Chapter 3

Mom's expression immediately changed.

"Are you insane? Absolutely not!" she hissed, grabbing Dad's arm tightly. "If she gets taken away by the warriors for the Trial Ceremony, what will pack members say about us?"

"Your reputation as an Alpha will be completely ruined!"

She wasn't worried about me at all. She only cared about our family's reputation.

Mia hurried over as well, tears welling in her eyes as she pleaded with Dad.

"Dad, don't send her to the Trial," she cried. "If Layla goes through the Trial Ceremony, her whole life will be ruined. I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose. She's just starved for love."

Her voice was sincere, making her appear incredibly magnanimous as she continued, "Just get her to write an apology letter.

"As long as she writes a 1,000-word apology letter today and swears that she'll never steal anything or scare me in the middle of the night again, I'll forgive her."

Dad fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.

"Your sister is kind enough to give you one last chance," he finally said, suppressing his anger.

He had the maid fetch some paper from the study and slammed it down on the table.

"Write the apology letter right here at this table."

Noah picked up the red-ink pen and held it out to me. When I didn't take it, he grabbed me by the ear and flung me into the chair.

"Sit down and write," he snarled. "You're not leaving until you finish the apology letter."

I froze in the chair, staring at the blank sheet of paper and red pen in front of me.

My fingers began to tremble violently, an uncontrollable physical response to fear.

"What's taking you so long?"

Noah lost his temper and slapped me across the face.

"Layla, don't be ungrateful."

My cheek burned, but I kept my hands tucked beneath the table, terrified of bringing them out.

"I can't write," I said.

The last shred of Noah's patience finally ran out.

He bent down and forcibly pulled out my right hand. His grip was so strong that when he squeezed my wrist, it felt as though my bones were about to break again.

"You're capable of writing those vicious curse notes in the middle of the night, but now you can't write an apology letter?"

"I never wrote them!" I screamed, struggling frantically against his grip. "I've told you a thousand times I didn't do it!"

Seeing this, Mia picked up one of the notes from the floor and walked toward me.

"Layla, I know you're upset because you've been exposed," she said, her gentle voice like that of a forgiving angel.

"If you don't want to write the apology letter, then just copy what's written on this note.

"Add your own name in front of 'Go to hell.'"

She reached out and nudged the blank sheet of paper toward me.

"As long as you copy it once and add your name, proving to Mom and Dad that you're truly sorry, we won't blame you. They won't send you to the Trial Ceremony either."

"Layla, Mia's even willing to swallow her pride for you," Mom said with a frown. "Stop being so stubborn."

I stared at the note. It was filled with crooked lines and strange shapes, and I couldn't even understand what any of those lines meant.

If I couldn't even read them, how was I supposed to copy them?