Romans de Queen Vera

Days passed in the Looke mansion, but each one felt heavier than the last.Erika had settled in like she owned the place. At first, she was polite, always smiling and calm but it didn’t take long for me to see the truth beneath it. She walked through the halls like a queen inspecting her land and the maids followed her instructions without question, the guards bowed their heads slightly when she passed.One afternoon, I was walking back from the library when I stopped suddenly, Erika was standing near the staff corridor. She didn’t see me as I stayed still, hidden behind the wall, my heart beating fast as I listened.“Watch everything,” she said softly to the maids gathered around her. “I want to know who goes where, who speaks to whom, and what they are doing.”One of the maids hesitated. “Everyone, ma’am?”Erika smiled. “Especially Lily.”My breath caught.“She is family,” another maid said carefully.Erika’s smile faded just a little. “She is human and humans lie.”I stepped back q

Vincent – POVThe call ended with a dull sound.I lowered the phone slowly and placed it on the desk like it weighed more than it should. The office felt too quiet after that. It was too still, the kind of silence that lets thoughts grow loud.I leaned forward and planted both hands on the table.A mate and an heir, the final shift of power. That was what they wanted.The board members didn’t bother hiding it anymore. They spoke calmly, like this was a business transaction, like choosing a mate was the same as signing a contract or acquiring a company.“Without a mate,” one of them had said, “your position as Alpha will never be complete.”They didn’t need to remind me what the ritual meant, I knew it better than any of them. An Alpha without a mate was unfinished, unstable and a risk.My jaw tightened.My father had already chosen one for me long before he died. A political match and a perfect Luna on paper, having strong bloodline, loyal family and no complications.No emotions.I e

I managed to crawl back to my room somehow. I didn’t even remember walking down the hallway. My legs felt weak, like they no longer belonged to me and the mansion felt too big, too quiet, as if it knew what had just happened and was watching me fall apart.The moment I shut my bedroom door, my strength gave out, I slid down slowly until my back hit the door and I was sitting on the floor. My arms wrapped around my knees, pulling them close to my chest like I could protect myself if I stayed small enough.That was when the tears came, they poured out of my eyes without warning, hot and heavy. I didn’t sob at first, instead I just sat there, shaking, breathing too fast, staring at nothing. My chest hurt and my throat burned.“I was used,” I whispered, my voice breaking.The words sounded strange out loud, like they didn’t belong to me. Like they belonged to someone else.My hands trembled as I pressed them against my face.“It was my first time,” I whispered again. “I was a virgin…”The

Lily’s pov,I held the breakfast tray carefully, the silver edges were cold against my palms, and my hands shook even though I tried to steady them as I pushed open the heavy oak door to Vincent’s study. The room was just as it always was, dark wood, tall shelves filled with books I knew he never touched, leather chairs, and the sharp scent of his cologne. That scent always twisted something in my stomach and I hated that it did.At nineteen, I was still the quiet stepsister, moving through his world like I didn’t belong there. I had entered the family through my mother’s marriage, carrying only a suitcase and a careful heart. The mansion never truly felt like home to me. I walked softly, spoke less, and tried not to be noticed. In a house built on power and control, I was the fragile piece that didn’t quite fit.Vincent was different from everyone else. He hadn’t just inherited money. He had inherited power. His father had been the Alpha before him, feared and respected, and when he