Mated to the Alphas I Loathe

๑♡๑DIANA๑♡๑

The syrup jar shattered against the marble floor with a sickening crash. I stared at the scene in wide-eyed horror and disbelief, utterly speechless.

Thick, golden maple syrup splattered across the floor, staining the pristine white silk table linen.

“W-What are you doing?!” I yelled before I could stop myself. My blood boiled with anger and irritation.

A low, arrogant chuckle answered me.

I snapped my head up, catching the smug expression on his face.

Noel Vayne sat at the table, his golden eyes gleaming with deliberate amusement. His lips curled into a smug, infuriating smirk I had come to hate. As though shattering an expensive jar and ruining the perfectly prepared breakfast were nothing more than a game.

“What?” he drawled. “It’s just a little mess.”

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

He knew exactly what he had done.

I had watched him look directly into my eyes before deliberately knocking the jar from the table.

“It’s your job as my personal maid to clean up my messes, isn’t it?”

My fist clenched. He was right. That was the problem.

It was my job.

For ten years, I had been the personal maid of the Vayne twins.

For ten years, I had endured Noel’s cruelty.

And somehow, now that they’re twenty-two, nothing had changed.

I hated him.

I hated that smug expression.

I hated the way he looked at me as though I were nothing more than his favourite toy.

And I especially hated those beautiful golden eyes that seemed to have swallowed the morning sunlight, watching me with deliberate amusement.

I gritted my teeth, lowering my gaze, and nodded. “Yes… I’m sorry. I’ll clean it up right away.”

I knelt in front of the mess and started picking up the broken glass shards. Then I slowly wiped the syrup off the floor with a hand towel.

I moved closer to Noel and reached for his feet.

“Wait,” he pulled away, and a frown etched onto my face. I raised my head to look at him, and a quiet, restrained chuckle left his lips. “I’ve got a better idea,” he said quietly.

The moment those words left his lips, I knew… this spelt trouble. My lips parted but no words came out.

As I thought, his lips curled into a dark, mischievous smile, his eyes glinting with wicked amusement. My heart skipped a tight beat. Then he leaned forward, his gaze holding mine.

“Lick it off.”

My breath instantly left my lungs. For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.

“What?” I finally said, breathless, as though I’d ran a marathon.

I couldn’t possibly have heard him right.

His fingers gripped my chin before I could completely process my thoughts.

“Didn’t you hear me, pipsqueak? I said… use that pretty mouth of yours and clean up this mess, now.”

I forced down the lump in my throat. “You… You’re not serious, right?” my voice trembled lightly.

His voice lowered. “Does it look like I’m joking?”

I almost sobbed out. But I’d promised myself that I wouldn’t let them ever see me cry again.

Not after that day, ten years ago, when I’d first met them, and been assigned to serve them. I had once believed that serving the twin Alpha heirs was an honour.

But from the moment I entered their lives, they had made sure I regretted it.

I was eight. The twins had been twelve.

Noel took my favourite hair ribbon that day, and he never gave it back. Instead, he had mocked me for being a crybaby.

Ten years.

That was how long I had belonged to the Vayne twin brothers.

Ten years of being mocked, bullied, humiliated, and reminded that I was nothing more than their personal maid.

They were twenty-two now. Ten years had passed, yet nothing had changed.

Without thinking, I looked towards Nero.

He sat at the other end of the table, poised like a King. He continued eating without sparing me a single glance, as though nothing unusual was happening in front of him—it wasn’t, so of course he didn’t bother.

Noel enjoyed my humiliation.

But Nero simply never cared enough to stop him.

And somehow, that always hurts worse.

I turned back to Noel, the back of my eyes burning with restrained tears.

“You can’t do this.”

He laughed. “And why is that?”

My fingers clenched tighter, nails digging into my palm till it stung. “I’m a person.” My voice pitched involuntarily. “I’m not some animal you—”

He jerked my chin upward, cutting me off.

“No,” he said calmly, but a flash of something raw and edgy glinted in his golden eyes. His fingers tightened on my chin. He smirked. “You belong to us. You're our maid, and you serve… only us. So yes, pipsqueak, I can do whatever I want with you. Don’t forget that again.”

His words were cruel, sharp. He knew exactly where to hit, and what to say to shatter me. The silence stretched, long and deafening until he pulled away, leaning back against his chair.

He crossed one leg over the other, slightly tilting up his head, and stared down at me.

“Go on then, lick it off. Be a good girl and I’ll consider it a pardon for that brief rebellion instead of something worse.”

A chill ran down my spine.With Noel, there was no telling how far he would go.

Yet, I had contemplated shedding every bit of my pride and begging him but I knew that was only going to ignite the inferno waiting to scorch me alive.

I bit my bottom lip, and finally let out a deep breath.

Slowly, I lowered my head towards his syrup coated feet. But before I could do anything, Nero’s voice cut across the room.

“That’s enough.”

Those two words froze me in place, like winter’s frost, including Noel.

“Ashford. Leave.”

And those two; my name and his command, the only words he’d spoken since the moment he’d walked into the dining room with Noel, sent my body moving before I could think to question it.

I quickly got up to my feet and bolted without looking back. But not before I finally heard Noel question why Nero had stopped him. I didn’t hear the rest.

I was curious as well, but right now, I couldn’t care less.

My back hit the door the moment I scurried out of the dining room and I slumped to the floor. My chest heaving, my body trembling for various reasons.

Then the tears came before I could stop it. I quickly wiped at it with the back of my hand. I couldn’t afford to look like a broken mess. Nero and Noel were also still behind the door.

I took a deep breath, then got up, straightening my maid dress.

I also had to prepare for tonight. For the high-rise ceremony.