Chapter 4
Isolde’s POV
The slap echoed before the sting registered.
"You homewrecking bitch!" someone shrieked.
"Shameless whore!"
Suddenly, fists and heels rained down.. Shoving. Scratching. Slapping. The society wives descended. Nails dragged across my cheek, drawing blood. Someone yanked my hair so hard my scalp burned.
I looked up, desperate. My brother was right there. His jaw clenched, and he took a half-step toward me.
"Brother..." I choked out.
"Brother..." Violet’s voice cut through the chaos. She clutched her chest. "There are too many people... I can’t breathe..."
Just like that, every eye, every ounce of concern shifted.
My mother screamed. My father rushed to Violet’s side. Jaxson glanced back at me, his eyes cold. "They're just mad. Suck it up," he threw over his shoulder before sprinting to Violet.
My brother scooped Violet into his arms. He didn't even look back as he carried her out.
Left alone, the crowd surged. A heavy blow caught my shoulder, spinning me around. I slammed hard against the sharp marble edge of the bar.
A blinding, white-hot agony ripped through my lower abdomen. It wasn't just pain; it felt like something inside me tearing apart. I doubled over, coughing. Warm liquid sprayed across the pristine floor. Blood.
The room spun and then everything went black.
When I finally regained consciousness, I was lying on the cold marble floor of the Voss Group's top-floor executive lounge. Security must have dragged me up here to hide the mess. My clothes were stiff with dried blood, my face bruised and swollen. Every step felt like walking on shattered glass.
"Who are you putting on this pathetic show for?"
My mother’s disgusted voice snapped me back to reality. She sat on the velvet sofa in the center of the suite, carefully spoon-feeding Violet some soup. "If you hadn't caused a scene downstairs, Violet wouldn't have had a panic attack!"
Jaxson stood by the floor-to-ceiling window. "Just apologize to Violet and let it go. Stop playing the victim. You look ridiculous covered in fake blood."
I swallowed the iron taste in my throat and forced myself up.
Violet’s eyes instantly welled with tears. She gently pushed the soup bowl away and stumbled toward me.
"Sister, please don't be mad at me!" she cried out. "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have shown up at the banquet and upset you. Please, I'm begging you, just forgive me! Don't fight with Jaxson and Brother anymore because of me!"
Tears spilled down her cheeks as she threw her arms around me, burying her face into the crook of my neck like a terrified, guilty child.
But then she whispered.
"I'm already bored of that son of yours," she murmured with venom right into my ear. "Hurry up and breed a daughter for me. Maybe if I'm in a good mood, I'll let you have her back after I play with her for a few years."
Every shred of my sanity snapped.
I raised my hand, aiming right for her smug, perfect face.
Smack!
My hand never reached her. A brutal force struck my cheek. My brother had crossed the room in a blur, slapping me so hard I crashed backward into the glass coffee table.
"Are you out of your damn mind?" My brother’s eyes were absolute ice. "She is literally begging for your forgiveness, and you dare lay a hand on her? When are you going to stop being such a toxic bitch?"
Before I could even drag myself up from the shattered glass, a small figure charged at me.
"Don't you dare touch my mom!"
A sharp, agonizing pain pierced my waist. I looked down. William. My biological son. He was gripping a silver letter opener from the executive desk, the blade buried deep into my side.
His pale little face flickered with panic when he saw the blood seeping through my shirt, but he gritted his teeth, standing defensively in front of Violet.
I looked at the boy I had carried for nine months, the boy I sold my soul to the underground to protect.
"You protect her so much..." My voice broke, barely a whisper. "But what if I told you... I'm your real mother?"
Crash!
A crystal glass shattered against my forehead. My father stood up, pointing a shaking finger at me. "Isolde! What kind of sick garbage are you spouting now?"
William scoffed. "A filthy cleaner like you? If you were my mom, I'd rather die."
My brother pulled out his phone, slamming it onto the table. The screen played that video again.
"Apologize to Violet right now. Record a video and post it online," he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Or I'll make sure all of New York sees what a disgusting mess you really are."
I stared at the screen. Then at the faces in the room. My parents. My brother. My husband. My son.
Suddenly, I laughed.
I laughed so hard tears streamed down my face, mixing with the blood from my forehead.
"You don't need to force me," I whispered.
I picked up his phone, switched to the front camera, and smiled into the lens. "I'm sorry......"
I hit send.
While they stood there, stunned by my sudden compliance, I dropped the phone. I spun around and bolted out the doors, sprinting down the corridor toward the roof access stairs. I slammed the fire door open.
Footsteps thundered behind me. They were chasing me.
The cold night wind whipped my hair as I burst onto the rooftop and stepped right onto the concrete ledge. Down below, the city traffic blurred into a sea of tiny, buzzing lights. Inside my ruined body, the withered wolf core throbbed with a strange, agonizing heat.
The roof door banged open.
"Isolde, get the hell down!" My brother roared, marching forward. "Stop using suicide to threaten us! I know your cheap tricks!"
Jaxson was right behind him, panting and looking utterly exasperated. "Fine! We won't force you to have another kid right now! Just quit acting crazy!"
"She doesn't have the guts," my brother sneered, stopping a few feet away and crossing his arms. "I don't care how much you cry today, you're going to get down here and grovel to Violet."
I stood on the ledge, the wind howling around me.
I looked back at the men who had spent six years breaking every bone in my soul, always telling themselves it was for my "own good."
I gave them one last smile.
"If my baby and six years of my life aren't enough to pay off my debt..." My voice was terrifyingly calm, carrying over the wind. "Then let her have my life, too."
I stepped backward off the ledge.
Gravity took me.
The wind roared in my ears. And deep in the darkness of my shattered core, something finally cracked open.
