Chapter 3

I shook my head in puzzlement, wanting to deny it, but all I could manage were broken whimpers.

Ross immediately walked to the side of my bed and quickly grabbed my shoulders. "Stop denying it! The kidnappers already confessed and said that they only acted on your orders!"

His eyes were filled with mockery as he spoke, "You actually used the baby as a bargaining chip to get my attention?"

His anger flared, and his grip on my shoulders was so tight that my joints cracked.

Intense pain spread from my shoulders, and I couldn't help but let out a cold sweat. My face was pale as I tried to push him away.

All this made him think he was right about my thoughts, that I was feeling guilty.

Before I could even react, I was suddenly pushed onto the bed. "Is this how you've fooled the healers into treating you? Stop with this act!"

My back slammed hard against the corner of the bed frame, making a loud thud.

The freshly bandaged wound tore open again, and blood seeped out, sending a wave of pain crashing over me.

I couldn't help but curl my body in pain, but he just picked me up again as if I were a fragile doll.

"Do you have to kill everyone I care about? Wasn't Stella good to you? And what did my child ever do to offend you? Aren't you afraid of them returning as ghosts to haunt you?"

He spoke with a deep pain in his voice.

I shook my head with all my might, frantically gesturing with my hands, trying to tell him that I had really been kidnapped. I didn't plan this.

However, I couldn't make a sound at all. I could only look at him with pleading, hopeful eyes.

As if hurt by my gaze, Ross instinctively diverted his gaze. He gritted his teeth and said, "How long will you continue this act? I won't tolerate you anymore. You must pay the price of your sins!"

Despite my body being covered in wounds, he dragged me to Stella's grave.

My gaze fell onto the new tombstone next to it. There was no name, no photo, only an eerie, pristine blankness.

A terrifying thought struck me, leaving me breathless. Then, I instinctively looked toward Ross.

Ross mistook the look on my face for fear. He said unforgivingly, "The child you killed is lying right here! He never even got to see his father, and it was you who stripped him of his rights!"

No! It wasn't me!

I wanted to tell him that I would never harm my own child. The true culprit was someone else, and he should be investigating this.

However, he ignored my gaze and pleas, pressing down on my shoulders to make me kneel.

The wounds on my knees tore open again, leaving bloodstains on the ground, but he didn't care at all.

I endured the pain, struggling to get up, and then I heard his cold voice command the guards beside him, "Make sure she keeps kneeling here. Don't let her escape until she admits her mistakes."

"Yes, Alpha!" The two guards nodded firmly.

Without batting an eye at me, Ross left without hesitation, not staying another second.

I watched his departing figure and tried to catch up to him. One of the guards thought I was trying to escape and suddenly kicked my knee hard.

The pain immediately made me fall to the ground.

Before I could return to my senses, I was again forced back down to my knees. My hair was yanked harshly, sending a sharp, tearing pain through my scalp. As I was forced to tilt my head back, my eyes met the fury in his gaze, sending chills down my spine.

The guard stepped on my legs harshly while saying in a cold voice. "The Alpha has said that you'd have to keep kneeling if you don't admit your mistakes!"

Seeing me sobbing silently, he gave me a merciless slap. My cheek immediately swelled up, blood seeping down the corner of my mouth.

His actions were the same as those of my kidnappers.

I couldn't help but feel scared. I didn't want to go through those horrors again. I looked at him, pleading with my eyes.

The other guard couldn't bear watching this anymore and stopped him. He said softly, "She's our Luna no matter what, so you shouldn't treat her like that. If our Alpha knows…"

The first guard mocked, "How is she the Luna? Everyone knows that the Alpha cares more for Miss Nasha. He's only keeping her to torture her. We're just giving her a taste of it on the Alpha's behalf, so he'd definitely reward us!

"Besides, Miss Nasha is the one the Alpha truly values now. As long as we curry favor with her, we'll definitely gain the Alpha's attention."