Chapter 128
Vivian POV
Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day.
Not because of the food-I barely touch it, stick to tea mostly–but because everyone is always tired, usually stalling the day.
I sit at the table with my tea, steam curling up in front of my face, porcelain warm beneath my fingers. Chamomile. Calming. Necessary, considering the noise coming from the other side of the room.
Ellie is already arguing with my father. Right on time.
“I’m not doing this,” she snaps, standing near the counter, hair still slightly messy, eyes glaring, and bagged from little sleep. You don’t get to decide who walks me to school!”
My father doesn’t even look fazed. He buttering his toast like this is a perfectly normal conversation to have over breakfast.
“I already have,” he says. “Lucas will be here any minute.”
I lift my cup and sip, hiding my smile.
Ellie turns on him fully now. “You wanted me with Dominic yesterday. You yelled at me for refusing him, struck me even! And now suddenly I’m supposed to be with Lucas? Which is it? Do you even hear yourself?”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic,” he replies. “This is practical. Lucas is an Alpha too. If you insist on rejecting one opportunity, then we explore another.”
“I don’t want either of them!” Ellie shouts. “Stop trying to marry me off like I’m-”
“Like you’re valuable?” he cuts in sharply. “Because you are. Whether you like it or not, your job is to wed.”
I hum softly into my tea.
Ellie’s face flushes red. “You’re meddling. You’re controlling. You’re-”
“I’m doing what’s best for this family,” he says, voice dropping into that tone that means the conversation is already over. “ Something you clearly refuse to understand.”
Right on cue, the doorbell rings.
Perfect timing.
Ellie whips toward the door like she might bite it. I don’t move. I stay seated, composed, watching the tension stretch thin
across the room like a wire about to snap.
Gotta say, this was better the reality tv.
Lucas steps inside a moment later.
He looks… uncomfortable.
Can’t say I blame him.
(”
He’s dressed neatly, hands shoved into his pockets, eyes flicking between Ellie and my father like he already knows he’s walked into something he didn’t agree to. He’s smarter than Ellie, at least in that way.
“Morning,” he says carefully.
Ellie glares at him. “You didn’t have to come.”
“I know,” he replies softly. “But I didn’t want to make things worse.”
112
+30 Bonus
My father gestures toward him. “You’ll walk her to school. Spend some time together. Get to know each other properly”
Ellie looks like she might scream.
Instead, Lucas steps forward and offers his arm, gentle, cautious. “Come on,” he says to her. “We can talk on the way”
She hesitates, jaw tight, then takes it not because she wants to, but because I’m pretty sure leaving is better than staying
I watch them go, playing the role I just handed them.
Once the door shuts, the house exhales.
Ellie’s mother sets her mug down with a soft clink. “Honey please, I didn’t know if this is right,” she says quietly. “She’s clearly overwhelmed.”
My father doesn’t even look up. “I see where she gets her mouth from.”
She stiffened.
“She’ll adjust.” My father continues.
“She’s not a bargaining chip,” her mother presses softly.
“She is exactly that,” he replies flatly. “Whether she likes it or not.”
I finish my tea and stand, smoothing my skirt.
“Thank you for breakfast,” I say sweetly, to Ellie’s mother.
She looks at my plate, left untouch, and nods slow.
I grab my bag and head for the door, my steps light, my mood positively radiant.
Ellie walking to school with Lucas.
Dominic’s free.
Everything is finally starting to fall into place.
And I haven’t even had to lift a finger.
Comments
Support
Share
