Chapter 3

By the time I rushed to the hospital, Toby and Amy were both lying in hospital beds.

Their bodies were covered in dense red rashes, with several bloody scratches where they had clawed at their skin.

No matter how distant we had become, they were still my children, and the sight of them in pain made me instinctively move closer.

Felix stepped in front of me before I could reach them, anger showing on the face of a man who was usually composed.

“Camilla, have you lost your mind? Why did you feed them strawberries?”

“It wasn’t me,” I denied immediately.

Ever since I discovered that they had inherited my strawberry allergy, I had been extremely careful about everything they ate.

I never allowed them to eat food from outside, and even on school days, I prepared packed lunches for them myself.

There were also two instructions I had repeated to their guards countless times: keep the children safe, and never let them anywhere near strawberries.

Toby, however, insisted that I was responsible and argued hoarsely, “Mommy was the one who gave them to us.”

Amy immediately backed him up. “She said if we didn’t eat them, she would make Lillian leave.”

I stared at them in shock. “What are you talking about?”

Toby only made the accusation worse. “Mommy said that once we ate the strawberries, Dad would blame Lillian and send her away.”

“I never said any of that!” I nearly shouted.

Being falsely accused was painful enough, but having the lies come from my own children hurt more than anything I could have imagined.

“Enough.”

Felix looked utterly disappointed in me, and every trace of warmth had disappeared from his voice.

“They’re so young. Why would they lie about something like this?”

“How can you be so vicious that you would even hurt your own children?”

Tears spilled from my eyes before I could stop them.

When I had been pregnant with twins, the joy had come doubled, but so had the danger.

The healer had warned me that my body was too weak and that he could not guarantee I would survive the pregnancy.

Even so, I had chosen to give birth to them, despite knowing that the decision could cost me my life.

Now the children I had nearly died bringing into this world were lying about me without so much as a flicker of shame.

The whole situation was so absurd that beneath the pain, I could almost have laughed.

But they weren’t finished with me.

“Dad, Mommy did something wrong, so she should be punished.”

“Why don’t we make her have an allergic reaction too? Then we’ll be even.”

Felix looked at their pale faces, then back at me, as though he were still waiting for me to admit it.

After hesitating for a moment, he agreed to their demand.

“Fine.”

The instant the word left his mouth, the guards on either side of me seized my arms and held me so tightly that I couldn’t move.

In my panic, I caught sight of Lillian hiding in a corner, and everything suddenly became clear.

By then, it was already too late. Someone gripped my jaw while a large amount of strawberry juice was forced into my mouth.

The reaction came almost immediately as rashes spread across my skin, itching and burning as though countless ants were biting into me.

A searing pain tore through my throat, and as the sensation of an invisible hand tightening around my neck grew stronger, breathing became increasingly difficult.

Everyone simply stood there watching me with cold, indifferent eyes.

Whatever warmth remained in my heart slowly disappeared, and when my body could no longer endure the reaction, consciousness finally slipped away.

When I opened my eyes again, night had already fallen, and the sound of quiet voices drifted into the room.

Lillian was apologizing softly. “Felix, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it would be that serious.”

“The children told me they had never tried strawberries before, and I felt so sorry for them that I bought some.”

Instead of reacting with the fury he had shown toward me, Felix answered her gently.

“It’s all right. You were only trying to do something nice for them.”

Toby lowered his head and said with a trace of guilt, “Don’t be upset, Lillian. Amy and I were curious, so we lied to you.”

Amy hurried to apologize as well. “I’m sorry, Lillian. We made you worry.”

Felix let out a deep sigh. “You still shouldn’t have lied. Because of what you said, your mother was punished for something she didn’t do.”

Afraid that Felix was angry with him, Toby quickly explained, “I’m sorry, Dad. We were just scared that Lillian would move away.”

“Besides, Mommy is really strong, so we knew she would be fine.”

I was the one who had been hurt and the one who deserved an apology more than anyone, yet not a single one of them seemed to spare a thought for me.

The realization settled heavily over my heart until even every beat seemed to ache.

When Felix came into my room, I was lying there staring blankly at the ceiling.

Perhaps the tears still lingering at the corners of my eyes made him uncomfortable, because after one glance, he quickly looked away.

“You heard them. It was an accident on Lillian’s part. Let’s leave it at that.”

When it was me, he demanded answers and punishment, yet when it came to Lillian, everything could simply be forgotten.

Wasn’t an Alpha supposed to value fairness above all else?

I wanted to argue, but the tears only fell harder.

Seeing how devastated I was seemed to stir a trace of guilt in him, and after a moment, he spoke again.

“Your birthday is next week. I’ll hold a party for you.”

I still gave him no response, but he took my silence as acceptance.

A moment later, the children were already pulling him back toward Lillian.

Perhaps that was for the best, because once my birthday was over, I would leave.