All Chapters of Tempted By my Evil Lycan Stepbrother: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Riley’s POVI stared at her.There it was again.That same smallness she always tried to fold me into, as if I should be grateful anyone powerful looked my way at all.She went on before I could answer. “I know you think I’m being calculating again. Maybe I am. But look what I have accomplished so far by being calculative. We are living in the castle, surrounded by the most powerful men on this planet. And you have the luxury of going to the Royal Academy. I’m your mother. I wouldn’t hurt you.”That almost made me laugh.Wouldn’t hurt me?She had built half my wounds with her own hands.But I was too tired to argue. Too tired to throw every bitter truth in her face and watch her flinch away from it. So I just looked at her in silence until discomfort crept into her expression.Eventually she said, “Take a little rest. You still have school tomorrow.”Then she left me too. Not a word about my injuries.When the room finally went quiet, I lay back against the pillows and stared at the c

Riley’s POVEzra froze.For one second, even the chaos around us seemed to fall away. The shouting crowd, Leon’s ragged breathing, the teachers pretending they hadn’t seen anything—all of it blurred at the edges.All I could really see was Ezra’s face.He looked like he couldn’t believe what he had just heard. And the world had slammed into him so hard his body had forgotten how to move.Good, I told myself that, clenching my fists.That was what I wanted, wasn’t it? To hurt him back. To make him feel even a fraction of what I had felt standing there while he let his friends tear me apart, while he kissed another girl in front of me like I had meant nothing.I turned from him and bent to help Leon up.He winced when I touched his arm, but he straightened anyway, still breathing hard from the beating Ezra had given him. There was blood at the corner of his mouth and dirt on his shirt, but when he looked at me, there were sparkles in his eyes.“Are you serious?” he asked me, breathing f

Riley’s POVFor a second, I honestly thought I had misheard him.I just stood there staring at Leon, waiting for him to laugh and admit he was joking. But he didn’t. He looked perfectly serious, standing there with that calm, polished smile still fixed on his face.“Excuse me?” I looked at him in disbelief. “Rule number one?”He tilted his head a little, like I was the one being unreasonable here. Then he smiled again, soft and charming as usual.“You’ll have to understand that I come from a very prestigious and strict family,” he said. “There are expectations for my future bride. Nothing unusual. Just certain boundaries that help avoid gossip and embarrassment.”I stared at him.There it was again—that polished tone, gentle on the surface and hard underneath. He didn’t even sound angry or demanding. He spoke as if this were obvious, as if I were already halfway molded into the kind of woman his family wanted.“If I’m going to marry you,” I said, keeping my voice flat with effort, “I’

Riley’s POVShit. Shit. SHIT!For one second, all I could think was: I just slapped Ezra.The Lycan prince.The future king.The most dangerous person in this whole city besides his father.My palm was still stinging. The sound of it still seemed to hang in the air, sharp and stupid and impossible to take back.The two guards were still standing there waiting for Ezra to say anything. One of them looked from me to Ezra, then back again, clearly trying to decide whether he’d just walked into a crime scene.Ezra touched his cheek. The red mark on his face stood out viciously against his skin. I gulped in fear.What’s he going to do? Hit me back? Or order his guards to drag me out right now and expel me from this city？Then, to my surprise, he simply let out a cold chuckle.“I’m fine. Lady Riley’s just messing with me,” he said. “Leave us.”The guards hesitated.Ezra turned his head slightly and gave them a look that could have frozen hell.“Now.”That was enough. They backed out immedia

Riley’s POVFor a second, I honestly forgot how to breathe.It wasn’t just that Ezra had brought a girl to dinner. That alone wouldn’t have shocked me. Ezra always had girls around him. Beautiful and sexy girls.But this was different.This was the first time I had ever heard him use that word—girlfriend. The word hit me so hard my whole chest turned hollow.He usually just referred to them as his date.So there must be something special about this girl. Ezra must really like her.“Well, this is great Ezra!” my mom gasped like she was genuinely happy for him. “I’ve never met your girlfriend before.”“My King and My Queen, it’s my honor to meet you,” Viola smiled.She stepped forward with that smooth, effortless grace and greeted everyone with exactly the right amount of warmth. Not too shy. Not too bold.She knew how to smile at powerful people without looking intimidated. Within minutes, she had charmed the whole table.“Nice to meet you,” King Soren smiled back. He looked very pleas