There in the living room, standing in front of the fireplace, was Anita.
Anita looked up, her lips twitching slightly. But she didn’t speak.
Anita didn’t respond at first. She blinked a few times, then slowly lowered herself into the armchair behind her.
I hesitated.
I crept down a little farther and peeked from behind the wall.
He crossed his arms. “We don’t want to see your face. Not right now.”
She looked hurt… really hurt.
“What?” I breathed, confused.
I hesitated. My instinct was to ignore her and keep walking-but I couldn’t. That would seem cold. Unusual. Suspicious.
“Next time you want to accuse someone of murder, think carefully,” he said, voice low and full of anger. “Because not everyone who lies to you is trying to hurt you.”
The look he gave me made it clear he was running out of patience-but I didn’t care.
But instead… she cried.
My eyes widened as I struggled to wrap my head around what Alpha Damien had just said.
“And don’t bother me again,” he muttered, just before walking out and slamming the door behind him.
I pulled back before either of them could see me, my heart thudding in my chest.
I waited for Anita to leave, but she didn’t… instead she stayed by the fireplace and I couldn’t go back to my room, so I stepped out of hiding.
The moonlight crept through the curtains, casting pale shadows across the walls. I blinked slowly, my throat parched and dry. I sat up, groggy and disoriented. The clock on the wall told me it was late-deep into the night.
I swallowed hard.
I gripped the bedsheets tightly, my heart still racing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t piece anything together. The truth felt like a puzzle with half the pieces purposely hidden-and Damien was the one holding them all.
But I shook my head stubbornly. “No.”
My thoughts swirled endlessly until I felt too exhausted to keep questioning. Outside, I could still faintly hear the murmurs, the music, the quiet sound of people grieving a girl who wasn’t really gone. My own funeral…
“I have more questions to ask,” I said firmly.
“Why did you kill her?” I demanded. “You killed her… just for this, didn’t you? To make all this work?”
“No,” she said flatly, staring at the floor. “Not really.”
Was I really safer being dead to the world? And if so… why were there people determined to kill me?
She looked away, gulping hard.
Or maybe get angry. Say something mean.
The hallways were quiet now. Everyone must have retired to bed after the funeral….
My brows furrowed deeper.
His face was stony, jaw tight, eyes cold.
I held my breath and listened.
Like someone who had lost something important.
Her lips trembled, and her eyes filled with tears.
I thought she would stay quiet.
“I saved your fucking life,” he snapped. “And I’m not just talking about Alpha Gabriel. You think he’s the only one who wants you gone?”
And just like that, I was alone again.
She covered her face with her hands, but the tears kept falling.
He sounded… broken. Tired. Like grief had hollowed something inside him.
He pointed to the window like he could still see the crowd below. “There are people in this pack… and beyond… who would pay anything to see you dead. You don’t even know the half of it.”
Anita flinched.
Then, her whole body shook.
Maybe make up a lie.
Olivia’s POV
Like someone full of pain.
“I’m not judging,” I added quickly. “But if she was your best friend… why did you look like you hated her? Why did you betray her?”
“You need to keep staying in your room,” Levi said flatly.
“Now can you move away?” he groaned, already reaching for the door.
Or… she used to be.
Eventually, the muffled noise faded into silence… And somewhere in that stillness… I drifted off.
When I opened my eyes again, the room was dark.
She looked nervous, arms folded across her chest.
“They’ve given me three days,” he muttered.
Then finally, she spoke.
“I wish I never agreed to them,” she added, her tone low with shame.
My brows drew together.
She placed a hand gently on her stomach.
“What… what happened?” I asked, my voice low.
“I was going to say no,” she admitted, “but then I thought about the way the triplets looked at her. The way they laughed around her, smiled just by hearing her name…”
Her voice cracked again. “I wanted that.”
Anita wiped her eyes again, her voice barely above a whisper.
My heart stopped. “What?”
“I lost my best friend,” she whispered. “The only person who ever saw me… really loved me. And now she’s gone.”
Then, finally, he lifted his head and looked at me-his eyes red-rimmed.
I kept my expression calm, but inside, everything felt like it was tilting sideways.
“They still believe I care about her,” he said bitterly. “That I’m still in love with her. They don’t believe I’ve moved on.”
My blood ran cold.
I blinked, surprised. He looked… exhausted. Broken. Scared. This was the first time I had ever seen him like this.
I turned back to Anita, forcing a soft smile.
Anita shook her head. “No. She just said Olivia wasn’t the right fit. That she needed me instead.”
My heart skipped a beat. I leaned forward slightly. “Who?” I asked, careful not to sound too eager.
God, I was supposed to hate this man… so why was I worried?
Olivia’s POV
She looked away. “Boys never looked at me that way. No one ever did.”
“And now… I’m carrying babies who might not even make it into this world,” she said with a broken voice. “I can feel it. Something’s not right. The doctors say I should rest, that I need to hope-but all I feel is this… fear.”
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.