Chapter 530

Lennox’s POV

I could see the look in their eyes.

Shock.

Fear.

Disbelief.

It was almost funny, how they stared at me like I was some ghost crawling out of the grave. As if they would do anything to shove that ghost back to wherever he came from.

My fingers tightened on the arm of the wheelchair.

I hated them.

All of them.

Sitting there, eating dinner, laughing, having fun, living their perfect little lives p>

While I—

While I rotted in that hut like discarded trash.

How convenient.

The wheels scraped softly on the floor as Anabella pushed me farther into the room.

Silence.

Heavy. Thick. Suffocating.

Then p>

“Lennox Olivia breathed, stepping forward.

Her voice cracked like something inside her had shattered.

She ran to me, barefoot, fast, desperate, and dropped to her knees in front of me.

“This… this is not real,” she whispered, touching my knee like she expected her hand to go through me. “Lennox… no… this can’t be real p>

I scoffed.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I said coldly. “I’m alive p>

Her head snapped up, eyes wide, glistening.

She reached out to hug me—

But I pushed her.

Harder than I meant to.

She fell back, landing painfully on her ass.

A sharp gasp left her lips.

My chest twisted, pain, guilt, something else I didn’t want to feel, but I looked away immediately.

If I let myself feel anything for her, I would break.

I lifted my chin and looked at Levi.

Then Louis.

Then my parents.

All four of them were staring at me like they had been caught burying a body.

“Don’t stop on my account,” I said, gripping the wheels and rolling myself forward. “What’s for dinner p>

No one moved.

The silence felt like a slap.

I reached the table, grabbed an apple, and took a slow bite.

The crunch echoed as they all stared with terrified eyes, staring at me like a ghost.

Levi was the first to break the silence.

“Lennox His voice was shaky. “When… when did you wake up p>

I turned my head slowly.

“When I wasn’t supposed to,” I said flatly. “Or were you planning for me not to wake up at all p>

Levi paled.

Louis swallowed hard.

Mother covered her mouth.

Father lowered his head like a man who had seen the gods abandon him.

Mother stepped closer, her voice trembling. “Lennox… my son… this is a… this is a miracle p>

“Cut the pretense,” I said without looking at her. “Save your fake tears p>

Her hand froze mid-air.

Her face crumpled.

I felt nothing.

Olivia stood slowly, rubbing the spot where she had fallen, her eyes glued to me. She stepped forward again.

“Lennox,” she whispered, “please… just let me p>

“Don’t talk,” I said sharply.

She stopped mid-step.

Her lips quivered.

Her eyes filled with fresh tears again.

But she stayed silent.

Good.

I turned back to the table, the apple forgotten in my hand.

My gaze swept over them one by one.

Olivia,

the woman I loved more than life.

The woman I would have died for.

The woman I risked my life for without even thinking.

Levi,

my brother,

a man I trusted to protect me, to love me.

But instead, he hid me.

Louis,

my other brother.

My closest friend.

But he abandoned me.

And my parents.

They were supposed to love me, never abandon me.

But instead p>

They disappointed me.

I took a slow breath.

My voice came out low, filled with pain.

“So,” I said, looking each of them in the eye,

“tell me p>

My fingers tightened around the wheels.

“Why did you all abandon me p>

Olivia rushed toward me first.

She dropped to her knees again, so fast I barely blinked.

“Lennox… we p>

“Keep quiet,” I ordered.

She froze.

Her mouth opened again, instinct, desperation to speak, but I raised my hand sharply.

“I said keep quiet p>

Her lips shut immediately.

Her tears didn’t.

They spilled down her cheeks one after another, dripping onto the floor between us.

I didn’t look at her.

If I did p>

If I let myself feel anything for her p>

I would break apart.

I focused instead on Levi, who finally stepped forward.

“Lennox,” he said cautiously, hands raised as if approaching a wild animal, “please… calm down. We didn’t abandon you. We visited you. All the time. Every month. Every week. We were there p>

He looked back at the others for support.

Nobody backed him.

Good.

I laughed.

A hollow, sharp, humorless sound.

“Lie better,” I said coldly. “Try again p>

Levi swallowed. “I’m not lying p>

“You didn’t visit me for four years p>

He went still.

“All of you,” I added, turning toward Louis, then my father, then my mother. “You left me there to rot. You abandoned me for death p>

Olivia shook her head violently. “No. No, Lennox—stop—please, it’s not like that p>

I turned to her slowly.

Her voice faltered.

“Olivia,” I said quietly, too quietly, “stop talking p>

Her eyes widened.

“I am trying very hard,” I continued, “not to say something I can’t take back. So please, be quiet p>

She burst into fresh tears, covering her mouth with both hands.

Louis stepped forward, his voice tight with panic. “Lennox… just breathe. Just calm down. Please p>

I ignored him.

My eyes scanned the room—

Something felt wrong.

Something is missing.

I turned my wheelchair slightly, my gaze sweeping across the walls.

Then my blood went cold.

“Where is it p>

Levi frowned. “Where is what p>

“My portrait p>

Silence slammed into the room.

I rolled the chair forward, pushing hard with my arms, moving toward the living room. They scrambled after me, but I didn’t slow down.

I reached the far wall—

Empty.

Where my painting used to hang,

where my wolf drawing used to be,

where my place in this house was marked—

There was nothing.

No pictures. No drawings. No memories.

Just blank walls.

My pulse roared in my ears.

“So I laughed darkly, “You took out my pictures p>

Louis stepped forward fast. “Lennox, listen, we had to. Seeing your pictures everywhere… it wasn’t good for Olivia. It made her sad. It reminded her p>

“What a pathetic excuse p>

Louis flinched.

I rolled past them, scanning the walls again—

There were pictures everywhere.

Happy pictures of them.

Pictures of Levi with Olivia, his arm around her shoulders at a festival.

Pictures of Louis carrying Olivia on his back, all of them laughing like the whole world was perfect.

Pictures of Olivia in the middle, smiling between them.

A perfect, complete family.

Without me.

My breath hitched.

My fingers trembled on the wheels.

They didn’t remove all the pictures.

They only removed mine.

They erased me and looked like a happy family in every single photo.

And I?

I had been wiped from the walls p>

wiped from their home p>

wiped from their lives.

Something snapped painfully inside my chest.

But before I could react—

My eyes caught another frame.

A huge framed portrait. Of three little identical boys laughing together in a field.

My fingers tightened painfully around the wheels.

My breath stopped.

My world tilted as I stared at the three identical faces staring back from the portrait.

A harsh beat slammed through my chest.

No.

No.

No p>

I was still staring, frozen, when I heard footsteps behind me.

I turned my head slowly—

And there they were.

Three boys.

No older than four or five.

Exactly alike.

Exactly like the portrait.

They stopped in the hallway, wide-eyed, staring at me like they had seen a monster crawl out of their nightmares.