Fated To Not Just One, But Three-Chapter 636: What She Wants

Lennox’s POV

The smell of vanilla filled the kitchen long before the timer went off.

When it finally did, Olivia jumped a little, like she’d forgotten the cupcakes were even there. I caught her wrist gently before she reached for the oven again.

"Let me," I said.

She didn’t argue.

I pulled the tray out carefully. Perfect this time. Golden tops. Soft centers. I glanced at her, expecting a small victory smile.

She looked relieved. Tired. And happy.

"Ready?" I asked.

She nodded.

We carried the tray upstairs together.

The boys’ room was loud when we entered. Levi and Louis were on the floor with them, and Aurora sat on the edge of the bed, smiling as Leon explained some dramatic story with wild hand gestures.

They all looked up when we walked in.

"Cupcakes!" Liam shouted, scrambling off the bed.

Leon ran straight to Olivia. "Mom!"

Their excitement hit me in the chest.

I set the tray down. "Don’t thank me," I said quickly. "These are your mother’s work."

Olivia glanced at me, then shook her head. "No," she said softly. "We did it together."

The boys didn’t care about credit. They grabbed cupcakes with sticky fingers, laughing as crumbs fell everywhere.

"This is the best one," Leo declared with authority.

Then, without thinking, he turned and held one out to Aurora.

"You want one?"

Aurora blinked, surprised. "Oh—no, sweetheart. I think your mom made these specially for you three."

Leo frowned and looked up at Olivia. "Can she have one?"

Olivia smiled. It looked real. But I knew her too well.

"Yes," she said. "Of course."

Aurora thanked her quietly and took a small bite.

I saw it then.

The tightness in Olivia’s shoulders.

The way her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.

She wasn’t angry.

She was afraid.

Afraid Aurora was slipping into a space she used to fill.

I straightened. "Alright," I said. "Finish up. We’ll be back."

I caught Levi’s eye. Then Louis’s.

They followed me without question.

The study room door closed behind us.

I didn’t waste time.

"Aurora has to leave."

The words landed hard.

Levi’s head snapped up. "What?"

Louis frowned. "Why?"

I exhaled slowly. "Because Olivia isn’t comfortable with her being here."

Silence.

Then Louis spoke carefully. "Lennox... Aurora is like a sister to us."

"I know."

"She needs us right now," Levi added. "She was abused. She’s healing."

"I understand that," I said. "But Olivia’s feelings come first."

Louis shook his head. "So we’re turning our backs on her when she needs us most?"

"No," I said sharply. "We’re setting boundaries."

I ran a hand through my hair. "Olivia already feels pushed out. Every time she sees Aurora with the boys, with us... it hurts her."

Levi’s voice softened. "And Aurora? What about her pain?" 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"I care about Aurora," I said. "But Olivia is our mate..." I paused. Technically, she is no longer my mate. "The mother of my children," I continued. "I won’t let her feel replaced in her own home."

Levi wanted to speak when I felt the air shift.

We all felt it.

The door opened.

Olivia stood there.

She had clearly heard everything.

Her face was calm—but her eyes were not.

"Aurora is not leaving," she said.

My brothers shifted behind me, equally stunned. Just minutes ago, I was ready to burn the world down to make her feel secure again, and here she was, standing in the doorway of my study, defending the very person who made her feel like a ghost.

"Olivia," I said, taking a step toward her. "You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to be the bigger person."

"I’m not being the bigger person, Lennox," she said, her voice steady even though I could see the pulse jumping in her neck. She walked into the room, closing the door behind her so no one would hear. "I heard what you said. I heard Levi and Louis too."

She looked at my brothers, her gaze softening for a fleeting second before returning to me. "Aurora is hurting. If she has nowhere else to go, throwing her out because I’m insecure doesn’t make me feel better. It just makes me feel cruel."

"It’s not about being cruel," Levi cut in, his voice laced with relief that he didn’t have to turn Aurora away. "It’s about your peace of mind, Olivia."

