“I didn’t have many friends,” I admitted with a small shrug. “But I didn’t mind. I liked quiet places. I liked… staying in my own little world.”

“I had every right!” he cut me off, his voice rising. “You’ve been through hell because of them, and you still think you can protect them? You think keeping secrets will make them better men?!”

Mother’s eyes hardened. “Half the truth? Or is it that you don’t want me to see them for what they are?”

She leaned in slightly. “I want to hear everything, Olivia. The good. The bad. Even the parts you think will scare me.”

“No, you don’t understand, Olivia!” His eyes burned with the same fury I’d seen anytime the triplets were mentioned. “They hurt you! And you still… still try to defend them.”

The moment her eyes landed on me, a big, bright smile spread across her face. It was the kind of smile that reached her eyes, softening her features. Something about it felt… contagious. I couldn’t help but smile back.

Olivia’s POV

“Mother knows. I told her everything. What those bastards did to you,” Calvin suddenly spoke for the first time since I walked into the room.

A lump formed in my throat. I looked down at our joined hands, unsure if I could meet her gaze without breaking apart.

The look they gave me made my stomach twist. They gave me that look of disbelief, doubt… like no matter what I said, they’d already decided their version of the truth. It was written all over their faces. They didn’t believe me now, and they wouldn’t believe whatever I would say.

But now… sitting here, looking at the woman who had brought me into this world, I didn’t know what to expect or feel.

“Anywhere,” she urged softly, her eyes bright with curiosity. “I just want to know you. Everything.”

“I’m saying,” I bit out, “that I’m telling my truth. And my truth is more complicated than the little black-and-white story you’ve made in your heads.” My voice dropped lower, tighter. “So if you’re going to judge them or me–then at least hear the whole thing first.”

Her hand reached for mine, squeezing gently. “That doesn’t sound boring to me, Olivia. That sounds like my daughter.”

Her head tilted slightly as she listened, her attention fixed on me like I was telling her the most important story in the world.

“There’s more,” I murmured after a moment. “Things I’m… not sure you’ll want to hear.”

And despite everything I told myself about not caring for other people’s opinions anymore… I realized I cared about hers. More than I wanted to.

The accusation hit harder than I expected. “That’s not what I’m saying!” I shot back, my voice trembling. “You don’t know everything, and now–thanks to him–what you do know is only half the truth.”

They stayed silent, but I could see the skepticism in their eyes, the unspoken we already know.

My head snapped toward Calvin so fast my neck almost hurt.

Calvin crossed his arms, jaw clenched tight. “Tell us, Olivia. What exactly did I say that wasn’t true?”

Her face brightened even more, and for a moment, I found myself staring at her–this woman who had given birth to me. My biological mother.

I hesitated, my fingers twisting together in my lap. The truth was… I didn’t know what was safe to share. My life hadn’t been a fairytale. It wasn’t full of glamorous stories or joyful memories. Most of it had been quiet, uneventful–at least for the past four years. And the parts that weren’t… well, those were the ones I wasn’t sure I wanted her to know.

And yet… I didn’t know her.

Calvin didn’t even look guilty. “Of course I told her. She’s your mother. She has the right to know what those bastards did to you.”

I searched her face, wondering if she would still say that after hearing about my relationship with the triplets.

Mother’s voice joined his, calm but laced with barely concealed anger. “Olivia… what part of what Calvin told me was a lie?” she asked slowly, her gaze narrowing. “Because I listened to him–and nothing he said sounded untrue. Unless…” Her voice dipped. “Unless you think what they did to you can somehow be justified.”

“What?” My voice came out sharper than I intended. “You told her?”

I walked closer to the bed, and she immediately patted the space beside her, urging me to sit. I didn’t hesitate. I lowered myself onto the mattress.

I swallowed hard, unsure where to begin, unsure what to tell her and what to keep hidden. In truth, my life hadn’t been all that interesting… There was nothing worth telling, nothing that stood out from the past few years. Still, I knew I had to come up with something.

Mrs. Parker had been a good mother to me. And I had tried, in my own way, to be a good daughter to her.

Her gaze swept over me slowly, deliberately, as if memorizing every detail of my face. “You look so beautiful,” she said softly, warmth coating every syllable.

Stepping inside, I found her seated on the bed, her back resting against the headboard, while Calvin sat beside her, feeding her small bites of food.

“So, tell me, Olivia… tell me everything about yourself… I’m dying to know you,” she said, sounding so eager to know me.

Still, the hope in her eyes made it impossible to stay silent.

I drew in a shaky breath, my nails digging into my palms. “You’ve heard one side – Calvin’s side. And yes, maybe parts of it are true, but not everything. Not the way he makes it sound. You think they’re nothing but monsters? That they hurt me for the fun of it? You think I was just… some helpless victim with no choice?” I shook my head sharply. “It wasn’t like that.”

I appeared back in my room and quietly made my way toward the one I assumed my mother was staying in. Reaching the door, I inhaled deeply before pushing it open.

All my life, I had believed Mrs. Parker was my mother. She had raised me, cared for me, loved me in every way that mattered. She never once made me feel like I didn’t belong to her. I never questioned it. Not once.

I didn’t know if the choices I’d made–or the choices I was about to make–would disappoint her.

My chest tightened, anger flaring inside me. “That was my story to tell, Calvin! Not yours!” I spat. “You had no right to-”

Mother’s gaze didn’t soften. “Are you saying you’re defending them?”

I forced a small smile, shifting slightly on the bed. “Well… I don’t even know where to start.”

“On my eighteenth birthday,” I said slowly, “I found out I was mated to the triplets… the Lucianos.” I spilled out, expecting her to be shocked–but she wasn’t. She had that calm look on her face, like she already knew.

It made me want to scream.

“Everything… everything you think you know is a lie,” I spat, my anger rising. “You have no idea what actually happened.”

I smiled faintly. “All thanks to your genes.”

“I grew up in the Full Moon Pack with the Parkers,” I began slowly. “Father was a warrior, and Mother worked in the pack hospital as a nurse before Father was framed and sent to jail–or so I thought. After that, Mother and I became omegas, working in the pack house.”

But still… I needed to say it. If not for them, then for myself. For clarity.

I shook my head, frustration building inside me. “No, you don’t understand-”

Calvin scoffed under his breath, muttering something I couldn’t quite catch. My glare snapped to him. “You weren’t there, Calvin. You don’t know how things happened. You only know the aftermath.”