Chapter 4

Kian came running the moment he heard the scream.

When he saw Leila on the floor, he rushed over to help her up and asked what had happened.

Leila cried and said, “Kian, don’t blame Lily. She just didn’t like the clothes I gave her. She didn’t mean to push me.”

Kian’s face grew colder, his eyes like ice.

“Leila was being kind by giving you clothes, and you still acted picky? Guess I’ve been too soft with you. That’s why you think you can do whatever you want.”

He took a step toward me, then another. I instinctively raised my right hand to shield myself, but he grabbed my wrist before I could react.

That hand, numb and lifeless from the silver poisoning, had long since lost all feeling.

He grabbed a whip from the corner of the room and brought it down hard across my arm.

“This is the hand you used to push Leila, isn’t it?” He struck again.

I stared blankly as red welts bloomed across my arm. However, there was no pain.

It turned out that numbness wasn’t always such a bad thing after all.

My lack of reaction only seemed to infuriate him more. He kept lashing me, over and over, until my entire arm was bruised and purple.

Then he finally noticed something was off and stopped.

His grip on the whip tightened, and he looked at me, conflicted.

“Why do you have to be so stubborn? Is it really that hard to just apologize to Leila?”

I lowered my eyes, hiding every emotion, and didn’t answer.

He was about to say something more when Leila suddenly broke into loud sobs, crying that she was in pain and begging Kian to take her away.

Kian had no choice but to leave with her. However, before he walked out, he turned back and said, “Find a maid and have them take you to the family healer.”

I knew no one was going to take me. After all, they only listened to Leila.

I gently rubbed my bruised arm. There was no ointment, so I gave up and fell asleep like that.

In the middle of the night, a high fever dragged me out of sleep. My throat burned like fire.

I struggled to open my eyes and saw a familiar figure sitting at the edge of the bed.

It was Kian.

He sat hunched over, carefully applying ointment to the bruises on my arm.

I watched him quietly. “Kian, I’m dying. Will you grant me one last wish?”

His hand paused. “Stop talking nonsense. What wish?”

“Let me leave this place. I don’t want to die here, and I don’t want any of you at my funeral.”

He shot up, and the ointment tube slipped from his hand and hit the floor.

“Are you serious?! Do you think pulling a fake-depression act like Leila will make me feel sorry for you? Your pathetic little performance disgusts me.

“Let me tell you something. She’s the sister we raised. You’ll never be even a fraction of what she is!”

With that, he stormed out and slammed the door behind him.

I stared after him and whispered, “I know.”

Tears spilled endlessly from the corners of my eyes.

I’ve always known I wasn’t good enough for any of them. So I stopped asking or hoping.

…

The next day at noon, the whole family sat around the dining table.

Father looked at my empty seat, his face turning dark as he slammed his knife and fork down.

“So disrespectful for her to sleep till noon and keep the whole family waiting!”

Leila quickly put down her utensils, her voice soft and full of guilt.

“Dad, don’t be mad at her. It’s my fault. I upset her yesterday. That’s why she’s hiding in her room.

“It’s okay. I’ll eat in my room from now on. As long as it helps her feel more a part of this family.”

Her words added fuel to the fire.

My parents’ and Kian’s faces instantly turned stormy.

They put down their cutlery and marched toward my room, pounding at my door.

“Lily, get out here!”

“This is your first day back, and you’re already giving us attitude? Eight years of punishment weren’t enough?!”

“If you don’t come out now, don’t blame us for kicking you out of the pack!”

The pounding continued, but there was still no movement.

Kian finally told them to step back. He raised his foot and kicked the door open.

He stormed inside, barely holding back his rage, and marched to my bed to drag me up.

However, the moment his hand touched my skin, he froze in shock.

“Lily, why are you so hot?”

He turned me over and saw the bruises covering my body. The sheets were soaked with sweat.

Kian called my name over and over, but I didn’t respond.

Finally, he panicked.

They rushed me to the pack’s treatment room. However, the moment the test results came back, they had a meltdown.

“No way! My daughter can’t be in the final stages of silver poisoning. That has to be a mistake!”

Mother screamed so loudly that she almost passed out.

“Silver poisoning?” Kian stared hard at the report. His Alpha energy rippled out of him, uncontrollable.

“How could Lily have silver poisoning? Where did it come from? Check again! I want a full investigation!”