All Chapters of The Alpha's Scorned Bride: Chapter 81 - Chapter 90

Ava's POVVictor’s voice cut through the silence. I stopped.My wolf paused with me, alert.Slowly, I turned back. “Not really,” I said.And this time… it was mostly true. I had been angry. Furious, even. But that was yesterday.Now? Now I accepted it. He never liked me anyway. So why would he step in? Why would he protect me?Beyond the legal tie and mate bond between us… we were nothing.“Yesterday’s issue was about the Stone family’s business,” he continued. “It wasn’t my place to step in.”My expression didn’t change.“Don’t blame Laura,” he added. “She meant well.”My wolf went still. Then, a slow, simmering irritation spread through me. So that was it.He thought I was upset because of Laura.He thought this… all of this… was about her.A bitter laugh slipped out before I could stop it.How ridiculous.“Alpha Victor,” I said, my voice calm but sharp enough to cut, “tell me, what is Laura to you that you keep defending her?”He didn’t hesitate. His expression didn’t even shift.“

Victor's POVAva’s fingers were wrapped tightly around my arm, her grip stronger than it should have been.I didn’t pull away. I didn’t even try. My wolf had already gone quiet.Then she started crying, but not like Laura, loud, dramatic tears. This was different. It was quiet, broken, and controlled.I could hear the hitch in her breathing, the uneven rhythm of her heart, the way her chest trembled as she fought to suppress every sound.Her tears gathered slowly, spilling over despite her effort, and she bit down on her lip hard enough that I caught the faint scent of blood.She was holding it in. Every instinct in me sharpened.Panic hit me then. It came fast and sharp, tightening my chest in a way I couldn’t explain. My instincts, which were usually so precise, felt… off.I didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what she needed, didn’t know why this was affecting me like this.Then, just as suddenly as it began, it stopped.Her grip loosened. Her breathing steadied.She let go of my a

Victor's POVI hadn’t heard my grandma approach, not even a single step. That alone told me how distracted I’d been.Her eyes were sharp and observant, missing nothing.“Victor,” she said, “do you really think Ava’s cold attitude is just her playing hard to get?”I didn’t answer because I didn’t know.Because whatever this was… it didn’t feel like a game.“Good things take time,” she continued. “Trust isn’t built overnight.”Trust… the word sat heavily in my chest. I didn’t know why, but suddenly, Richard’s face flashed in my mind, uninvited.Grandma spoke in a solemn tone, “Love is like a garden, my child. If you neglect it, it dies.” She stared into space. “People aren’t any different. Nobody waits forever. When someone better comes along, what do you think Ava will do? Stay with someone who treats her like dirt?”Her words made my chest tighten, irritation rising fast and irrational. My wolf stirred, restless, pacing beneath the surface. I recalled the fight from days ago, and I cl

Ava's POVEvery muscle in my body locked, my breath catching halfway in my chest. My wolf went utterly still, then slowly bared its teeth inside me, a low, warning growl building deep in my mind.I knew that voice.It wasn’t just familiar. It was carved into me, etched into bone and memory.“You know, humans are way scarier than ghosts, don’t you think, Miss Stone?”My fists clenched so tightly my nails bit into my palms. I barely felt the sting. It still took me a second before I could turn, my body resisting like it already knew what I would see.He stood a few steps above me on the stone staircase, his black coat snapping sharply in the wind. For a heartbeat, my vision blurred from the clash between memory and reality. That face had once been warm, almost kind.Now it was ice.His deep brown eyes locked onto me, unblinking, predatory. My wolf recoiled instinctively, then pushed forward again, hackles raised, refusing to submit. The weight of his presence pressed down on me in a col

Ava's POVFor a brief moment, the storm seemed to quiet around us, like even the wind was holding its breath. Anderson’s eyes stayed locked on me, but something in them changed.I could sense the thoughts moving behind his gaze. He seemed confused. But then, in a matter of seconds, I saw that cold certainty snap back into place in his eyes, like a lock sealing shut.“A life for a life,” he said, his voice like ice sliding over skin. “Five years isn’t nearly enough.”Despair flooded through me, thick and suffocating, until I could barely breathe around it. My jaw tightened, my teeth grinding together as something reckless, something desperate clawed its way to the surface.Before I could think, before I could stop myself, I moved.I darted forward, straight into the path of his car, my arms flinging wide as I planted myself in front of it. The rain poured down harder, blinding and relentless, but I didn’t move.“Fine!” My voice tore out of me, raw and shaking. “If that’s what you want,