"You look awful." Was the first thing her uncle said when she joined them at the dining table the next morning.

"I couldn't sleep. It's hard to get used to a new bedroom." She lied smoothly.

Though she tried her best to conceal the puffiness of her eyes, it was impossible to completely erase the emotional burden she faced the previous night.

"You'll get used to it as you go on more business trips," Father assured her.

Her uncle shot her a nasty look before returning to his breakfast. Weiss was very quickly beginning to wish it was only her and Father in the lodge.

"Now, to review today's schedule…"

Weiss spent most of her day in the factory, learning the ins and outs of managing every team and sector in the massive building. Most of the talking was done by the managers in charge of that particular part of the factory, with Father jumping in occasionally to elaborate on specific points.

It was mid-afternoon when she finally found herself taking a lunch break in Father's private office. She was alone for the time being, quietly munching away at the burger left by the cooks.

When the office door opened, she expected to see Father return, but instead, she found her uncle walking in alone.

"Jacques will be joining us in a bit. He's been called away to deal with a trivial matter." Her uncle explained.

Weiss nodded and turned her attention back to eating her lunch.

"What do you think of the business so far, Weiss?"

"It's a lot more complicated than I first thought." She answered honestly. "I still have much to learn."

Though her uncle didn't smile, the slight bob in his head showed he was satisfied with her answer.

"Yesterday was your first time seeing the Faunus, right?"

Weiss tried to control the cold dread clutching at her heart and nodded. "I've only ever seen them on the news."

"Nasty little critters." Her uncle spat. "The ones we hire have been taught how to behave like respectable citizens, but they still give in to their animalistic instincts."

'They're not all mindless animals.' She thought heatedly.

"That boy you bumped into. What did you think of him?"

"Excuse me?" She couldn't believe what he was asking her.

"That red-haired cattle. What did you think of him?"

"I don't see why my opinion of him is relevant." She shot back coolly.

"Ah, but it is relevant. After all the nasty crimes their kind has committed, you still showed that boy kindness he did not deserve. I wonder why that is."

Weiss clenched her jaw. She was tempted to throw her fist into his face. Maybe she could finally wipe that smug grin off his face.

The office door opened just in time to save her from the intense interrogation. For once, she felt relieved to see Father walking in.

"I'm insulted at what you're insinuating, uncle." She made sure to raise her voice for Father to hear.

"What exactly is going on here?" Father glanced between the two of them.

Uncle shot her a murderous glare while Weiss remained visibly unbothered. On the inside, however, she was burning with rage.

"Jacques, good timing. I was simply questioning my dear niece on why exactly she showed that Faunus boy kindness he did not deserve. If she were properly educated, she would know of the crimes his kind have committed."

"He is our employee. My daughter was simply looking after our business assets." Father answered curtly.

"I find it hard to believe a mere child could articulate her intentions like that!"

"Weiss isn't simply a child. She's a Schnee, don't insult our family by comparing our children to the mere common folk."

Weiss could barely hold back her grin as her uncle struggled to come up with a response.

"May I have a word with you, Jacques?"

Father looked as if he would kick uncle out, but he nodded and pointed to the door.

"We'll talk in the meeting room. Weiss, take this time to review everything you've learned so far."

"Yes, Father."

It was only once the two men left her alone, she let out a sigh of relief and slumped into her chair.

She may have won the fight this time around, but it was clear Uncle wouldn't be forgetting this any time soon. She'd have to leave a bit later tonight just to be safe.

By the time the two men returned, Father was looking extra smug while her uncle had the same ugly sneer on his face. She took that as a good sign that Father had come out victorious in that argument.

"Let's go, Weiss, we're already behind schedule."

They went out to eat that night, which was a pleasant surprise after a long day of mundane lectures. Father wanted to invite her uncle to try a new luxury restaurant that opened just last month. While Weiss was excited to try the new food, she also felt a bit disappointed that she'd only be able to grab fruits for Adam to eat that night.

'I'll just take some extra fruits to compensate.' She decided.

They returned to the lodge at around 10. After showering and changing into her sleepwear, Weiss patiently waited for Father and Uncle to settle down before she made her move.

She left the house at around 1, with a bagful of apples and oranges. He was already waiting for her by the time she arrived at the cave, out of breath from the long run.

