Alpha's Rejected becomes the Lycan's Obsession -
Chapter 117: What do you mean?
Chapter 117: What do you mean?
Roman’s grip on Tessy’s wrist was firm, not forceful, but enough to make her follow him without question. The corridors twisted like a labyrinth, lined with towering portraits and heavy stone arches that seemed to close in around them the farther they went.
He didn’t say a word at first, and neither did she.
Then, without warning, Roman paused. He reached out and pulled open a narrow closet door embedded in the stone wall. Inside, hanging like a sentinel, was a long black coat. It looked worn but thick, with heavy buttons that glinted in the dim light. He grabbed it without ceremony, then turned to Tessy, extending it toward her.
"Here, put this on," Roman said, his voice low but unyielding.
Tessy stopped in her tracks, her eyes narrowing. Suspicion flickered across her face as she stared at the coat he was offering like it was some strange object sent to trick her. "Why?" she asked, wariness lacing her voice.
"It will mask your scent so your aunt will not notice your presence when we go inside," he explained, his tone calm and even, but his eyes told a different story.
Tessy didn’t reach for the coat immediately. She stood frozen, hesitating, her mind still trying to catch up to the reality unraveling around her. Her pulse pounded in her ears as her gaze darted from the coat to Roman’s unreadable expression.
After a moment of tense silence, she slowly reached out and took the coat from his hands. It felt heavier than she expected, and as she slid her arms into the sleeves, a chill traveled down her spine.
Roman didn’t just hand her the coat and look away. He stepped forward and began fastening the buttons for her, starting from the top, his movements methodical, almost gentle.
When he reached the lower buttons, he didn’t hesitate. He squatted down, gracefully, without pride or pause, his fingers deftly working to secure each one in place. When he finally stood upright, their eyes met.
"When we go in there, I am going to make you stand by a pillar where she will not see you but you will be close enough to hear everything she will say," Roman informed her, his tone shifting now to something firmer, like a general briefing a soldier before battle. "I need you to be absolutely quiet, make no sound, speak no words, just listen. Remember I said your aunt is part werewolf. Any sound you make will get to her ears because her hearing ability is ten times better than that of pure humans. If she detects any sound apart from mine, she will withhold a lot of information. Do you understand?"
Tessy couldn’t form words. Her throat closed up, the weight of the coat pressing down on her like the truth she was about to uncover. She nodded, one sharp, desperate bob of her head. That was all she could manage.
At that moment, she was a complete mess.
Her emotions were tangled in a storm of disbelief, dread, and confusion. She could barely breathe. It felt like her entire body was caving in under the pressure of it all. How could she stand here, preparing to spy on the very woman she had buried? Or rather, the woman she thought she had buried. Her mother, no, her aunt, was supposed to be dead. She had mourned her. Wept at her grave. And now, she was alive?
It was all too much.
"I will need you to listen to everything she says very carefully so you can know the kind of person you have been living with all this while, and calling your mother," Roman added, his words cutting through the air with grim finality.
Then he turned and moved toward the large, rusted door that loomed ahead like the entrance to some cursed realm. Its surface was aged, blistered with corrosion, and marked by deep gouges and scratches, reminders of what it had kept locked away for so long. Roman unlocked it with a large, iron key, the loud click echoing in the stone corridor like a gunshot.
He ushered Tessy inside, the coat now clinging tightly to her body like a second skin. The space they entered was dimly lit, the flickering lights casting long, haunting shadows that danced across the cold, damp floor. The air smelled of mildew, iron, and old despair.
He made her pause beside a pillar that was joined to the row of iron-barred cells lining the dungeon wall. She stood behind it, her breath shallow, heart hammering against her ribs as if trying to escape.
Roman gave her one last glance before he advanced toward the cell.
And just like that, he changed.
His demeanor morphed in an instant, from a calm strategist to a man brimming with barely restrained fury. Every step he took toward the woman inside the cell was sharp and full of intent. As he reached her cell, he stopped.
He didn’t need to say a word.
Mrs. Curt was already standing in front of the iron bars as if she had been waiting for him. She had a wicked gleam in her eyes. Her hair hung wild around her shoulders, but her posture was proud, almost triumphant. When her eyes landed on Roman, they lit up with the fire of mad satisfaction.
"Ahh... The almighty King has graced my cell with his presence, but he isn’t proud and mighty. He is trembling and broken, just the way I have imagined he would look for a long time," she said, her voice thick with glee, every word dripped with venomous joy before she burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! Who knew my dreams would come true so quickly?" she added, still laughing like a lunatic who’d won a lifelong bet with fate.
Tessy nearly stumbled backward. That voice... She knew that voice. It echoed from a place deep within her, memories of lullabies, bedtime stories, lectures, warm advice. That was her mother’s voice. The voice that once comforted her now sent ice through her veins. And yet... that laughter? That cruel taunt?
It didn’t belong to the woman she thought she knew.
"Why?" Roman asked, and his voice cracked just a little. "Your niece was innocent. Why collaborate with the enemy to hurt her?"
A flash of disgust washed over Mrs. Curt’s face like a sudden storm. Her lip curled.
"Innocent, you say?" she mocked. "I can agree that she knows nothing about all this. She’s completely ignorant, yes, but innocent? She is far from innocent. The mere fact that she was born just to make you happy already made her guilty from the start."
Tessy’s world tilted.
The words slammed into her like a wave of icy water. Her knees weakened, and she had to press her back against the pillar to keep from sliding to the floor. Guilt? For being born? She clenched her teeth to stifle the sob clawing at her throat. Roman had been right. The truth was crueler than anything she could have imagined.
"So you lot killed Carmelo too just to carry out this plot?" Roman asked, his voice like the crack of a whip.
"How did you find out about Carmelo?" Mrs. Curt snapped back, eyes narrowing in surprise.
"I asked you the day you came here to poison Tessy with the witches’ paper. I asked you who her father was, and you denied knowing anything about him, only for me to find out you all killed him just to carry out this treacherous plan of yours," Roman said, speaking with so much confidence it filled the room like thunder, even though he had just taken a leap of faith in his accusation.
What he didn’t expect... was for her to confirm it.
"He wasn’t cooperating, so we had to take him out of the picture. Same with my stupid sister too. We wanted revenge, but they wanted to raise a family with their pretty little daughter. That was never going to happen. Nobody can stand in our way. And you can’t imagine how happy I am to know that we finally got rid of that little wife of yours," Mrs. Curt said with venomous glee.
Tessy felt the breath leave her lungs.
Still, she forced herself to stay quiet. Every instinct screamed for her to cry out, to ask why, to demand answers, but she swallowed every sound and clutched the coat tighter around herself like an armor.
"So you killed your sister too?" Roman hurled the question like a dagger.
"We didn’t kill her, but where she is, she is as good as dead," Mrs. Curt said, her tone like acid, unforgiving and cruel.
"You know I am going to give you the death sentence—" Roman began, his voice steel.
But she cut him off, sneering.
"I already got my revenge. There is nothing to live for anymore. You can go ahead and kill me right now. I don’t care, and I’m not scared of you."
Roman didn’t flinch.
He gave her a bitter, hollow smile, one that never reached his eyes.
"As I was saying, you are going to get the death sentence for being an accomplice in the attempted murder of my wife, Tessy Gavriel," he finished, each word a nail in her coffin.
For the first time, confusion flickered in Mrs. Curt’s eyes.
"What do you mean by attempted murder?" she asked.
If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.
Report