Alpha Family Put Their Princess on Trial Chapter 03

Alpha Family Put Their Princess on Trial Chapter 03

She playfully stuck out her tongue and then touched my hand with fake tenderness.

“Giselle, you’re so skinny,” Natalia said. “You must have suffered so much out there in the countryside. But you’re home now. I swear — I’m going to make you healthy and strong, I promise.”

Tristan and Evelyn sat across from us, watching the scene with warm, approving smiles.

Callum sat beside me, holding a glass of Goldcrest Nectar for me.

My awkwardness, my deep sense of worthlessness — Natalia seemed to dissolve it all without even trying.

I smiled at her, so grateful I could have cried. She smiled back.

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she dashed to the kitchen in a flurry and came back with a small cake.

“Giselle, this is my favorite — Shadowmoor Chocolate Torte,” she said. “I got up early this morning and made it for you with my own hands, just to welcome you home.”

“You have to try it.”

Evelyn’s face softened even more at the sight.

“She’s right, Giselle,” Evelyn said. “Your little sister made that with her own hands. She almost burned herself doing it.”

Tristan stroked Natalia’s hair. “Good girl. You two get along so well. That puts my mind at ease.”

Natalia said playfully, “What are you talking about, Father, Mother? Of course I’m going to get along with Giselle. She’s your daughter.”

Hearing that, Tristan, Evelyn, and Callum all got teary-eyed.

“Giselle is our child too,” Tristan said. “We’re a family. We’ll never be apart.”

The living room was so full of love it made my heart ache — a good ache, a full ache.

So this was what a real family felt like.

I took the cake and ate it, bite by bite, while Natalia watched me with eager eyes.

It was delicious.

The sweetest thing I had ever tasted in all sixteen years of my life.

After I finished, Callum grabbed my hand, all excited, and said he wanted to show me my new bedroom.

The biggest and best rooms in the house were already taken — Natalia had one, Callum had the other.

So to make sure I was comfortable, Callum had volunteered to give up his own room.

“You’re both my sisters,” he said. “Now that Giselle is home, I can’t ask Natalia to move. But I’m not going to let my other sister live in some tiny closet. So I’ll take one for the team.”

I looked at the room he had specially redecorated for me. My eyes stung as I thanked him.

This was so nice.

I had a brother now.

He was so good to me. He would protect me, wouldn’t he?

But then, for no reason I could understand, my stomach started cramping like crazy.

It felt like a giant hand had reached inside me and twisted my guts. The pain was so bad I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.

I knew something was wrong. My face went pale. I looked around, searching for the bathroom.

“I need to”

But before I could finish, Natalia — standing right next to me — lost her balance for no reason at all.

She fell straight into me.

I caught her on instinct. But her elbow slammed into my stomach. Hard. Like she meant it.

The next second.

My whole body started shaking. I couldn’t stop it.

Then the smell hit. Rotten. Foul. Everywhere.

Filthy liquid ran down my legs and soaked into the rug Callum had picked out just for me.

Natalia gasped and covered her mouth. “Giselle, you — ”

Everyone’s eyes locked onto me.

Tristan and Evelyn’s faces went dark. They just stared. Didn’t say a word.

Callum looked at the rug. Then at me. His expression turned ugly.

I covered my face, burning with shame, wishing I could just die.

Despair crashed over me in waves. I really was garbage, wasn’t I?

I couldn’t a single thing right. Not one.

Were Tristan, Evelyn, and Callum going to send me away again?

Send me back to that hell?

Just as I was about to faint from the sheer terror of it, Natalia rushed forward again — like a little ray of sunshine, always saving the day.

She threw her arms out to protect me.

“Father, Mother, Callum,” she said, “don’t blame Giselle. She was just nervous.”

“All of you, please leave. Let me take care of her. She’ll feel better after she rests.”

And just like that, Natalia shooed Tristan, Evelyn, and Callum out of the room.