Chapter Three - Accalia

Chapter 3

Arianna 

The moment I acted, Dean's attitude, which had softened due to my cold face, completely erupted.

He strode towards me, snatched my suitcase, and smashed it against the floor.

The clothes scattered everywhere. The house echoed as the sound of ripping fabric spread across the floor.

As he walked over, his leather shoes flattened the meat pie on the floor. I gritted my teeth, staring at his feet. 

"Arianna , my patience has limits. Don't drag innocent people into our business!"

My hands trembled as I stood frozen in place. Accalia, my inner wolf screaming at me to defend myself.

Vivien's eyes reddened, crocodile tears welling up as she looked at me innocently with those pretentious eyes.

"I'm sorry, Arianna . It is not my fault that he fell in love with me and it’s not his fault either. He did not mean to leave you hanging at the altar.”

“For what it’s worth, we don’t even know if he was truly sick after all.”

As she spoke, her tears fell drop by drop, hitting the floor and mixing with the meat filling.

"I was just worried Alpha Dean was being deceived, after all, the Willows family is special. There are too many cases of people using children to trap wealthy families into marriage, I..."

She looked at Dean, biting her lip and shaking her head.

My gaze grew colder, and when I spoke, my voice held no warmth at all.

"Dean, you also think I'm deceiving you?"

He didn't speak, but his expression was answer enough.

My father's medical records were real, from the local hospital.

I had accompanied him for the checkup just six months ago - there was no way to fake that.

So Vivien had focused her attention on my father's medical records?

How could Dean not believe me? How could he think I was only trying to trap him into marrying me?

To witness his daughter’s happy day, and to fulfill his dying wish, my father had come all the way from his pack, even though he was seriously sick. 

He endured the pain of the illness, all just to attend his daughter's wedding that didn't even exist.

But even for just one line of dialogue, Dean chose to break his promise rather than act with me.

Thinking carefully, he had never reciprocated my feelings. Our ending was predetermined from the moment we met.

I searched for evidence of his love in every detail of our interactions, deceiving myself.

Everything remained peaceful for five years.

But since Vivien's appearance, this superficial balance was finally broken.

Dean Willows began to show emotions like a normal person.

He learned to love.

He would ask me what to do when Vivien had stomach aches or injuries.

He would prepare allergy medicine in the car in anticipation of her allergic reactions.

He would take Vivien to all the Willows family company events, introducing her to everyone as his perfect partner.

In comparison, I was like a rat in the gutter, emanating stench.

Even if I offered up my dignity with both hands, letting him and his beloved trample it at will, I still couldn't get a ticket to this battle.

Now, I no longer want what I can't have.

The spot where Vivien had been hit quickly swelled and reddened, tears rolling down one after another.

Dean immediately growled at me and cursed in rage.

But his hands didn't stop moving, skillfully taking out medicine from his bag and applying it to Vivien's face with his fingers.

After comforting Vivien, he turned to me with a threatening tone.

"Arianna , don't be ungrateful. Vivien is innocent. The first thing she said after waking up in the hospital yesterday was to tell me to hurry to the wedding to find you."

"Look at yourself now, you're acting like a jealous shrew! How can you ever measure up to her kindness?!"

“How kind of her,” I said nonchalantly with mockery in my tone, staring coldly at them.

"Arianna , I'm telling you for the last time, apologize to her!"

"If you still want to make another scene like this, it’s better you get out of here before I unleash my rage on you!"

I acted as if I couldn't hear his words, instead I just silently started picking up my scattered belongings.

Time ticked by second by second, and Dean's patience ran out. His growl had intensified at this point, his inner werewolf threatening to take over.

He strode over to me, bent down, and grabbed my long hair, his growling eyes fierce and terrifying.

The pain from my scalp was excruciating, but I bit my teeth to hold back any sound, my bloodshot eyes fixed on Dean.

His tone was vicious: "Can't hear me? Or don't know how to apologize? Arianna , I've really spoiled you too much!"

I could see the triumphant look on Vivien’s face as she watched me with mockery in her eyes. She stood behind Dean and made sure not to show him that she was enjoying the sight.

"You want your dad's meat pie, right? Why don't you taste it right now!"

I clenched my teeth hard, but my head was forcefully pushed down and rubbed against the floor.

My lips were pressed and distorted, tears mixing with flour stuck to my face.

But Dean was still not satisfied. He erupted, pulling my head in front of him with one hand while slapping my face repeatedly with the other.

A metallic taste filled my throat, blood blurring my vision.

"Open your mouth! Weren't you acting tough? Come on, open your mouth, and let me see how good my aim is!"

After speaking, he immediately picked up a relatively intact meat pie from the floor and forcefully ground it into mince on my face.

"Smells good? Happy now? Now apologize to Vivien!"

"Otherwise, I'll make your father go back to wherever he came from right now!"

My eyes lit up and burned with rage at the mention of my father.

“I’d be damned if I apologize to that pretentious bitch! Do your worst Dean!” I yelled in his face, accompanying it with a spit.

He was enraged, he growled in my face in anger as though he was about to eat me up. But I did not care. I had nothing to lose anyway, my father was already dead.

“You useless omega, how dare you?!” He yelled and raised his hand, about to hit me some more.

My wolf, Accalia, was pushing me to fight back, but I did not succumb. Instead, I just closed my eyes and waited for the blow to land. I was ready for whatever.

To my surprise, before he could land the blow, the sound of the ringtone coming from his phone stopped his hand in mid-air.

“Who the heck is it?” He growled angrily.