4. A LITTLE GIFT.

Melissa.

“You shameless bitch!”

My father’s voice thundered through the room, shaking the walls and my already fragile resolve. His eyes were locked on me, blazing with fury and disgust, as if I were something filthy that had stained his life. Before I could even lift my head, his hand swung.

The impact came fast and brutal.

Pain exploded across my face as his palm connected with my cheek, snapping my head to the side. My ears rang, my vision blurring for a moment as his words followed the blow, sharp and merciless.

“Why can’t you just be like your sister?”

That question again.

It echoed in my mind, familiar and cruel, a sentence I had heard my entire life. I swallowed hard, tasting blood at the corner of my mouth as I stared at the floor. No matter how hard I tried, no matter what I did, I never fit. I was always lacking, always wrong, always the disappointment standing beside perfection.

My father paced in front of me like an enraged beast.

“You nearly cost me my head!” he roared. “Even the Alpha triplets couldn’t withstand you! Do you know what would have happened if your sister wasn’t in our lives?”

His words pressed down on me, heavy and suffocating. My hands trembled where they rested on my lap, but I stayed silent, my knees aching against the cold floor. I had been ordered to kneel the moment the ceremony ended, instructed not to move, not to speak.

I was still here because my punishment had not yet been decided.

Because, as they said, I had failed the family.

“She has always been a disaster, Dad!”

Fredrick’s voice cut in harshly, filled with venom. I lifted my eyes just enough to meet his glare, a look so full of hatred it felt like it could pierce straight through me. There was no brotherly warmth there, no hesitation, only accusation.

I lowered my gaze again.

My body felt heavy, exhausted from holding in everything I wasn’t allowed to express. Every muscle screamed in protest, but I stayed kneeling, just as they wanted, just as I had been taught.

Then Amelia spoke.

“Dad, please calm down. It isn’t Melissa’s fault.”

Her voice was soft, gentle, wrapped in false kindness. It floated through the tension like a balm, and I felt every pair of eyes shift toward her. When I dared to glance up, I saw the expression on her face, a smile so carefully composed it could easily be mistaken for concern.

“Let’s leave her, Dad,” she continued sweetly. “I forgive her for stealing my necklace. The family is safe for now.”

Those words did it.

I barely had time to flinch before another sharp sound cracked through the air. My head snapped sideways as pain erupted anew, hotter and more stinging than before.

My mother.

Luisa’s hand had struck me hard, her eyes cold and unforgiving.

“How dare you steal your sister’s necklace?” she demanded, her voice trembling with outrage. “How dare you shame this family even further?”

The room spun slightly as I fought to steady my breathing. My cheek burned. My jaw ached. But I said nothing.

There was no point.

I didn’t try to explain. I didn’t deny it. I didn’t cry out in protest. I simply knelt there in silence, my head bowed, my hands clenched tightly to keep them from shaking.

Because I knew the truth.

They would never believe me.

No matter what I said, no matter how loudly I screamed my innocence, it would always be drowned out by Amelia’s soft words, by their need for me to be the villain. I was the easy one to blame, the family’s burden, the disaster they all agreed upon.

So I stayed quiet.

And let their judgment fall on me like it always did.

“Amelia, darling, there is no need to go soft on her.”

My brother’s voice cut through the room with practiced ease, smooth and confident, as if he were stating an obvious truth. He moved closer to Amelia, slipping an arm around her and pulling her into his chest, holding her like something fragile and precious. Like a baby that needed shielding.

“She deserves to be punished,” Fredrick continued, his gaze flicking toward me briefly, filled with disdain. “Maybe then she’ll finally learn how to act the right way.”

The words settled heavily in the air, final and condemning.

“But Fredrick…” Amelia began, her voice hesitant, almost pleading, as though she were torn between mercy and duty.

She never finished.

My father straightened, his expression hardening into something cold and unyielding. When he spoke, his voice carried authority, no room for debate, no space for mercy.

“According to the family book of law,” he said firmly, “Melissa is to be whipped thirty strokes.”

The sentence fell like a death knell.

Before I could even process the meaning of his words, before fear could fully take shape in my chest, he turned and walked out of the room. Just like that. As if my fate had been nothing more than a line to be read aloud and forgotten.

The room seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.

Then everything moved at once.

In a split second, the guards stepped forward. Strong hands seized my arms, their grip unrelenting as they yanked me to my feet. My knees nearly buckled beneath me, the sudden movement sending a jolt of pain through my body.

I didn’t resist.

What was the point?

They dragged me toward the door, my feet barely touching the ground as I struggled to keep my balance. The murmurs behind me faded, replaced by the heavy sound of boots and my own uneven breathing.

“Wait!”

Amelia’s voice rang out suddenly.

The guards didn’t stop, but I felt a tug in my chest as I realized she was following us. She rushed after me, her footsteps light and hurried, as if she truly cared.

“Melissa, I am so sorry,” she said, leaning in close as we paused briefly in the corridor. Her face was inches from mine, her eyes wide, her expression filled with what looked like remorse.

For a moment, I almost believed it.

Then she lowered her voice, her lips brushing near my ear, the sound barely more than a whisper.

“The Alpha triplets have always been mine,” she murmured softly. “You should have known your place. Think of this as a little gift of mine.”

The words slid into me like poison.My heart shattered quietly, painfully, piece by

piece.

Amelia straightened, her expression shifting in an instant. The sorrow vanished, replaced by calm satisfaction. She reached out, brushing at my clothes as if removing invisible dirt, her fingers light and dismissive.

Then she turned her back on me.

Without another word, she walked away, her steps unhurried as she headed back inside, back to warmth, safety, and victory.

I was left standing there, restrained by the guards, being dragged forward again, down a path I hadn’t chosen, toward a punishment I could not escape. My chest felt hollow, my spirit weighed down by misery and the cruel reality of my fate.

Why was I so unfortunate?