(Ethan’s POV)
“I want to see Lily!” I demanded, my amber eyes fixed intensely on Olivia.
My voice carried the unmistakable authority of an Alpha King–I wasn’t asking, but stating my intent. The command reverberated through the small confines of her cottage at Maple Grove,
my Alpha aura filling the space.
Olivia’s slender frame went rigid. Her emerald eyes, once soft with love, hardened into glittering stones as she stared back at me.
“Ethan Stone, how dare you ask to see Lily?” Her voice was ice, each word precisely delivered
like the strike of a blade.
I took a step forward, confused by her vehemence. “She’s my daughter too, Olivia.”
“Your daughter?” Olivia laughed, a hollow sound devoid of humor. “The same daughter you neglected for years? The same daughter whose birthday you missed to attend Emma’s school
event?”
Her words stung, but I pressed on. “I have the right-”
“You have no rights!” she snapped, her voice rising. “You forfeited any rights to Lily when you
chose Victoria and Emma over us time and again.”
I felt my patience wearing thin. “This isn’t about the past. I want to see my daughter now.”
Olivia’s face contorted with an emotion I couldn’t quite place–rage mixed with something
deeper, more painful.
“You don’t deserve to see her,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “Not after everything you’ve
done.”
I ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Why was she being so difficult? Why couldn’t she understand that I needed to make things right with Lily?
“Olivia, I’m trying to fix things. I’ve seen the security footage from the Moonlit Reflection Pool
incident.”
Her eyes widened slightly, the first c***k in her icy composure.
“I know now that Lily didn’t push Emma,” I continued, my voice softening. “I was wrong to
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<Chapter 90 You Don’t Deserv….
blame her without investigating properly.”
+15 Points
Olivia’s breathing quickened, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she processed my words.
“I want to apologize to her,” I explained, taking another cautious step forward. “I’ll make it up to her–whatever she wants. A trip to that amusement park she always talked about, new toys,
anything.”
I expected relief, perhaps even gratitude that I was finally acknowledging my mistake. Instead,
Olivia’s face drained of color, her expression morphing into one of absolute horror.
“Make it up to her?” she repeated, her voice barely audible. “With toys and trips?”
Her mind seemed to drift somewhere else, her eyes unfocused as if seeing a different time, a
different place.
“Do you remember that day, Ethan?” she asked suddenly, her voice hollow. “The day after the
pool incident?”
I frowned, trying to recall. “What about it?”
“Lily was standing alone by the Moonlit Reflection Pool,” Olivia said, her voice distant. “She
was burning with fever, tears streaming down her face after you punished her.”
The memory came back to me in fragments–Lily’s small form shivering despite the warm
day, her face flushed with fever as she stood where I had ordered her to remain as
punishment.
“She kept saying she was innocent,” Olivia continued, her voice growing stronger with each word. “She begged you to believe her, but you walked away to comfort Emma instead.”
Shame washed over me as I recalled my coldness that day. I had been so convinced of Lily’s guilt, so determined to show her that actions had consequences.
“I didn’t know she was sick,” I said weakly.
“You didn’t care enough to notice!” Olivia’s voice cracked with emotion. “And now you think you can make it all better with apologies and gifts? What good are your apologies now,
Ethan?”
Her words hung in the air between us, heavy with accusation. I struggled to find a response
that wouldn’t sound hollow or self–serving.
“I’m trying to make things right,” I finally said. “Isn’t that what matters?”
Olivia’s laugh was bitter. “Make things right? You can’t make this right, Ethan. It’s too late for
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