Chapter 111
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Ronan Duskcliff’s head throbbed as if split by a thousand sharp claws. He kept telling himself that everything he had done to Riley was for Tessa’s sake yet the only thing he gained in return was Tessa’s cold, burning hatred.
–
–
He didn’t understand how things had spiraled so far out of control.
Ronan remained rooted to the spot, watching as Tessa’s fragile figure slowly vanished at the end of the corridor. Yet her resentment lingered in the air like a bitter scent, clawing at his mind, refusing to let go.
Time slipped away unnoticed.
Eventually, the emergency room doors creaked open. Theo Hale removed his mask, exhaustion etched deep into his features. “Kael Vale suffered a perforated stomach. He’s out of immediate danger, but needs to stay under observation for now.”
Alpha Alaric and Luna Zara exhaled in relief. But the momentary calm shattered as Zara’s tears welled anew. “This is all Riley’s fault. If not for her, Kael wouldn’t be suffering like this…”
Theo’s patience snapped. His voice dropped cold and sharp, cutting through their self–pity. “Stop deceiving yourselves. Riley is the one who’s been hurt. Kael’s condition is a product of his own guilt eating him alive.”
“If you truly cared about Kael, you’d reflect on how you’ve treated Riley all these years.”
With that, Theo turned away from the stunned couple and pushed Kael’s gurney back into the ER.
In another room nearby, Maddox was wheeled out, his entire lower leg swathed in thick bandages. The narcotics still dulling his senses kept him unconscious, but his furrowed brow betrayed the agony coursing through him even in sleep.
After emergency treatment, Kael had already slipped into unconsciousness.
Ronan’s gaze darkened as he watched both men vanish behind hospital doors. Ever since Riley’s disappearance, those who had wronged her seemed cursed–one after another, misfortune following close behind.
He thought of the truth–that Riley was innocent, that she was not responsible for Tessa’s broken body. And the harsh years Riley had endured behind cold bars. The weight in his chest grew heavier.
Was this… retribution?
A wolf’s justice, clawing back at those who had once inflicted pain.
Ronan lingered outside the ward for a long time, feet dragging, weighed down by dread and guilt. His first thought had been to return to his own room, but the haunting image of Tessa’s deranged expression kept him rooted.
He changed course and entered Tessa’s room instead.
There, she lay motionless on the bed, eyes wide open, staring into the void outside the window.
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She had refused to close her eyes since waking from her five–year slumber.
Five years lost to darkness, five years stolen from the world.
Closing her eyes meant surrendering once more to that living nightmare of nothingness–the empty husk
she had become.
Ronan approached softly, voice low and cautious. “Tessa…”
She gave no sign.
He tried again, voice tinged with desperation. “It’s me, your brother. Are you not glad to see me?”
Glad?
A bitter, mocking smile curled at Tessa’s cracked lips.
If Ronan truly cared, he wouldn’t have defended Scarlett.
If he truly cared, he would have pursued justice for the sister who had been shattered, and for Riley, who had paid dearly for another’s sins.
But he wasn’t here to see her recovery–he was here to witness her suffering.
A cruel hypocrisy more poisonous than any fang.
There was another cruel truth gnawing at her: since waking, neither father nor mother had come to see her
once.
Before her fall into the void, her parents had been devoted.
She refused to believe they would simply ignore her awakening.
The only explanation was that Ronan had concealed her recovery from them.
He feared that if her parents found out, they would demand answers–would pry into the dark secrets that might shatter the fragile façade protecting Scarlett.
For Scarlett’s sake, Ronan had spared no effort to bury the truth.
Hadn’t he once claimed not to care for Scarlett?
Hadn’t he pursued Riley relentlessly through high school for three years?
Hadn’t he planned to break off the engagement with Scarlett for Riley’s sake?
Yet when Scarlett’s monstrous acts were on the verge of exposure, her “beloved” brother turned his back.
He chose to deceive their parents.
He chose to let his sister suffer in silence.
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He chose to allow Riley to carry the label of attempted murder.
Laughable.
Absolutely laughable.
A wolf who abandons his own blood is no brother.
And those hollow words-“It’s me, your brother. Are you not glad to see me?“–felt like the sharpest betrayal, mocking her shattered spirit.
Tessa’s heart, fragile and bleeding, curled inward, torn between the wolf’s fierce instinct to survive and the ghost of betrayal cutting through her soul like a silver blade.
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A Broken Alpha Heiress Revenge