She turned to him, a bitter, sad smile touching her lips. "My peace of mind was gone the moment I felt like I had to compete for my own children’s affection. But that’s not on Aurora. That’s on the dynamic we’ve created."

She looked back at me, her eyes boring into mine, reminding me of the heat we had just shared in the kitchen—and the cold reality that followed it.

"If she leaves because you forced her out, she becomes a martyr," Olivia continued. "The boys will wonder why ’poor Aurora’ had to go. You and your brothers will secretly resent me for making you turn your back on a friend in need. I won’t be the reason this family feels even more fractured."

"So what’s the solution?" I asked, my frustration mounting. "You stay in the kitchen crying over burnt cupcakes while she plays ’mom’ in the bedroom?"

Olivia flinched as if I’d slapped her, and I immediately regretted the harshness of my words.

"No," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "The solution is that I stop acting like a guest. And you all stop acting like she’s a permanent fixture in our private moments. She stays in the guest wing. She eats with us, fine. But the bedroom? The intimate moments with my sons? That stops now."

She stepped closer to me, her finger hovering near my chest, right where I could still feel the phantom heat of her touch from earlier.

"I am the mother of these boys, Lennox. Break or no break, mate or no mate—that is the one circle no one else gets to step into. Not Aurora. Not anyone. If you want her here, fine. But you make it clear where the line is. Because if I have to draw it myself, I promise you, no one will like where the ink falls."

The silence in the room was deafening. I looked at Levi and Louis; they looked humbled, the weight of her words finally sinking in. I looked back at Olivia, seeing the fire I had fallen in love with years ago.

"Understood," I said, my voice thick. "The lines will be drawn."

She nodded once, a sharp, professional gesture that hurt worse than an argument. She started to turn away, but paused. "And Lennox?"

"Yeah?"

"Don’t ever assume you know what I need better than I do. We aren’t there anymore."

She walked out, her footsteps firm and rhythmic, leaving a vacuum of cold air in her wake. The door clicked shut, and for a long moment, none of us moved.

"Shit," Louis muttered, breaking the silence. He rubbed the back of his neck, looking at the floor. "She’s right. We let it get too comfortable. We weren’t thinking."

"We were thinking about Aurora’s trauma," Levi said, though his voice lacked its usual conviction. "We weren’t thinking about Olivia’s."

I didn’t answer them. I couldn’t. My chest felt tight, the words We aren’t there anymore looping in my brain like a death sentence. She was right there in my arms an hour ago, her skin hot against mine, her breath hitching in her throat—and now she was a stranger again, a queen reclaiming a throne I had inadvertently allowed someone else to sit on.

"Go find Aurora," I commanded, my voice gravelly. "Tell her the guest wing is her space. Tell her... tell her she’s welcome to the common areas, but the kids’ wing is off-limits unless invited. Make it kind, but make it authoritative."

"Lennox—" Levi started.

"Do it," I snapped. "I’ve already failed Olivia enough today. I’m not letting this line get blurred again."

They nodded and slipped out, leaving me alone in the dim light of the study. I slumped into my leather chair, burying my face in my hands. The scent of vanilla and burnt sugar still clung to my shirt, mixed with the faint, floral perfume of the woman who had just checked me so thoroughly.

I looked at my hands. They were still buzzing from touching her.

I stood up. I couldn’t stay in here. I walked back toward the kitchen, hoping she might still be there, maybe cleaning up or just breathing.

I found her leaning against the sink, staring out the dark window. She had a glass of water in her hand, but she wasn’t drinking. She looked small, but there was a new, sharp edge to her silhouette.

"Olivia," I said softly.

She didn’t turn. "Are they doing it? Are they talking to her?"

"Yes."

"Good." She finally took a sip of water. "Don’t think this changes things between us, Lennox. The cupcakes, the... the counter... that was a lapse in judgment. Adrenaline. That’s all."

I walked closer, stopping just a few feet away. "It didn’t feel like a lapse in judgment to me. It felt like the first time we’ve been honest in months."