Inside the small bathroom, my breaths came in short, shallow bursts. But with the last of my strength, I forced myself to stand, trembling.
In the cracked mirror, the reflection that stared back at me was hollow and broken. But my eyes… they burned.
I pushed the bathroom door open, wrapping my ruined dress tightly around me.
Gareth’s body stiffened. He was standing beside Gwyneth, arms crossed, jaw tight, watching. Waiting.
For a moment, I saw a flicker of doubt in his sharp wolfish eyes. What if she didn’t mean for the wardrobe accident to happen?
No. That couldn’t be true.
“Lady Freya.”
I walked past him without a word. Then, with deliberate motion, I pulled off his ink-black jacket and tossed it into the large trash bin at the side. Right in front of him.
Silence cracked. Gareth’s mouth opened slightly, a flash of something.
Was it confusion? Regret? Annoyance?
But it defintely crossed his face.
I didn’t care.
“Lady Freya,” Alwin, a Beta who had served the castle since my childhood, rushed forward, worry in his voice.
“What happens to insolent servants who gossip behind their masters?” I asked coldly.
“They… are punished, Lady Freya?”
I didn’t answer. My heart wasn’t calm. It was burning with hurt, rage, and sorrow.
I turned back to him. Without hesitation, my hand shot forward.
CRACK.
The sound of my palm meeting Gareth’s cheek cut through the hallway like a gunshot, louder than the music from the ballroom, louder than Gwyneth’s dramatic gasp.
Gareth didn’t flinch. He froze, the red mark blooming across his skin. His jaw clenched. I leaned closer, my voice low, shaking, venomous.
“Who the hell are you to decide my worth?” I hissed.
“Who gave you the right to judge me and then call me… that?”
My voice broke, but I didn’t.
“A whore? Really? After everything I gave you… after every time I protected you… you humiliate me like this?”
For a moment, his eyes shifted, a flicker of guilt passing across them. He wanted to speak, but I wasn’t done.
“Out of everyone who has ever hurt me… you?” I whispered bitterly, stepping closer, breath trembling.
“You are my greatest regret. Even a dog doesn’t bite the hand that feeds it. But you… you are worse than a dog.”
“This house was never safe. The woman you chase… you don’t even know her. Yet you follow her blindly, a fool who will never understand until she drags you into hell herself!”
Gareth’s cold, indifferent eyes widened slightly, shock flashing across them as he muttered.
“Freya…”
I turned away and left.
Inside my room, finally alone, I collapsed. Trembling, I relived every moment of humiliation. My mind spun like a storm.
With shaky fingers, I looked to see if there were terrible news about today’s event or about my exposed body. I braced myself to be mocked by everyone.
Then, something happened.
There was an anonymous letter.
[No pictures. No traces. No reports… Not a single word will leak. Those who wronged you today—remember their faces. They will pay their debt in blood.]
My tears paused. My eyes widened as I read it again. I hurriedly checked for more rumors. But the rumors I heard were that a farmhouse close to our pack went bankrupt, a healer got arrested for sexual assault, and the rumor about Gwyneth lost 10 millions golden coins.
Not a single mention of today’s incident. The people who had seen my incident were either imprisoned for serious crimes… or gone. I took a sharp breath.
The anonymous helper… it had to be someone from the Blackwing Pack.
Auron Blackwing.
But why?