"What took you so long? I was beginning to worry." He said after a brief hug.

"Sorry. Came home late from dinner." She said in-between breaths. "I could only get apples tonight."

"Let's sit down before you pass out on the spot."

They returned to their spot from the previous night. Weiss wordlessly handed him the scarf before leaning back against the cavern wall. She waited until he'd finished eating to address the question churning in her head.

"Why are you in chains?"

"Not beating around the bush, are you?" He joked half-heartedly.

"We made a promise."

"I know." He sighed. "What do you think the reason is?"

Weiss fiddled with the edge of her sleeves. She didn't want to tell him it was because he was a bad Faunus, but she also couldn't come up with a convincing enough lie.

"I don't know." She ended up answering.

"It's just how they treat us down here."

"What?" She gasped. "That's not true. We treat all our employees as equals."

"Oh please, when was the last time one of your human workers chained up? And don't equate us to employees, everyone knows we're nothing more than slaves down here."

"You don't know a thing about how we run our business!"

"And you do?" He glared at her. "Open your eyes, Weiss. This isn't the first time we've met. You've seen how your company's affected me. If I had the choice I wouldn't be underdressed, hungry, or working for nothing!"

"I know our company isn't totally fair to the Faunus, but I think it's rather rude to be bad-mouthing the people who feed you."

Adam shook his head and rose to his feet, pacing angrily back and forth.

"If your company takes such good care of my people, you would have to sneak food to me or give me your scarf to stay warm!"

"I already said it's not perfect!" She jumped to her own feet. "But we still give you all a chance when no one else will!"

"Oh, how selfless of your family." He said sarcastically. "You expect us to fall on our knees and thank you for your kind service? No thanks."

"My family has helped paved the world that we live in today! Most companies don't bother hiring the Faunus, but we take the time to rehabilitate—"

"I wasn't aware we needed rehabilitation." Adam snapped. "What's wrong? Scared we'll go feral and attack you?"

"Well, humans don't have a reputation for committing crimes." She blurted.

He looked like she just slapped him across the face, but in her anger, she didn't care.

How dare he talk so lowly of her family. After everything they did to make the world a better place and gave his family a stable job.

"Is that how you see me? As a criminal needing to be put in place with chains and starvation?" He asked so quietly she nearly missed it.

"No." She didn't hesitate to answer. "You're not like them."

"So there's a 'them' now, huh?" He scowled. "I never knew my parents were secretly mass murderers."

"I-I never said your parents were bad! I'm sure they're different too!"

That only seemed to make him angrier. He walked right up to her until their noses were nearly touching.

"Let me tell you something. My entire family has been stuck here for years! No matter how hard we work, we never get a day off, not even when we're sick! I've lost family and friends to diseases that could've been cured if someone cared enough to treat us!"

"You're lying." She backed away from him. "We're ranked number one in employee satisfaction across Atlas!"

"And who told you that? Your Father? You trust the man who would willingly hurt you over me?!"

"Y-you don't know anything!"

"Then explain it to me, or do you think I'm too stupid to understand anything on my own?!"

"Stop putting words in my mouth!" She curled her hands into fists.

For a moment neither of them dared to say another word. She was beginning to understand what Father and her mentors meant by the Faunus being ill-tempered.

Maybe he wasn't so different after all. Maybe he was just as unpredictable like the rest of them.

"I'll ask you again. Why do you think they put me in chains. Be honest." He challenged her in a deceptively cool tone. "We're friends aren't we?"

"You want honesty? Fine." She crossed her arms. "I think it's because you've been a bad Faunus."

She should've felt better from voicing the thought that's been lingering in her mind, but somehow it only made her feel worse. The weight on her chest was tightening along with the raging anger burning deep within her core.

"Is that what you really think?"

"Yeah." The stone crushing her heart grew heavier. "Why else would they chain you up? It's not my fault you can't control yourself."

"You know, I thought you were different." The pain in his voice snapped her out of whatever rage was taking over her mind.

Her blood went cold when she noticed the tears dancing in his eyes. It wasn't until then she realized what she'd said to him.

"Adam—"

"I was wrong! You're just like the rest of them!" He ripped the scarf off his neck and threw it on the ground.

"Adam, wait!" She ran up to him and grabbed his wrist, but he jerked it away like she'd just burned him.

