Mated to the Mad Lord-Chapter 168: Family Betrayal {1}

Sarah gasped, her voice rising as she continued to speak, "You stole from the lord? Are you mad? Have you gone completely insane?" she snapped, her body trembling as she looked down at the gloves she wore, a reminder of the violence that had happened.

She had no idea who had attacked them and cut off their fingers, but one thing she was sure of was that Lord Cain would aim for their heads.

"You have to return! Now!" Sarah screamed at Violet with a furious expression on her face, ready to pull her there if she had to.

"You can’t stay here! How could you even do such a thing?" Oliver added, shaking his head vigorously as he fixed his gaze on her. He raised his left hand and pulled off his gloves to show his missing pinky finger.

"Can you see this?" he asked, raising his voice, his tone betraying the depth of his feelings as he stared at where his fingers should be. "We have no idea why they attacked and took our fingers, but you can be sure that Lord Cain would kill us! How could you even think—"

Violet didn’t let him finish as she immediately pulled the bag she carried off her shoulder and opened it for them to see.

"I took enough to ensure that we would have no problems getting away. Once we sell them, we’ll be able to get enough money!" Violet promised them, opening the bag even wider so they could clearly see everything that was in it.

"This should definitely be enough to—" she began to say, only to be interrupted before she could finish as Sarah dived forward with a shocked look on her face.

"That is..." she gasped, reaching into it to pick up a gold watch. "This is a gold Winston-Bak watch. It’s gold-inlaid and ancient. I heard there’s only one of its kind left in the world," Sarah said, speaking with a gaze of astonishment plastered on her face, mumbling to herself in excitement.

"It looks scuffed, but regardless, it’s definitely worth at least a million!" But the words were barely out of Sarah’s mouth when Oliver and Luke immediately rushed over, intent on grabbing the bag, but not before Violet pulled it away and clutched it to herself.

"We need to leave here first. Oliver can find a good place to sell it!" Violet snapped, clutching the bag to her chest as she glared at Luke, her father, not trusting him enough to leave him even a few feet close to the bag.

"I have some money. It should be enough to get us a room for the night!" Violet responded with a sigh, her gaze settling on her mother, June, who simply looked relieved and the happiest to see her.

"I’m just glad you’re back," she said, reaching closer to pat Violet on the back with a soft smile on her face, one Violet had no problems reciprocating as she began moving to the door as fast as she could, worried that she had already wasted too much time—time that would allow Cain to catch up with her.

Still, it wasn’t until together with her family they booked a room and had safely entered that Violet managed to breathe a sigh of relief. She closed the door behind her, turning to look at the members of her family when she heard Oliver speak almost like he had been impatiently waiting to get whatever he had to say off his chest.

"I can go now! The faster I sell it, the better. We need to leave the district as soon as possible!" Oliver said with a serious look on his face, one that Violet understood.

The fact that they were yet to be caught was already something she found hard to believe but nonetheless accepted. "Okay! You can sell half now and half later!" she responded. She trusted Oliver, but at the same time, she knew enough to guard against any accidents as she handed half of the contents of the bag over to him, pouring it into another bag.

"I’m your father! You think I can’t haggle better than your eighteen-year-old brother?!" Luke said, making his annoyance at her actions known. But Violet didn’t hesitate to respond in the same tone her father had used.

"No! But Oliver knows better than to gamble it away!" Her eyes constricted ever so slightly as she watched Luke jump on his feet and make his way closer to her. The violence emanating from his eyes was clear, but Violet didn’t care, balling her fists tightly beside her as she waited, only to watch him glance back at Sarah before walking out and slamming the door behind him.

"I’ll head out too!" Oliver said, crossing the bag he had with him across his chest with care. "I should return by evening!" he said, and Violet nodded her head, warning him to be careful as she watched him head out the door too.

...So I guess we just have to wait for Oliver to bring the money back," Sarah sighed with an expression of relief, even though Violet couldn’t help but notice the anxious look her mother wore, refusing to meet her gaze as she moved to huddle in one corner of the room.

Violet even moved closer to her and asked what was wrong, only to watch her mother vigorously shake her head as she bent over the table, refusing to speak. Sarah began speaking more than before.

...You’ve been away for a while. That’s how she behaves now! If you try and console her, she’ll just get much worse!" Sarah warned. Still doubtful, Violet was about to move closer to her mother only to watch her jump on her feet and head to the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"I warned you! Leave her! She’ll be fine in a couple of hours!" Sarah continued, even as she threw herself on the huge bed of the hotel room with a huge smile on her face. "This is the life!!" she sighed, staring at the ceiling and spreading her fingers against the soft sheets as she beamed with a huge smile on her face.

Violet chose to completely ignore her, instead finding a chair to sit on and wait for Oliver’s return, not caring in the slightest if her father returned or not as she thought to herself, I can’t just leave them. Who knows what Cain would do? They might not be related to me by blood, but they’re my family, she thought as she slowly drifted off to sleep right on the table the moment she was able to relax even the slightest bit.

She didn’t wake up until she heard the loud sound of the door of the room being slammed. She jerked awake to see Oliver enter, right behind her father, whom she ignored as she began to speak to Oliver, noticing his bag seemed much lighter than when he left.

But even before she began to speak, Oliver spoke first. "I was able to sell enough, even though I had to sell them off way cheaper than they are worth. But it should be enough to get us out of the district," he said to her, not meeting her eyes as he instead walked toward the bathroom like he had a huge urge to pee.

"We can leave tomorrow morning!" Luke sighed, seeming much more relaxed than before. But Violet instantly shook her head.

"We should leave tonight! It’ll be much better than to wait until tomorrow—"

"If you care about your mother, you’ll do as I say!" Luke snapped, moving to the bed to sit down, ignoring Violet, who continued to sit beside the door. She wanted to refuse, but seeing as how it seemed like her mother truly wasn’t feeling well, she decided not to pursue it.

Satisfied to see the amount of money Oliver showed her in his account, she decided not to press the issue further. Oliver, too, seemed tired and retreated to the bed without much more to say.

It was clear they were all acting strange, but Violet thought nothing about it. Her main focus was on leaving the district, thinking their behavior was simply a result of the stress they were under.

A little relieved that they had enough money and not wanting any of them to have to leave again, she went ahead to order some food for everyone, considering she was starving. It took barely 30 minutes before she heard a knock on the door. Violet got up to open it cautiously, wariness in her eyes, only to breathe a sigh of relief as she saw it was indeed the delivery boy. But just as she opened the door to collect the food, the delivery boy was shoved aside, and a huge man in a black suit dashed in, sending Violet sprawling to the floor.

Violet was still reeling when she heard a voice she had convinced herself she would never have to hear again.

"Well...who do we have here?" a deep, manly voice drawled. Violet raised her head to see Mr. Flint walk in with three bodyguards behind him. The scene was identical to the one that had happened when she had been sold.

Her heart began to race in her chest with fear, even as she convinced herself that there was nothing to be afraid of. She had money—she would give it to them if that was what they wanted.