Chapter 106
Chapter 106:
“He’s poisoning you, Adella,” he whispered, the words sliding in like toxic oil. “You think he loves you? He’s controlling you. I can see it. You’re not yourself — you’re harder. Colder. That’s his influence p>
“I’m stronger,” I corrected, pulling back.
“You’re brainwashed,” Braydon insisted, his eyes wide and feverish. He looked at me with a twisted sort of pleading, as if he genuinely believed he was saving me. “He’s a Lycan, Adella. A monster. He’s twisting your mind to make you think you chose this. But you didn’t. You belong with me. I’m the only one who knows the real you — the gentle girl. Not this thing he’s turning you into p>
Then, switching tactics seamlessly, his voice cracked with feigned emotion. “She’s been asking for you. Victoria. She’s taken a turn for the worse, Adella. She’s dying p>
𝗔𝖽diс𝗍𝗂𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘁𝗈rieѕ on ѕ.com
My heart skipped a beat. Victoria — the Luna who had watched in silence for ten years, who had never lifted a finger to stop her son’s cruelty, but who had also, in her own distant way, ensured I was fed and clothed. She wasn’t kind, but she wasn’t the monster Marcus was. The thought of her dying stirred something uncomfortable in my chest — not love, not gratitude, but the strange weight of a complicated history.
“She wants to see you one last time. Don’t be heartless. Come with me. Now p>
I stared at him, my mind racing. His grip on the back of my seat tightened, his knuckles brushing my shoulder — a silent threat masked as a plea. He was banking on my guilt. He was banking on the girl I used to be.
But he had forgotten one thing. I wasn’t just Adella anymore. I was the one who had looked the Alpha King in the eye and survived.
Adella POV
The command hung in the air between us, heavy and suffocating, like the humidity before a storm. Come with me. Now.
A month ago, that tone would have made my knees buckle. It would have sent me scrambling to obey, terrified of the consequences of defiance. But as I looked at Braydon — sweating slightly in his expensive suit — I didn’t see a monster anymore. I saw a liar.
I took a slow, deliberate sip of my water, letting the silence stretch until it became uncomfortable. Elara was watching me, her fork hovering halfway to her mouth, eyes sharp with calculation.
“Funny,” I said, my voice steady and cool, cutting through the ambient noise of the restaurant. “When I saw her last week, she had all the vitality of a Luna in her prime. Perhaps you’re confusing her health with your own desperation, Braydon p>
Braydon’s face contorted. The mask of the grieving son slipped, revealing the snarling wolf beneath. His grip on my chair tightened until the leather creaked.
“You ungrateful little—” he hissed, leaning closer. “She raised you. She fed you when you were nothing but a burden p>
“She watched,” I corrected him, my gaze unyielding. “Just like you did. Now please remove your hand from my chair before I call the manager. I’m trying to enjoy my lunch p>