เข้าสู่ระบบMelissa.By the time dinner was ready, my arm felt numb.Not because the pain had faded.But because I had grown used to it.The burn from the oil hadn’t disappeared; it had simply settled into something constant, a dull, persistent sting that no longer startled me but refused to be ignored. It throbbed beneath my skin, a quiet reminder with every movement that it was still there. Every time I stirred the pot, every time I lifted a tray or adjusted a plate, the fabric of my sleeve brushed against the tender skin and sent a subtle flare of heat up my arm.It didn’t make me flinch anymore.It just lingered.A steady ache woven into the rhythm of my work.But I finished.Of course I did.Stopping had never truly been an option. Not when expectations hovered as heavily as they did in this house. Not when mistakes were remembered longer than effort.The plates were arranged perfectly, edges aligned, garnishes placed with careful precision. The portions were measured, neither too generous n
Cypril.The moment I saw the oil splattered across Melissa’s arm and dress, something inside me recoiled.It wasn’t visible.It didn’t reach my face.But I felt it.A sharp, instinctive jolt, so sudden and visceral it was almost violent. My body reacted before my mind could catch up, before I could fully register what I was seeing.The sheen of oil glistening against her skin.It clung to her like a second layer, reflecting the harsh kitchen lights. Tiny beads slid slowly down her forearm, trailing over fabric that had darkened where it soaked in. The smell hit a second later, burnt oil and something else. Something dangerously close to skin.She stood too still.That was what unsettled me most.No frantic shaking. No dramatic cry. Just stillness. Controlled. Contained.Her jaw tightened faintly as she swallowed the pain. I saw it, the subtle flex of muscle near her ear, the way her throat moved as she forced whatever reaction threatened to rise back down.“Fuuuuucccckkkkkkk!” I curse
Melissa.The sound of the slap still echoed in my ears long after Cyril’s hand dropped back to his side.It wasn’t just the sharp crack of skin against skin.It was the vibration that followed. The ringing. The way it seemed to bounce off the tiled walls and lodge itself somewhere deep inside my skull, replaying over and over long after the moment had passed.For a second, I thought I might have imagined it, but the sting spreading across my cheek told me otherwise.No one moved.No one spoke.The kitchen, once full of whispers and clattering pots, had gone completely still.Only moments ago, there had been the rhythmic scrape of knives against wooden boards. The hiss of oil in heated pans. Low murmurs exchanged between omegas. The shuffle of feet against stone.Now, there was a heavy suffocating silence.Even the oil that had splattered onto the stove seemed to quiet, its earlier sizzle fading into a faint, mocking crackle.I could feel every pair of eyes on me.Some wide.Shocked.U
Melissa.My cheek was still throbbing when I stepped into the kitchen.The heat from the stoves wrapped around me instantly, thick and suffocating, mixing with the scent of spices and simmering broth. Normally, the kitchen was loud in a comforting way, pots clanking, knives chopping, low chatter between omegas.Tonight, the noise shifted the second I entered.It didn’t stop.But it changed.Conversations lowered into whispers, eyes lifted, and then came the looks.Disgust.Judgment.Curiosity poorly disguised as concern.I walked further in without saying a word, keeping my chin level. If they noticed the redness on my face or the faint swelling on my lips, they didn’t comment, at least not loudly.I could hear them anyway.“She didn’t prepare anything?”“I heard Amelia asked her personally.”“So this is how a Luna behaves?”The word Luna no longer sounded like a title.It sounded like an accusation.I moved toward the counter, reaching for vegetables to begin chopping. My hands were
Melissa.I hadn’t even fully stepped into the room when it happened. One moment I was closing the door behind me, the next…his hand flew across my face.The impact was instant.Sharp.Unforgiving.And it landed on the exact same spot Caleb’s hand had struck earlier.The pain exploded across my cheek, doubling the sting, as if the skin hadn’t even recovered from the first blow. My head snapped to the side and for a second, the room blurred.I sucked in a breath through my teeth, wincing as the ache spread outward, hot and throbbing. My ears rang faintly.What crime have I committed now?The question screamed in my mind before I could form any words.“Do you think being called Luna gives you the right to misbehave?!” Fredrick yelled.His voice was louder now, no restraint, no calm calculation like before, just anger.Raw and misplaced.I slowly turned my face back toward him, blinking against the sting in my eyes. Not tears. I refused to cry.“And what have I done this time around?” I h
Melissa.My heart was still racing, wild, uneven, traitorous, but I didn’t let it show. I locked every tremor behind a wall of practiced indifference. I did not let him see how deeply his words had cut, how they had slipped beneath my skin and lodged there, sharp and unrelenting.“You won’t be getting what you want, Melissa. Our heart belongs to Amelia.”The sentence echoed in my mind, louder than it had sounded from his lips. It didn’t fade. It didn’t soften. It repeated itself over and over, as if my own thoughts had turned against me.What I want?If only he knew.If only he understood that I hadn’t asked for any of this. I hadn’t asked to be pulled into their orbit. I hadn’t asked to feel the weight of three pairs of eyes tracking my every breath, every shift in posture, every flicker of emotion. I hadn’t asked for the confusion, for the pull, for the way my body seemed to respond before my mind could command it otherwise.I kept my face blank, calm, composed, unreadable. Years of







