The past few days had been sunny, and I decided to take out my mother’s paintings to air them. I laid them carefully on the grass, the vibrant colors of her artwork shimmering under the sunlight. But I should’ve known better than to leave them unattended.
Louise Bennett, with her usual malice, deliberately threw the paintings into the lake.
By the time I noticed, the delicate paper was already soaked and ruined. The once-stunning *Autumn Maple Forest* bled out its red pigments, staining the water like a pool of blood. It reminded me of my mother’s final moments—her tears of pain, her cries of regret, her silent plea for forgiveness. She had left these paintings for me, saying they were her way of loving me even after she was gone.
“Look at them when you miss me,” she had whispered.
Now, my mother was gone, and even this last connection to her was destroyed. My chest tightened, and my hands trembled with rage. I lunged at Louise, grabbing her by the collar, my voice shaking with fury.
“Why would you do this?!”
I had tolerated her, ignored her provocations, and let her have her way time and time again. But this—this was too much. She had crossed a line I didn’t know I had.
Louise smirked, her almond-shaped eyes gleaming with mockery. “Eden Mendez, you and your mother were nothing but a mistake. My father promised my mother that they would be mates for life. You and your mother ruined that. You deserve this.”
Her words cut deeper than I expected. My mother wasn’t the one at fault. Neither was Louise’s mother. It was Garrett Bennett, their father, who had betrayed them both. But why should my mother and I pay the price for his sins?
I stared at the ruined paintings, the once-beautiful images now distorted and unrecognizable. It felt like a dull knife was slowly carving into my heart, each stroke more agonizing than the last. I could barely breathe, the pain overwhelming me.
I didn’t notice the figure approaching from behind until it was too late.
In an instant, Louise leaped into the lake, her graceful dive almost mocking. The water rippled around her, and I stood frozen, my hands still clutching the empty air where her collar had been.
The sound of splashing water snapped me out of my daze. I turned to see Taylor Medina striding toward me, his dark eyes blazing with fury. His Alpha aura was overwhelming, and I instinctively took a step back, my wolf whimpering softly in the back of my mind.
“What happened here?” he demanded, his voice sharp and commanding.
Before I could answer, Louise surfaced, gasping for air. She looked up at Taylor, her eyes wide and pleading. “Alpha, she pushed me! She was so angry about the paintings—I didn’t mean to ruin them, but she—she attacked me!”
My jaw clenched. Of course, she would twist the story.
Taylor’s gaze shifted to me, his expression unreadable. “Is this true, Eden?”
I opened my mouth to defend myself, but the words caught in my throat. What was the point? Taylor had always been quick to believe the worst of me.
“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered, my voice barely audible.
Taylor’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped closer, his towering frame casting a shadow over me. “It matters to me. Did you push her?”
I glared up at him, my hands still trembling with residual anger. “What if I did? She destroyed the only thing I had left of my mother. What would you have done, Alpha?”
His jaw tightened, and for a moment, I thought I saw a flicker of guilt in his eyes. But it was gone as quickly as it appeared.
“You don’t get to decide justice, Eden,” he said coldly.
I laughed bitterly, the sound hollow and empty. “Justice? Since when has there ever been justice for me?”
Taylor’s eyes hardened, and he turned away, striding toward the lake’s edge to help Louise out of the water. She clung to him, her eyes glistening with fake tears.
I stood there, watching them, the weight of their betrayal pressing down on my chest. My mother’s paintings were ruined, my memories of her tainted by Louise’s cruelty.
And once again, I was left with nothing.
