“Tell me you lied,” I dared him softly. “Look me in the eye and tell me every ever said to me was a lie. That you never wanted me. Never… felt anything.”
His silence was suffocating. word you
I felt my heart pound as I stepped even closer. “You can’t, can you? Because you meant it, Gabriel. You felt it. And you still do.”
“Stop.” His voice was rough, low… but trembling.
But I didn’t stop.
“Admit it, Gabriel,” I whispered fiercely. “You’re not evil. You don’t want me dead. You said you liked me… you said I was special. Or was that just another one of your tricks to make me lower my guard?” My voice cracked. “I thought you were different. I trusted you.”
His hands curled into fists behind his back.
“I never lied to you,” he snapped. My heart stopped.
“Everything I told you… everything I did… was real. I meant it. Every word. I-” he shut his eyes tightly for a moment, breathing hard, “-I do care about you, Olivia. More than you can understand.”
“Then why?” I choked out, tears blurring my vision, no matter how hard I tried to hold them back. “Why are you killing me, Gabriel? If you meant all of it-why are you doing this?”
His gaze finally met mine, filled with pain. “Because I have no choice.” His voice was thick, pained. “Because I made a promise. A vow on my mother’s grave… a promise I cannot break.”
L
Olivia’s POV
I blinked, confused. “What?”
He stepped closer now, the shadows of the cell falling across his face. His voice dropped low, rough with emotion.
“On her grave,” he said. “I promised her I would avenge what was done to her… and that vengeance starts with you.”
My heart twisted. “Me? What did I do?” I snapped, my voice sharp with disbelief.
Gabriel shook his head slowly. “You did nothing, Olivia. The only crime you was being born the daughter of that woman.” he spat.
The hate in his eyes made me shudder.
My frown deepened as I tried to put his words together. committed
I held his gaze. “My mother? Did she do something terrible?” I asked, confused. When and how did my quiet Mother hurt Gabriel and his family?
Gabriel nodded. “She destroyed my family,” he said with spite, “and you are destined to pay for it.”
My brow furrowed deeper. My mind scrambled, confused, desperate to make sense of his words. I shook my head… “There has to be some mistake…Are you sure you are not making a mistake, Gabriel? I might not be the one you think I am… my mother is Benita, she is just a nurse…”
“I know who your mother is, Olivia!” he snapped, cutting me off. “I’m not confused. I did my research. I spent years digging through files, tracing bloodlines, hunting for proof. And I found you.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Gabriel, no-this is wrong. You’re making a mistake. This has to be someone else. Please-“
“It is not!” he growled, his voice thundering through the dungeon. He suddenly took a sharp breath and turned away from me, running a hand down his face, as if the very act of looking at me made everything harder.
“Prepare yourself. You will be beheaded tomorrow,” he said and turned to leave, but I yelled, stopping him.
“At least tell me how,” I begged. “What did she do to you? To your family? I deserve to know that much before I die!”
Gabriel didn’t turn around. He stood there in silence for a moment… then spoke without looking at me.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “Before your execution. I’ll answer all your questions then.”
And with that, he walked away.
As soon as the silence settled again, I collapsed to the ground. My legs couldn’t hold me anymore. Tears blurred my vision as I closed my eyes, my fingers clutching the cold stone beneath me.
I reached… desperately, blindly… for the bond.
For them.
Louis… Levi… Lennox…
I tried again, harder this time, pushing past the numbness in my body.
Please. Please hear me… my I clenched my fists, pressed them against my chest, and begged them in heart.
You promised you’d always protect me… remember? You said no matter how mad we were, you’d still come for me if I was ever in danger.
Have you forgotten? Have you stopped caring?
I’m still yours.
The collar around my neck pulsed again, like it was laughing at me. It was cutting off last link I had to them. every
But I didn’t stop.
I couldn’t stop.
Please… just get the signal Any signal. Something. Anything. Just feel me. Come for me.
I curled up against the wall, still whispering the words in my head over and over like a prayer. I stared at the ceiling until my eyes grew too heavy.
I didn’t mean to fall asleep.
But at some point, the darkness took me.
And the last thing I whispered before sleep swallowed me whole was-
“Please… find me.”
Suddenly, I found myself standing in a cold room. Not the dungeon. No… this was different. There were no chains, no stone walls. The room was spacious, but eerily quiet, and the air was heavy with tension. Everything was pale… washed in gray, like I was trapped inside a dream that didn’t know it was a nightmare yet.
A small crowd stood before me. Their faces were blurred. But not all of them.
Because right in front, seated proudly in her wheelchair like a queen on a twisted throne, was Abigail.
Her eyes sparkled with cruel satisfaction, lips curled in a victorious smile.
She looked… happy.
My stomach twisted.
And then I saw him.
Alpha Gabriel.
He sat on a large chair, his throne.
His eyes didn’t even meet mine as he stood up slowly.
“All preparations are in place,” a faceless guard beside him announced.
“Then let it be done,” Gabriel said without hesitation, his voice calm, hollow.
I tried to move.
Tried to scream.
But I couldn’t.
I looked down and realized my hands were bound. My knees hit the floor, and I couldn’t rise. My heart pounded in my chest like it knew the end was near.
“No…” I whispered. “Please…”
But no one listened.
The crowd didn’t flinch.
Abigail only grinned wider.
A man stepped forward-the executioner. Tall, dressed in black, with a heavy axe gripped in both hands.
He walked behind me.
Panic gripped my throat. I struggled, but my body refused to move.
This isn’t real, I told myself. This is just a dream-
But it felt real. Too real.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.