Revenge After Rebirth: Fated To The Triplets I Hate
Chapter 13: You Have 24 Minutes To Do It And Your Time Starts Counting Now!

Chapter 13: You Have 24 Minutes To Do It And Your Time Starts Counting Now!

Iris’s POV

My mind, however, resisted the hypnotic pull of his physical perfection, drifting back, involuntarily, to my past life. In my past life, Zane had been a relentless tormentor, a constant shadow of cruelty. He’d always threatened me whenever he caught me committing a crime. He always uses it as leverage to make me do whatever he wanted, to bend me to his will. I remembered one instance with agonizing clarity. It was a public humiliation that still burned with a vivid, humiliating heat through my memories.

It was during college, a time when I was still trying desperately to gain his attention, and that of his brothers, Cade and Kael, who, to my naive self, never so much glanced my way.

I had been dared by Zane to confess my "undying love" for him in front of the entire student body during lunch and kneel to offer him a rose flower. Naively, foolishly, blindly infatuated, I went through with it, standing on a table in the bustling cafeteria, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs, stammering out a heartfelt and utterly ridiculous declaration of affection. "I’m in love with Zane and I’ll do anything for him to love me back alongside his brothers." I declared loudly as I knelt in front of him, holding up the flower to his face.

He just stood there, arms crossed, his face filled with a mocking smirk. When I finished, he burst out laughing, quickly joined by the boisterous, derisive laughter of Cade and Kael. Then, he pointed a finger directly at me and announced, loud enough for every single person in that crowded room to hear, "Look at her! An Alpha’s daughter, reduced to begging for attention, eating dirt for a guy who doesn’t even notice her!"

The entire cafeteria erupted in a cacophony of laughter and jeers as he walked away, leaving me still kneeling with the rose in my hands.

Whispers followed me for weeks, insidious and relentless.

"She’s an Alpha’s daughter and yet she’s reducing herself to nothing for Zane!"

"Pathetic!"

"An Alpha’s daughter acting like an omega dog!" The humiliation had been excruciating, a public display of my desperate, unrequited infatuation, my willingness to debase myself for even a shred of his attention. It was a constant, gnawing reminder of how little he thought of me, how easily he could manipulate and control me, how I was nothing more than a pawn in his cruel games, an object of his amusement.

My mind reeled, not just from their mockery but from the deluge of bitter memories Zane’s presence always seemed to unleash. He’d weaponized my affections against me countless times and the college cafeteria incident, where he exposed my desperate confession, was only one of many. Another, even more personal humiliation, still stung like a fresh wound.

It was a few months after the cafeteria incident, when I, foolishly, still harbored a sliver of hope that perhaps, just perhaps, if I proved myself worthy, if I endured enough, he might see something in me. I had heard through the pack grapevine that Zane was looking for a rare, ancient book from the Blackbane Pack library, a book on forgotten of centuries, said to be exceptionally difficult to find, even for an Alpha. Knowing his passion for such forbidden lore, and desperate for any reason to be in his good graces, I spent weeks poring over dusty shelves, neglecting my chores, enduring Maris’s increased wrath, all to find that book. Luckily, I finally found it, hidden away in a forgotten corner.

My heart pounded with excitement and anticipation as I approached him with the book. He was in the training grounds, observing the younger warriors, I remember smoothing down my tunic, trying to appear nonchalant as I offered him the ancient tome. "Zane," I’d called sweetly, flashing him a warm smile. "I... I found this. The book you were looking for." I said.

He took it from me and his gaze flickered from the book to my face and then a faint unreadable smirk played on his lips. My breath hitched, hoping, praying, for a hint of appreciation but Instead, he just held the book for a moment, then, with a casual flick of his wrist, he tossed it onto the muddy ground at his feet. It landed with a soft thud, the old parchment cover immediately soaking up the grime.

My heart plummeted. My mouth opened to speak, but no words came out.

"Is that all?" he drawled, his eyes sweeping over me with an almost bored disdain. "You interrupt my training for this? A common book that would have found its way to me eventually, without your pathetic interference."

Then, he stepped forward, planting his muddy boot squarely on the cover of the book, grinding it into the dirt.

He stepped forward, his voice dropping to a low, mocking tone, audible only to me. "You think bringing me a dusty old book will earn you anything, Iris? You think I care about your little efforts? You’re so desperate for my attention, it’s sickening. Don’t you understand? Everything you do, every little act of subservience, just makes you look weaker, more pathetic. It just confirms what I already know, you’re nothing but a desperate little dog, begging for scraps. And I don’t want your scraps, Iris. Not from you."

He straightened up, his face once again emotionless, his boot still crushing the precious, ancient book. The offspring of younger warriors around us, who had paused their training to watch us, pretended not to notice, but I could feel their eyes on me. The humiliation was absolute, far worse than any dirt.

He hadn’t just rejected my gesture, he had actively destroyed it, literally trampling on my effort and my hope, all while reaffirming his utter contempt for my feelings. He knew I loved him, and he used that knowledge to systematically dismantle any shred of dignity I tried to cling to. That was so unfair.

Just then, his emotionless voice sliced through the painful memories, pulling me back to the present, back to the cold reality of our current situation.

"If you do that," he continued. "then, I won’t punish you for your crimes. The generational plates are sacred, and you have destroyed them, which attracts severe punishment." He paused, allowing his words to sink in, to twist the knife of fear deeper into my gut. Then, he stepped closer, very close.

He leaned forward again, his proximity almost suffocating, and my heart began to pound even faster, a frantic drumbeat against my ribs, my eyes focusing, almost compulsively, on his lips, those perfect, cruel pink lips. "You have 24 minutes to do it, and your time starts counting now!" He added.