332 If It Was Lennox

My eyes snapped open, anger flaring hot in my chest. “What are you trying to say, Levi?”

I didn’t want to say anything. But the words tumbled out anyway: “You should have asked me before punishing her. You know that, right?”

Calvin finally raised his eyes. Calm, steady, unreadable. “Punishment is supposed to humiliate, Olivia.”

I sighed but said a—

“Olivia…” it was Levi.

“I’m tired, Levi,” I whispered.

And now she was reduced to this.

“Olivia,” he called again, and I felt the eyes of the guards stationed toward us, curiosity sharpening their faces. Calvin strode forward, all broad shoulders and rigid posture, the kind of presence that made you want to stand up straighter even if you hated him. He stopped just short of the whipping post, close enough that I could see the muscle ticking in his jaw.

Suddenly, I got a mind link.

The guard obeyed at once, setting down the whip and untying Anita’s wrists. She collapsed to the ground, catching herself with shaking hands. Her back was a canvas of blood and raw welts.

My heart sank. I remembered the day Anita lied and I was punished, the cold satisfaction in her eyes when the guards led me away. I remembered the wedding night, how she fucked the triplets without listening to my cry of pain. I remembered the way she’d hurt me in different ways.

The next strike came lower across the curve of Anita’s hip. She bit down on her lip, refusing to cry out, but the tremor in her arms made her whole body shake. The stone below her was wet with tears, and maybe more. My own vision blurred for a second. I blinked hard.

I looked away, then forced myself to look back. My mind was restless… I wanted to interfere, but I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. “She deserves this,” I muttered under my breath.

My breath caught and my frown deepened. “Leave Anita’s punishment to me. I’ll–” I closed my eyes and pressed the heel of my palm to my forehead. Lennox’s version of sulking was legendary: he’d brood for hours or days, refusing to talk to anyone, generally making everyone around him miserable until he decided he’d suffered enough. I didn’t have the emotional bandwidth for it right now. Levi must have sensed it because he added, “I’m sorry. I acted out of line and said stupid things,” he apologized.

Levi sighed over the mind link. “Not really.” Even through the mind link, his voice was tight, defensive. “He locked himself in his office and told me not to follow. I think he’s still mad.”

My feet moved before my brain could catch up. I stood beside Anita, careful not to touch her wounds. She was breathing hard, tears and snot smeared across her cheeks, but she didn’t look away.

I sighed, dragging in a shaky breath. “Have you settled things with Lennox?”

Lolita touched my arm, tentatively. “Olivia, please. Let’s just go back inside.”

Olivia’s POV

His jaw flexed, but his voice stayed calm. “And you? What would you have done? Cried for her? Freed her? Given her mercy she doesn’t deserve?”

The words stung because part of me didn’t know the answer. I swallowed hard, forcing my fists to unclench. “You should have given her another punishment… not this public lashing.”

I turned to Calvin, my frown deepening. “You didn’t have to humiliate her like that,” I said, my voice tighter than I meant.

Calvin folded his arms, studying me like he was stripping me bare. “This is just the beginning of her punishment.”

I lifted my eyes toward the pack house, to the rows of windows where staff watched in silence. Did any of them pity her? Or did they see only justice being done? And what did they see when they looked at me—a monster who stood by while her former best friend was flogged without mercy?

“She’s had enough. Tomorrow she begins the new punishment,” he declared, lifting a hand.

I stepped closer, heat rising in my chest. “You should have asked me. Anita was—” My throat closed for a second. “She was mine to deal with.”

And before he could say anything more, I severed the connection. Slammed the link shut so hard it echoed in my skull. Blocked him out completely.

“Can you forgive me? Let things go back to normal?”

Calvin’s expression didn’t change. “She’s my prisoner, not yours.”

A suffocating silence hung through the link. Then Levi scoffed.

I fell back onto the bed, dragging the sheets over me, and closed my eyes. If only shutting out the rest of the world could be that easy. But I was wrong, because a knock came on my door and the door pushed open, revealing my mother… Great… just what I needed.

