Chapter 13: Confronting the Past

Several days passed after the failed escape. The mansion, which had once been like hell for Merin, now felt strangely… like home. A place where she was protected. Lisena played the role of a guardian flawlessly. She pampered Merin as if she were a precious gem. Every morning, a hot meal awaited her. Every afternoon, there was a relaxing activity. And every night… her embrace would ward off the nightmares.

But beneath that gentleness, Merin could feel the invisible threads that were tightening around her with each passing moment. Lisena didn't use physical chains, but mental chains that were far stronger. She slowly poisoned Merin's mind.

“See, my love?” Lisena said one afternoon while helping Merin arrange flowers in a vase. “Aries’s violence only pushes you away. You were almost left to suffer out there because of her… but with me, you’re always safe.”

Merin didn't answer. She just lowered her head to look at the white lily in her hand. It was beautiful… but so fragile.

Meanwhile, Aries became a perfect shadow. She barely entered Merin’s life during the day, but at night, she still came to claim her owner's rights. However, her violence was now tinged with an unconcealed frustration and confusion, as if she herself were battling something within.

Until one day, Lisena approached Merin with an unreadable smile. “Let's go out today, my love.”

Merin froze. “Out… side?”

“Yes,” Lisena confirmed. “There’s something you should see… something that will help you completely cut ties with the past.”

Lisena dressed Merin herself. She chose a dark blue silk dress that was elegant and graceful, not revealing or seductive like before. She gave Merin a small pearl necklace to wear, along with a tiny handbag.

“Today… you are my date, not anyone’s toy,” she whispered.

Lisena’s sports car didn't head to the luxurious city center, but instead drove into a rundown neighborhood Merin was familiar with… the neighborhood where she had been sold. It was a cold-blooded reminder of her disgusting past.

The car parked in front of a shabby bar. Its name was written on a flickering neon sign: ‘The Last Drop.’ The smell of beer and cigarette smoke wafted out, nauseating.

“Let’s go,” Lisena said, linking her arm tightly with Merin's, as if to announce that the woman by her side was under her protection.

As soon as they stepped into the bar, all eyes turned to them. Lisena’s beauty and nobility looked completely out of place in this establishment.

Lisena paid no mind to the stares. She gave a slight nod to the bartender before leading Merin to a back room, separated by a curtain of old beads.

And there… sat the person Merin least wanted to see in her life.

Marco… a portly man with greasy hair, her family’s former creditor, and the first person to taste her after she was sold to him to pay off the interest. He was counting a wad of cash on a cluttered desk.

When he looked up and saw Merin, his small, beady eyes widened with shock and greed. “Merin! It’s… my angel!” He stood up immediately. “What are you doing here? Did you miss me so much you couldn't stand it, hmm?”

Merin’s whole body trembled. The filthy memories flooded back into her head like a broken dam. She instinctively took a step back, but Lisena’s arm around her waist held her in place, preventing her from fleeing.

“Calm down, Marco,” Lisena said in a flat but chilling voice. “It seems your memory isn't very good… she is not ‘yours.’”

Marco had only just noticed Lisena. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully before his face turned pale as he remembered who the woman standing before him was. “You… Ms. Lisena… the number two Alpha…”

“So you remember,” Lisena sneered. “Good… that saves us a lot of talking.”

She pushed Merin into a chair in the corner of the room. “Sit and wait here quietly, my love. I’ll handle this.” Then she turned to face Marco again.

“I came here to tell you… that this woman now belongs to me, and me alone,” Lisena said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe her fingers as if disgusted by the air in the room. “And I don’t like anyone touching my things… especially not filthy worms that gnaw on beautiful fruit.”

Marco’s face turned from pale to green. He was humiliated and furious, but he didn't dare do anything to an Alpha far more powerful than he was. “I… I didn't know she was yours…”

“Well, now you know,” Lisena retorted. “And as a lesson… I think your little business here might run into some trouble… just a little.”

As she finished speaking, her lips curved into a cruel smile before she turned back to take Merin’s hand and lead her out of the suffocating room, leaving Marco standing alone, trembling with anger and fear.

In the car on the way back to the mansion, Merin remained silent. She didn't feel glad to see Marco humiliated, but rather empty and disgusted… disgusted with her own past, and disgusted that a part of her was grateful to Lisena for doing this.

“Don’t think too much about it,” Lisena said, breaking the silence. She reached out to squeeze Merin’s hand gently. “From now on… no one will dare to touch you again… I promise.”

That promise… it should have made Merin feel safe, but why did she feel as if she were being imprisoned in a beautiful cage with no way out, more so than ever?

When the car arrived back at the mansion, Aries was waiting at the front door as if she had known. Her gaze went past Lisena to a pale-faced Merin. An aura of displeasure radiated strongly from her.

“Where have you been?” she asked in a hard voice.

“Just running a little errand,” Lisena replied with a provocative smile. “Just helping Merin settle some old business… Now she can be completely ours, can’t she?”

Lisena’s use of ‘ours’ was deliberate and clear. It was a declaration of war, silent but deeper and more cutting than any words.

Aries didn't respond. She clenched her fists so tightly that her veins bulged, before turning to look at Merin with eyes that were blazing with fire. “Tonight… we have some memories to wash away… both you… and me.”