Todos os capítulos de Their Spare Daughter, His Second Choice: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 8

I set the crystal carafe on the long oak table. The scent of warmed blood and spices curled into the air.Laughter drifted out of the drawing room.Father, usually buried in Council meetings and the business of running House Ashenveil, sat back in his chair and listened to every word Iris said about the Nocturne Academy.“We trained under Elder Eldric himself,” she said, her eyes shining. “He said my command of blood was instinctive. Strong enough to rule any court.”Mother clasped her hand.“My darling, you've grown so pale. Have you been feeding properly? You need rest. All that training will drain your reserves and dull your senses.”Beside them, Dax was picking pomegranate seeds out of their rind with the devotion of a personal servant.I stood in the doorway between the kitchen and the drawing room. Watching. Never invited in.Their room was bright and full of voices. Everyone leaning in. Everyone listening.Mine was dark and quiet. Easy to forget.Iris raised her voice, sweet eno

The corridor lights had been turned off. Mother must have thought I'd gone to bed.She hadn't expected me to overhear them discussing my future as though I were simply holding a place for Iris.Fear crossed her face as I passed her, calm and distant.“I'm going back to the outpost.”My voice gave nothing away. Not the ache in my chest. Not the fresh sting of what I'd heard.Mother let out a breath when she realized I wasn't about to cause a scene. Father gave a brief, approving nod.Good. One less inconvenience for the House.Dax stepped into my path, his eyes narrowing at the bag in my hand.“You're taking all your things? You're really running away because we're upset about what happened to Iris?”He glanced at my phone.“You think some apology over the phone is going to fix this?”Whatever flicker of guilt they'd felt was already gone. That was how it always worked. One moment of shame, then the familiar certainty that I was the one who owed them something.“Your sister is in the in

Then Kane gave a low laugh.He sounded so certain of himself.“Are you serious, Vera? After all the planning we did for the binding? You're throwing it away over a tantrum?”I let out a slow breath.“So you do remember how long we'd been planning it.”He still thought I was bluffing.“Come on. You're upset. I said I'd make it up to you. Acting like you don't care won't change how I feel.”There was nothing left to explain.I heard Dax arguing with him in the background and hung up.Then I blocked every number connected to House Ashenveil.Kane's included.When dawn came, I slept properly for the first time in weeks.And I dreamed.A young girl sat curled on the cold floor of the outpost barracks. Her uniform was too big. Half-healed scrapes covered her hands. She was writing in a journal, a jumble of dates and unfinished thoughts. A quiet record of everything she'd swallowed.Covered someone else's patrol again. No one thanked me. Didn't want to make trouble.Trained with cracked ribs.

I stopped at the edge of the courtyard and looked back.“Does that mean I have to accept your apology?”My voice was quiet. It still made Dax flinch.The barracks courtyard, usually full of young vampires shoving each other around between drills, had gone still. A few guards glanced our way. They couldn't hear every word, but they could feel it.Something was breaking.I hated being watched.But there was no hiding this anymore.Years of silence. Years of swallowing whatever I felt. It all came up at once.“You say you gave Iris all your attention because she was sick, as if that explains everything. Why did protecting her mean neglecting me?”“You hated it when I fought with her. Said I was loud. Difficult. But if I didn't fight, you wouldn't even notice I was there. You'd let me disappear.”“I made a better life when I left. Here, at the outpost, I earned my place. I'm not just the shadow behind your golden child. I have responsibility. People listen when I speak.”Mother shuddered.