His words hurt, but I refused to let him see it. I sat up, my nails digging into my palms. “Don’t twist this into some competition between you and your brothers. Everything is not about you–or about them. I’m going through hell on my own, Levi. Do you even understand that? Or do you only see yourself?”

The silence on his end burned, but I didn’t stop. “In fact, do me a favor and just fuck off.”

Her lips twisted into something that was almost a smile. “Death is better than this, Olivia… tell him to just kill me.”

My frown deepened as I didn’t know what to say.

“If it was Lennox saying this,” his voice hardened, “you’d have already forgiven him. Don’t even deny it, Olivia.”

He didn’t wait to hear my argument before turning around and walking away.

I shook her off. “No. I want to watch.” From somewhere behind me, a familiar voice called my name. It was loud and commanding, pulling the attention of everyone in the courtyard.

Calvin’s gaze pinned me. “You want to say something?” he asked, voice low enough that only I could hear.

I frowned, and my eyes dragged back to Anita. I noticed the way she hunched over, clutching her arms around herself, blood trickling down her spine. The old anger in me flickered, sputtered, then died under the weight of pity.

I frowned and walked back inside. Arriving in my room, I sat on the bed… my head was spinning from all that was happening… so many things were going on in my life all at once. There was my sour relationship with my mother, Lord Frederick’s claim over me, and now the rift between the triplets. Everything was just like a heavy weight pressing down on me, making it suffocating to even breathe properly.

Without saying a word, I watched the guards drag a blood–dripping, naked Anita away, and all I could do was harden my heart and watch her being taken away.

“You know exactly what I’m saying,” he shot back. “I could move the whole damn world for you–tear it apart with my bare hands–and it still wouldn’t matter. Because in the end, you’ll only look at him. You’ll only see Lennox.”

His voice cut in, low and final. “You’ll do what, Olivia?”

Calvin spoke. “By the time I’m done with her, she will wish to die, but death will never come.”

I wanted to say yes, wanted to lie so Levi would leave me alone, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, I just let myself fall backward onto the cold, clean duvet and stared at the ceiling.

No one moved. Not the guards. Not the servants watching with wide, hushed eyes. Not even me. I stood rooted, fighting the urge to rush to her side. Once, she had been my best friend.

333 My Problem

I swung my legs off the bed and stood, my jaw tight, my chest burning with rage. She thinks she can order me to smile and nod while they all plot my fate?

She had good genes, undeniably so, and a part of me silently hoped I had inherited them from her. At least if that were the only thing I could claim from being her daughter, her beauty and graceful figure, then maybe it was something worth holding onto.

Fine. If she wanted me downstairs, then I would go. But not the way she expected.

Her lips trembled, but she quickly steadied herself, masking her emotions with that familiar, practiced composure. “You think you know everything, Olivia, but you don’t. You’re blinded by your stubbornness. You have been vowed to Lord Frederick, and it’s either you marry him or you lose your life.”

I frowned, pushing myself up so I could sit properly on the bed. I folded my legs beneath me and leaned my back against the headboard, steadying myself before looking her straight in the eye.

“What do you want, Mother?” I asked, making sure she could notice the displeasure in my voice.

I laughed bitterly. “My life?” I leaned forward, glaring at her. “You mean your reputation. I don’t know what Lord Frederick has promised you that you seem so desperate about me marrying him.”

Mother continued. “All I am doing is for your good… I want you alive, is that a crime.” My frown deepened, and I dragged my attention back to her. Her eyes were now filled with tears.

Olivia’s POV

My words must have greatly affected her because her eyes widened for a moment, then it was replaced by hurt as tears began to well up in her eyes. I frowned and looked away so it wouldn’t have any effect on me.

I leveled my gaze at her. “I don’t want to see him,” I spat.

Her nostrils flared, her composure slipping for just a second before she caught it again.

“Enough of this,” she said firmly, her voice final. “You will come downstairs and meet Lord Frederick and the guests. That is not a request, Olivia. It is an order.

