Fated To Not Just One, But Three-Chapter 649: She’s lying

Olivia’s POV

​The house felt like a hollow shell the next morning. At the breakfast table, Lennox’s chair was empty, as was the seat for the woman he claimed was his soul’s new half. The boys kept glancing at the door, their cereal soggy and untouched.

​"Where’s Dad?" Leon asked, his voice small.

​"He’s just... very busy with work and the new guest, sweetie," I lied, the words tasting like poison. "Eat up."

​Once they were safely off to school, the silence in the mansion became unbearable. Louis and Levi were nursing cups of coffee, their eyes bloodshot. They looked like they hadn’t slept a wink, but they wouldn’t meet my gaze.

​"I found something odd yesterday," I said, leaning against the counter. "The machines in that room... they weren’t for her. They were for him. And she didn’t smell like a shifter in pain, guys. She didn’t smell like anything but expensive perfume."

​Louis sighed, rubbing his temples. "Olivia, the bond works in strange ways when a wolf is suppressed. We’ll... we’ll look into it. We’ll check the medical records ourselves."

​"Don’t worry, baby," Levi added, his voice strained. "We’re on it."

​I didn’t believe them. They were pacifying me.

​Suddenly, the sound of heavy, dragging footsteps echoed on the staircase. We all turned. Lennox walked past the kitchen door. He looked like a living corpse—his skin was translucent, his eyes sunken, and he was leaning heavily on a cane I’d never seen him use before.

​"I have to be somewhere," he rasped, not even glancing into the kitchen. "Don’t wait up."

​The front door clicked shut behind him.

​I waited five minutes, pretending to head up to my room to lie down. Instead, once the coast was clear, I moved through the shadows of the hallway and slipped into his suite.

​The woman, Elena, was sprawled out on the silk sheets of the bed—our bed—looking entirely too comfortable. She was scrolling through a fashion magazine, a glass of juice on the nightstand. When she saw me, she didn’t look sick. She looked annoyed.

​"You again?" she sighed, tossing the magazine aside. ​"I know what you’re doing," I said, my voice vibrating with a cold fury. "I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I have nothing against you personally. I just want you out. Leave this house, leave my man, and never come back."

​She let out a dry, mocking laugh. "I’m not leaving, honey. I’m the mate now. You’re just... yesterday’s news. You’re pained, I get it, but it’s time to move on."

​"You don’t look sick," I hissed, stepping closer. "Not a single symptom. No sweat, no pale skin, no labored breathing. What are your plans? Is it money? Power?"

​She ignored me, reaching for her juice.

​That was it. My wolf snapped. I lunged forward, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her bodily off the bed. She shrieked. "Get out! I’m throwing you out myself!"

​"Stop it! You’re hurting me!" she yelled, though her voice lacked any real terror.

​"Olivia! Let her go!"

​The door slammed open. Lennox stood there, clutching the doorframe for support, his chest heaving as he struggled for air. He looked horrified, his gaze darting between my aggressive stance and the woman cowering on the floor.

​"What are you doing?" he choked out, stumbling toward us. "I told you to stay away from her!"

​"She isn’t sick, Lennox!" I yelled, my grip tightening on Elena’s arm as she whimpered at his feet. "Look at her! Look at her skin, look at her eyes! She’s perfectly fine, while you’re standing there looking like you’re ready for a casket. She’s using you, and I won’t let her stay in this house a second longer!"

​Lennox flinched as if my words were physical blows, but his expression quickly shifted into a mask of cold, jagged fury. He stumbled forward, his cane clicking sharply against the floor.

​"What is wrong with you?" he roared, though the sound ended in a ragged, wet cough. He reached down and gently—so gently it broke my heart—helped Elena back onto the bed. "She spent the entire night in agony, Olivia. Her fever didn’t break until dawn. She’s finally recovering, finally getting a moment of peace, and you burst in here like a madwoman to assault her?"

​"Lennox, she’s faking it!" I pleaded, my voice cracking. "Please, just scent her. Use your senses—"

​"I told you," he hissed, his eyes dark with a terrifying intensity. "My wolf is gone. I can only feel what the bond tells me. And right now, it tells me that my mate is terrified of you." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

​The door swung open wider, and Louis and Levi rushed in, their faces pale as they took in the chaos. They looked at me, then at the trembling Elena, and finally at Lennox, who was leaning so heavily on his cane I thought it might snap.

​Lennox turned his gaze to his brothers, his voice dripping with anger. "Louis. Levi. Please tell your mate to stay away from mine. I won’t have Elena harassed in her own recovery room."

​"Lennox, let’s just calm down—" Louis started, reaching out a hand.

​"No," Lennox snapped, his chest heaving as he struggled to draw enough air to speak. "If she can’t respect these boundaries, I’ll be forced to divide this mansion. I’ll wall off this wing entirely. If I have to, I’ll take Elena and leave the pack territory altogether. Is that what you want? To force a dying woman and her mate into the streets because Olivia can’t handle the truth?"

​I felt like he had reached into my chest and squeezed my heart until it stopped. His wing. His mate. He was willing to tear our home apart—to wall me out of his life—for a woman he had met forty-eight hours ago.

​Louis and Levi moved toward me, their expressions pained. They didn’t defend me. They didn’t call him a liar. They just gently took my arms to lead me out.

​"Come on, Olivia," Levi whispered, his voice thick with unshed tears. "Let’s just go downstairs. Give him space."

​I looked back at Lennox one last time. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to me, stroking Elena’s hair as she "sobbed" into his shoulder. He looked so frail, so broken, yet he was using the last of his strength to protect a lie.

​"I’m not the one who can’t handle the truth, Lennox," I whispered, though I doubt he heard me over the sound of his own labored breathing.

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