Bella can look up to. Not just... someone she clings to.”

“You already are,” Amaira said gently. “You’ve protected her. You’ve comforted her. You’ve loved her. That’s more than most people do in a lifetime.”

Athena’s lips trembled. She looked down.

“I used to think my emotions made me weak. That if I let anyone in, they’d destroy me.”

“And now?”

“I think... I was already destroyed. But Bella’s helping me rebuild.”

Amaira touched her hand. “Let us help too.”

Athena nodded. For the first time, she meant it.

****************

After That evening, Bella woke from her nap and wandered groggily into the living room, where Athena sat reading a book Amaira had recommended. Sean was on the floor, drawing with colored pencils.

Bella plopped into Athena’s lap without a word, curling into her chest like she’d never left.

“Hi Angel,” she murmured sleepily.

“Hi, cupcake,” Athena whispered.

Bella looked up at her. “You feel warm today. Like not-sad.”

Athena laughed softly. “Yeah. I guess I do.”

Bella cupped Athena’s cheeks with her tiny hands. “Is it because you finally told your monsters to go away?”

Sean snorted a laugh. Athena smiled. “Something like that.”

Bella tapped her finger on Athena’s nose. “When I get scared, I tell Mr. Cuddle teddy. But when I’m really really scared, I come to you. Because you’re brave.”

Athena’s throat tightened. “I’m not that brave, Bells.”

“Yes you are. Sean said so. Amaira said so. And I know so.”

Bella sat up and looked at both of them. “Can we make cupcakes again tomorrow? But this time, Angel and Sean have to wear aprons too!”

Sean laughed. “Only if mine says ‘Cupcake Commander.’”

Bella gasped. “YES! And Angel’s can say ‘Queen of Frosting!’”

Athena rolled her eyes but nodded. “Deal.”

Bella clapped her hands, then curled back into Athena’s lap. “We’re a happy family now, right?”

Athena paused, her heart full. She looked at Sean. At Amaira, who stood watching from the kitchen doorway with a gentle smile. And then at Bella.

“Yes,” she said, brushing hair from Bella’s forehead. “We really are.”

Together, they sat in the golden light of early evening, wounds slowly knitting closed, hearts beginning to beat in sync. It wasn’t perfect. But it was healing.

And for the first time, they believed in forever.

---

The next morning, Bella ran into the kitchen wearing her princess pajamas and declared, “Today, Angel learns how to play tea party!”

Athena groaned, but smiled.

Maybe, just maybe, she could learn.

*****************************

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Maybe it is clear to you now why Athena is like this....

Some wounds heal but if those wounds are inflicted by our own people then neither the pain reduces Neither those scars......

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