My Love Inappropriate. Her Scandal Take the Blame. Get Lost, Uncle! I Married the Mad Alpha! Chapter 06

My Love Inappropriate. Her Scandal Take the Blame. Get Lost, Uncle! I Married the Mad Alpha! Chapter 06

Adrian came to pick me up himself on the day I was discharged, but the car did not head toward the Carter residence on Long Island.

“Sofia wants to take you to dinner and apologize for accusing you.”

I was silent for two seconds, then nodded.

The restaurant was inside a private members’ club in Manhattan. A young man was seated beside Sofia.

“This is Kyle Walker. He works in film and television too, so the two of you should have plenty to talk about. I thought you could spend some time together. You might be a good match.”

Adrian nodded.

“Meeting more people won’t hurt you.”

The moment I saw Kyle, every instinct in me went on alert.

He had pursued me before, and even after I rejected him, he would not leave me alone for a long time. Everyone in the industry knew his private life was notoriously messy. He had even been sued for deliberately concealing a contagious disease.

I declined politely.

“Thank you, but I’m not interested in a relationship right now.”

Sofia’s smile tightened for a second before turning sweet again.

“Irene, you can’t depend on your uncle forever. When you were attacked last time, maybe you wouldn’t have been hurt if you’d had a

—

mate of your own to protect you.”

Adrian spoke as well.

“No one is asking you to date him. You can also discuss future film or television projects.”

Kyle immediately seized the opening.

“I have a private club nearby. It’s quieter there. We can talk about potential projects without all this noise.”

Adrian saw nothing wrong.

Or perhaps he simply failed to detect the repulsive scent buried beneath Kyle’s expensive cologne.

I glanced at Adrian, then finally nodded.

The club was dimly lit. Kyle ordered two drinks and pushed one toward me.

“I’ve always admired you, you know.”

I did not touch the glass. I stood to leave.

The instant I rose, violent dizziness crashed over me, and my legs nearly folded beneath me.

Kyle finally dropped the act and reached for me with a grin.

“You didn’t really think the drug had to be in the drink, did you?”

He had tampered with the room’s diffuser, filling it with a suppressant designed to dull a werewolf’s senses and weaken the body.

—

Without letting him notice, I reached toward the coffee table until my fingertips brushed the cold edge of an ashtray.

When he came closer, I used every ounce of strength I had left, grabbed it, and smashed it into his forehead.

A dull crack sounded, and Kyle collapsed.

I staggered out of the club and hailed a cab.

By the time I returned home, I could barely reach the living room without bracing myself against the wall.

Sofia was waiting with a triumphant look in her eyes and a surveillance video already playing.

The footage clearly showed Kyle lying on the floor while I staggered out of the room.

“If you didn’t like the man I introduced, you could have said no. Why did you have to beat him so badly?”

Adrian stood beside her, his face grim. Members of the Walker family had arrived as well.

“The Carter family owes us an explanation. We’ve already called the police. She could face criminal charges for assault.”

I gripped the edge of the table to stay upright.

“He put a suppressant in the diffuser and tried to sexually assault me. I defended myself.”

Sofia spoke gently, as if she were trying to save me.

—

“Just apologize first. I can ask the Walkers not to press charges.”

“Enough.”

Adrian cut her off and looked at me coldly.

“No daughter of the Carter family is going to be dragged away by the police or branded as a violent, unstable wolf. I’ll handle this.”

I stared at him.

“You don’t believe me? Kyle harassed me before. Sofia knew that and still deliberately handed me over to him.”

Adrian did not answer. He simply ordered someone to bring him the leather whip used to punish wolves who lost control.

“I’m your guardian. Now I have to teach you that your actions have consequences.”

I looked at the face I had loved for more than ten years and suddenly laughed.

When the first lash struck, my entire body convulsed, but I did not beg.

The lash had been laced with a small amount of silver powder. It slowed healing and made the pain last far longer.

With every lash, another piece of my love for him died.

By the time the tenth lash fell, my face was deathly pale and cold sweat had soaked through my clothes.

Adrian threw the whip aside, his voice still hard.

—

“Take her back to her room. She doesn’t leave until I give permission.”

The stab wound in my chest had not fully healed, and the wounds across my back soon became infected.

With the last of my strength, I pounded on the door.

“Please call a doctor. At least give me antibiotics.”

The maid answered uneasily from outside.

“Ms. Carter, Ms. Bennett said she’ll soon be Mr. Carter’s mate under pack law and will be running this house. She ordered us to make sure you truly learn your lesson this time.”

My adoptive parents were in Chicago for a business conference.

There was no one in the entire house willing to help me.

—

I lay on the cold floor, my back burning with every breath.

The silver in the whip was doing its work—slow, deliberate, agonizing. My werewolf healing was useless against it.

I thought about the Moretti family documents sitting in my suitcase. The passport. The visa. The escape route I had planned.

But none of that mattered if I died here first.

My vision was starting to blur. The infection was spreading.

I crawled toward the door and pounded one last time.

“Please. I’m begging you.”

Silence.

I pressed my forehead against the wood and let out a broken laugh.

Of course. Of course they wouldn’t help. They had chosen Sofia. They had chosen Adrian. They had chosen everything except me.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone.

My adoptive mother’s number was at the top of my contacts.

I called her.

She answered on the second ring.

“Irene? What’s wrong?”

I tried to speak, but the words came out as a weak rasp.

“Mom. Please. I need you to come home.”

The line went silent for a moment.

Then she said, “I’m already on my way. Don’t you dare die before I get there.”

I smiled, and the phone slipped from my fingers.

Darkness came for me, and I let it take me.