"Don't touch me! I don't want anything to do with you!"

"Adam, stop! If you'd just listen—"

"I'm done listening to you!" He turned to run back to the cave but she held onto his arm before he could run away.

"Please, if you'd just listen to me—!"

"Yes, please explain what's going on here."

The deep male voice made her heart drop to her stomach. She turned around and found her uncle grinning rather smugly at the cave entrance while Father looked like he was ready to slap her until she blacked out. Dozens of stern guards stood by them, with their guns drawn and pointed at Adam.

"Crap." She felt Adam's back press against her's.

She glanced behind her and found even more guards marching out from the darkness of the cave, weapons drawn and ready to shoot.

"I knew something was off this morning, but never in my wildest dreams would I expect my niece to be fraternizing with scum." Her uncle patted Father's back. "Your daughter sure is something, I'll give you that!"

"H-how did you…?" Weiss could barely stay on her feet, they were shaking like a leaf in fall.

"Oh, it was a brilliant idea! What better way to find the truth than to install a few gadgets around the house, dear Weiss?" Her uncle grinned triumphantly.

"The dinner…" she wanted to throw up when she realized why Father suddenly wanted to eat out.

It'd make it easier to install cameras in her room without making her suspicious.

"Ah, you're sharp. Too bad all that intuition is wasted on a disgusting girl like you."

Weiss felt completely frozen in place when Father calmly walked over to her. She thought of the many ways she could try to explain the situation, maybe she could lie and tell him she was interviewing a Faunus to learn more about the mining process. Or maybe she could convince him that they just happened to bump into each other.

But no matter how hard she tried to will the words out of her mouth, her body wouldn't respond.

Weiss wasn't sure exactly what happened. One moment she was staring up at her father, and the next she was on the ground.

The side of her face was aching and her vision was blurred with stars.

"You little BITCH!" Her Father screamed at her. "How dare you dirty the Schnee name with one of them!"

Weiss squeezed her eyes shut when she saw him reel his fist back. She felt something land on top of her but it didn't hurt.

"D-don't touch her!"

Weiss opened her eyes and found Adam shielding her from her Father's wrath. He had his face turned away from her, glaring bravely at her Father, but she could tell by the trembling in his arms that he was just as scared as her.

Her Father sneered and ripped him off of her. His screams ripped through her ears as Father pummeled him like a punching bag.

"Stop! Leave him alone!" Weiss scrambled up to her feet, but a strong hand clamped around her arm before she could reach them.

"Now, now, Jacques, it would be useless to kill him." Her uncle said almost gleefully.

Weiss glared up at the man and began scratching at the hand holding her, but no matter how much damage she inflicted, he wouldn't loosen his grip.

Her uncle's voice did manage to make Father stop hitting Adam. Weiss cried out as he slumped onto the ground, his face bruised and bloodied from the punches.

"And what might you suggest?" Father said through gritted teeth.

"If the boy wants to be with the Schnees so badly, I'm sure I could arrange a…permanent mark of his allegiance to us. You should spend your time disciplining your daughter. She clearly has been shown too much freedom."

"I…agree." Father turned his murderous gaze on Weiss. "You're free to do whatever you want, but I want the boy transferred to a different station by sunrise."

Weiss screamed when her uncle suddenly threw her in the ground like a rag doll.

"Guards, take the boy down to the private chambers. I'll be with him shortly." Her uncle ordered.

"Adam!" Weiss crawled towards him the moment she saw the guards converge on him.

She never made it as the guards on her side immediately held her back. She screamed and cried out his name as they dragged him away from her.

"Let him go, you big bullies!" She was kicking, scratching–doing anything to make the guards loosen their grip on her, but nothing was making them loosen their hold on her arm.

"Weiss!" He too was trying to fight against the guards holding him back, with slightly better success. "You better not hit her again, you monster! I won't ever forgive you!"

Neither of them stopped fighting the guards' hold, even when their efforts proved futile. Weiss didn't stop struggling until she was dragged back to the lodge.

Weiss couldn't remember much of that night after being thrown into her room. She could only recall bits and pieces of Father's unfiltered rage, like the pile of shattered glass she somehow found herself laying in.

One thing was certain though.

When she woke up the next morning, he left a permanent reminder on her face to never disobey him again.