Forced to Take the Blame, Reborn as Silverveil’s Royalty Chapter 01

Forced to Take the Blame, Reborn as Silverveil’s Royalty Chapter 01

Three years after my parents and I severed ties, they dragged me into court.

They demanded that I cover their living expenses for the next thirty years.

They were not suing because they needed the money.

They just wanted to give their adopted daughter, Lyra, who had just started at their law firm, a chance to make a name for herself.

They knew I was sick.

My father, the Alpha, had personally taken my wolf and given it to Lyra.

They knew my reputation was ruined.

My mother, the Luna, had once set me up to take the fall for Lyra and go to prison in her place.

And they still did it anyway.

One of them wanted to avoid any appearance of favoritism, and the other was determined to repay a debt of gratitude.

In the end, the court ordered me to pay fifty thousand dollars immediately.

Fifty thousand dollars was all I had saved for treatment.

On the courthouse steps, my Alpha father and Luna mother lifted their chins and said, “Althea, as long as you’re still alive, don’t think you’ll ever be free of your parents.”

I thought they were absolutely right.

So when the System came to me and said I had late-stage wolfsbane poisoning, no money left for treatment, and a chance to go to another world, I agreed on the spot.

The first time the System appeared, I was desperately trying to save money.

I worked construction by day, pulled overnight shifts on an assembly line, and delivered food on holidays.

It was brutal, but the money added up fast. So I refused to leave.

I chose this world because it still held hope, and people I still cared about.

But after I finally saved enough money and went out of town for treatment, the police took me straight to court instead.

Now my hope of getting better was gone, and so was the money.

The people I cared about had destroyed that hope with their own hands.

A freezing gust cut across the courthouse steps. I shivered and asked the System through chattering teeth, “Does your offer still stand? If this body dies, I can go to another world, right?”

When it confirmed that I could, I looked around for an opportunity.

Just then, an insulated tumbler was pressed against my hand.

“Drink.”

I said nothing. I tried to step around her.

My mother grabbed my wrist.

I lowered my eyes to her fingers, white from how hard she was gripping me.

It was strange. The arms I used to long for now felt like something foreign clinging to my skin.

It made my skin crawl.

“Let go,” I said.

She did not. Instead, she stepped closer.

“I said, let go.”

I pulled my hand free with a little force.

Then I wiped the place she had touched against her expensive cashmere coat.

Her whole body went stiff, like she could not believe I would do something that blunt.

I was about to leave when laughter drifted over from nearby.

I looked up and saw my father smiling as he wrapped an arm around Lyra and helped her into the car without sparing me a single glance.

Lyra was holding the tumbler lid.

I looked down, and sure enough, Lyra’s name was engraved on the tumbler itself.

There she was again, using someone else’s things so she could play at caring.

I hurled the tumbler to the ground.

When the ruling came down, I had wanted to tell them, “I have late-stage wolfsbane poisoning. That fifty thousand is the money keeping me alive.”

I wanted to see whether it would move them at all.

But before I could reach them, the wind carried their conversation to me.

“Fifty thousand is perfect. Isn’t that exactly how much that belt Ronan wants costs?”

“Don’t worry, Lyra. Mom and Dad will make sure you and Ronan seal the mate bond in style.”

It was Ronan.

His name drove into my chest like a knife.

The man I had loved for ten years, my fated mate, was the one my parents were using my life-saving money to help Lyra seal the mate bond with.

I swallowed the words at the back of my throat along with the taste of blood.

Now, I was glad I had said nothing.

What a joke. How had I ever felt the urge to ask them why?

My mother stared at the dented tumbler, her jaw tightening.

“Are you done making a scene?”

“Come home with me. You’ve been running wild for three years. It’s time to come home and get your act together.”

I looked at her.

There was a time when that expression and that tone would have sent a chill straight down my spine and made me obey on the spot.

Now it just sounded like a villain’s line from some cheap melodrama.

I even let out a soft laugh.

“Mom, if you care this much about me, aren’t you worried Lyra will get jealous?”

“The last time you cared about my bar exam, she got jealous, sped through the streets, killed someone, and the two of you dumped me at the scene to take the fall.”

“What is it this time? What do you need me to do for her now?”

All my life, she had chosen Lyra over me again and again.

All because Lyra’s parents had died saving her.

But I never imagined she would send me to prison just to protect Lyra.

She avoided my eyes, her lips moving slightly before she spoke.

“That was in the past. Don’t bring it up again.”

“You know I owe her parents more than I can ever repay.”

“Come home. I’ll cook for you myself and make it up to you.”

The last trace of warmth left my eyes as I stared straight into hers.

“I wouldn’t dare eat anything you cook.”

“The last time I did, I lost my wolf.”

Her body swayed. She reached for me on instinct.

I stepped back again and again.