My Life as a Beast Keeper

---- Chapter 13 Tacted quickly, and Salem was sent away the next day. My friend was merely a middleman. I never inquired about Salem's destination. His next owner might use him for breeding, or perhaps he could find someone who cherished him more. But with me, he had fulfilled his purpose-giving me money. Clayton still lay in bed nursing his injuries, looking as frail as ever. I remember clearly that the first time I met Clayton, his wounds were far worse than this. Yet, he had stood up and held me with one arm for... activities. But, now...

"Thank you, miss." He weakly accepted the chicken soup I offered. "Was Salem sent away?" I raised an eyebrow. "Yes." "What a shame." Clayton stared at the bowl in his hands. " I really wanted to get along with him." "Then should I bring him back so you two can be best ---- friends?" Clayton's fingers stiffened. "But he's been bought. They probably won't want to return him." "It's fine. I'll just compensate them a little." Clayton resisted the urge to shatter the bowl he was holding. He forced a smile and said, "That would be perfect." I pretended to get up.

"I'll head over now, then." Clayton called out to me. "However..." "Hmm?" He looked up at me with anxious eyes. "What should I do if he bites me again?" I said nothing, a slight smile playing on my lips as I calmly observed him. His expression shifted from unease to tension, then helplessness, before finally landing on astonishment. "Layla, you knew all this while?" "Oh, I wouldn't know," I said innocently. "Can you tell me where exactly to bite on someone's throat to render ---- them silent?" Clayton immediately panicked. "I'm sorry, I... But he just provoked me too many times.

Please don't send me away, miss! I was just scaring him. I'm not that fierce. I'll be good." "Tt's okay." I leaned close to his ear and murmured, "Actually, I like it when you're bad too." Lisa and Salem were cut from the same cloth in a way. Both were spoiled and became arrogant, with an inflated sense of self-importance. Yet, Clayton and I were alike-because I'd have done the same if I were him. Getting rid of Salem kept Lisa in line for two months, until her 18th birthday. Mom and Dad bought her a house as a gift. I tried to maintain a polite smile, but inside, I was burning with anger.

If only I could carry the house away. I wanted to scream " The house is mine!" as she did back then, and then run ---- away with it. My coworkers always found it strange and asked, "Won't your parents' money be yours eventually? Why bother scrimping on Salem's living expenses and such?" It was because I was truly worried they would one day write a will leaving everything to Lisa. I could only consider what I held in my hands as truly my own. Lisa strutted over, arm-in-arm with Mom and Dad, flaunting it in my face.

"Layla, didn't you get me anything for my 18th?" I couldn't hold back any longer. It was time to speak up. "You've already stolen my parents from me. What else could you possibly want as a gift? Everything you eat, drink, use, and own... Isn't that rightfully mine? And you still have the nerve to ask me for a gift? "I'm guessing you'll only be satisfied if you skin me, drink my blood, and eat my flesh, then?" Lisa froze, but she quickly recovered. "Mom, Dad, look at her! It's my birthday, and she actually said such things to me!"