After I Learned To Obey Why Did My Family Start To Regret It? Chapter 03
My hand stopped.
For a moment, my chest ached.
Strange. I thought I had stopped caring.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “Soon you’ll only have Tiffany.”
Sean laughed and tossed down his fork.
“Tiffany’s alone. I’m going to her.”
The air in the room pressed down on me.
One by one, they left.
I remained at the table, surrounded by untouched dishes and the quiet laughter of the guests.
The food went cold. The candles burned low. Wax dripped onto the cake, melting into the cream and leaving a pale trail behind.
I sat there all night.
By the time someone came to pick me up the next morning, my body was cold and stiff. My limbs felt as if they no longer belonged to me.
The car window rolled down.
Tiffany smiled at me.
“How was it, Harriet? Sitting there alone all night?”
I was too tired to answer.
I climbed into the car and closed my eyes.
When we were almost at the villa, Tiffany opened the door and threw herself out.
She rolled across the ground and slammed into the stone steps, making it look as if someone had pushed her.
A scream tore from her throat.
Everyone waiting outside the villa turned toward us.
Sean ran to Tiffany and dropped beside her.
“Was it Harriet? Did she push you?”
Gerald dragged me out of the car.
Before I could speak, Anne slapped me across the face.
She was breathing hard. Regret and hatred twisted together in her expression.
“I don’t have a daughter like you. You wanted to fake your death and leave us, didn’t you? Then go. Get out right now.”
“Get out!”
My belongings were thrown after me.
Anne ordered the villa gates shut and would not look at me again.
Still, that was not enough.
Gerald’s expression was grim. He personally took men with him and sent me to the dark prison where werewolf rebels were held.
They threw me onto a filthy pile of bloodstained straw.
Elton appeared outside the cell.
Disgust sharpened his voice.
“Tiffany went out of kindness to bring you home, and this is how you repay her? You ungrateful thing.”
I looked at him without speaking.
My body hurt more with every breath, but I had long since stopped wasting words.
His temper rose when I stayed silent.
“What happened to all your excuses? Two years ago, every time you hurt Tiffany, you had so much to say. You denied it, argued, blamed everyone else. Why are you quiet now?”
“All because of what happened two years ago, you’ve been punishing us and punishing yourself. Why? Can’t we leave it behind and start over?”
I went still.
My thoughts drifted back.
Two years ago, the bracelet Anne had obtained to protect Tiffany went missing.
After that, Tiffany became ill. Every few days, she coughed up blood.
Elton sent every available hand in the pack to search the territory. Half a month later, they found out a group of rogue wolves had picked it up.
The rogues did not want money.
They did not want power.
They wanted me to serve them for half a month.
Because I could not shift, they said I belonged at the bottom of the pack, just like them.
Everyone was shocked.
At that time, I had only recently been brought home. No one thought my family would agree.
But they held my hands and pleaded with me.
“Harriet, go for half a month. Once they give the bracelet back, Gerald will take men there, destroy their den, and bring you home.”
“They’re watching us. If we don’t do what they say, they’ll destroy the bracelet. What will Tiffany do then? She needs it to live. I’m begging you. Save her.”
Anne nearly knelt in front of me.
I cried until I passed out.
When I opened my eyes again, several rogue wolves were leaning over me, grinning.
I screamed.
Gerald and Sean had not gone far.
They heard me.
I saw them stop. Their fists clenched. For a long time, they stood there without moving.
Neither of them turned back.
That night, I ran and hid until I slipped from a cliff.
I thought I was dead, but a tree caught me.
When the rogue leader could not find me, he smashed the bracelet in anger.
After I woke, I wanted only to get away.
So I faked my death and left.
But they found me and dragged me home.
The day after they heard I had “died,” Tiffany recovered.
Looking back, perhaps she had only needed me gone. Once no one was left to compete with her, she was well again.
“Tiffany has suffered enough because of you,” Elton said. “This time, we won’t let you off. If you still won’t change, you can stay here forever.”
He left.
I lowered my head.
Because I knew the truth.
I did not have forever.
The last doctor who examined me had already told me.
This time, I really was going to die.
They should be satisfied now.