I scoffed. “She thinks she can control me?” I muttered under my breath, shaking my head with a humorless laugh. My wolf snarled again, restless and furious, but I forced myself to stay calm, to think.

“So this is what you think of me, Olivia? You see me as your enemy?” she asked, sounding heartbroken, but I didn’t respond, neither did I say a word.

“Lower your voice,” she hissed, glancing sharply toward the door as if the walls themselves were eavesdropping. Then she turned back to me, eyes narrowed with frustration. “You will not embarrass me, Olivia. Not after everything I’ve done to keep you alive. You may hate me, but one day, you will understand that every choice I make is to ensure your survival.”

Color drained from her face, then flared back with anger. “What is wrong with you?” she whispered harshly. “Why must you always attack me? Why must you always make me your enemy?”

Her lips curved into a tight line, the kind that always came before she began to lecture me. “Olivia, stop this nonsense. You will see Lord Frederick. He’s been waiting patiently, and it would be rude of you to refuse him. Do not make a scene.”

My mother stepped inside. Of course. Because even in my worst moments, I was never allowed the space to breathe.

I leaned forward, my voice rising. “I didn’t give my consent to be vowed to him. And I don’t want him. How many times do I have to say it before you finally hear me?”

My chest heaved as I held her gaze, refusing to let her tears get to me. “For my good?” I scoffed, my voice dripping with venom. “Don’t you dare stand there and pretend you care about me, Mother. If you truly wanted what was good for me, you’d listen when I say no. You’d protect me from men like him, not throw me into their arms like some bargaining chip.”

Without waiting for my response, she turned and swept out of the room, the door shutting softly behind her, but the sound echoed like a sentence in my ears.

I felt my wolf bristle inside me, snarling with defiance, but my mother did not waver. She adjusted her gown, as though that ended the matter. “Fix yourself,” she added coldly, “and do not keep them waiting any longer. I expect you downstairs."

At the mention of his name, my wolf growled furiously inside me, and a deep frown carved into my face.

I laughed bitterly, shaking my head. “Survival? What kind of survival is it if I lose myself in the process? If I become nothing more than a puppet for you and whatever schemes you’ve tied yourself into with Frederick? That’s not survival, Mother. That’s a slow death.”

She sighed and shook her head as if I were a child throwing a tantrum. “Why must you always be so difficult? Do you think every choice in life is yours to make? You are endangering yourself. Your life is at risk here.”

“Enough!” she snapped, her voice raised and enraged. “You are behaving like a spoiled child. What is so wrong with Lord Frederick? Tell me, what exactly is the problem?”

Her eyes widened, but I didn’t stop. “If you like Lord Frederick so much, you should marry him. He’s old enough, isn’t he? Older than you, even. Maybe the two of you would make a perfect pair.”

My chest rose and fell, the weight of everything between us pressing down like a storm about to explode. “Because you are my enemy,” I said loud and firm. “Every time I try to breathe, you’re there, pushing me toward something I don’t want. You are my problem, Mother. Not Frederick. Not anyone else. Just you.”

She didn’t answer at once. Instead, she stepped closer and stopped by my side. “Lord Frederick is downstairs with a few guests… he wants to see you.”

I clenched my jaw, my wolf’s growl echoing deep inside me. “I said I don’t want to see him,” I repeated, slower this time, my anger rising.

I tilted my head, watching her carefully, then let the words roll off my tongue like poison. “The problem isn’t him. It’s you.”

She looked beautiful today, dressed in a royal blue gown that swept elegantly across the floor. Her long black hair was pulled neatly into a bun, showing off the striking lines of her face. She was still beautiful, ageless almost. Despite nearing fifty, she looked remarkably young, her appearance still capable of being mistaken for a woman in her late thirties.

She furrowed her brows, “You don’t seem happy to see me,” she said.

A dark smirk tugged at my lips as I straightened my gown and adjusted my hair. “Then let her watch me put on a show,” I whispered to myself, my voice laced with mischief. “If she wants a spectacle, I’ll give her one. And neither she nor Frederick will see it coming.”