They Tried To Punish My Daughter, Unaware We Were Vampires Chapter 01

They Tried To Punish My Daughter, Unaware We Were Vampires Chapter 01

The year my daughter, Ivy Vesper, was born, I saw how frail she was and how easily she cried.

So I carefully selected two boys, Silas Vesper and Rowan Vesper, to serve as her personal bodyguards.

For ten years, I taught them every ruthless tactic I knew, turning them into formidable young men who could handle any threat on their own.

My two adopted sons kept Ivy so well protected that I finally allowed myself to relax.

Then Ivy called me, her voice shaking so badly I could barely understand her.

“Mom… Silas and Rowan cornered me on the roof. They said I had to go over the edge to apologize to Rosie…”

By the time I arrived, Ivy was already trapped on the wrong side of the railing. Silas held one of her ankles while Rowan gripped her wrist, as if they had no idea how dangerous the situation was.

Rosalie Hart, the transfer student they had both become obsessed with, hid behind Silas and cradled a barely scraped finger.

“Mrs. Vesper, Ivy didn’t mean to hurt me. Please don’t blame her, okay?”

Silas gave me a vicious glare.

“She tripped Rosie on purpose, Mom. She’s vicious. We’re only teaching her a lesson.”

Rowan frowned impatiently.

“We didn’t actually push her. Ivy’s legs gave out on her. Did you really need to come all the way up here?”

They defended an outsider while rolling their eyes at me. I was so furious that I laughed.

They still had no idea that Ivy and I were vampires.

Ivy was frail because our family never fed on human blood. For eight hundred years, House Vesper had lived by one rule: We never harmed innocents.

But you two didn’t count as innocent.

***

Wind tore across the roof, leaving Ivy barely able to stand.

The two holding her by the wrist and ankle were Silas and Rowan, the very boys I had carefully chosen and raised for ten years.

Silas was older, and Rowan was younger.

Ten years earlier, I had found Silas and Rowan abandoned and alone and taught them combat and finance.

I had given them everything so they could protect themselves and keep Ivy safe. Now they were using everything I had taught them against her.

“Mom, perfect timing,” Silas said. Silas looked at me with open hostility. Even the word Mom sounded dismissive. “Rosie scraped her finger, and she hasn’t complained once.”

I looked past him.

Rosie hid behind Silas, her red-rimmed eyes making her look like a frightened rabbit.

She clutched a finger that hadn’t even bled and spoke in a soft, affected voice.

“Silas and Rowan were only trying to protect me. Please don’t be angry with them.”

What a convincing little martyr.

I turned to Ivy. She was ghostly pale, and she looked weaker by the second.

It wasn’t fear. The midday sun was beating down on the roof, scorching every inch of exposed skin. Everyone else merely felt the heat, but to Ivy, direct sunlight was poison.

After ten minutes of exposure, her condition would become critical.

“Let her go.”

My voice shook with the anger I was struggling to contain.

Silas gave me a contemptuous snort and tightened his grip on Ivy.

““Rowan and I have risked our lives for this family for ten years while Ivy’s done nothing but sit at home and enjoy everything you gave her. This is about setting rules for this family.”

“The second she agrees to grovel and beg Rosie for forgiveness, I’ll pull her back up.”

My chest tightened with pain as I stared at his defiant face.

For ten years, I had given Silas and Rowan every advantage, turning two strays into wolves. I thought I had raised exceptional human beings, strong enough to protect themselves.

I never imagined they would turn on my own flesh and blood.

“I don’t need an apology, Mrs. Vesper.” Rosie tugged timidly at Silas’s shirt.

“I can handle a little pain. Please don’t let your family fight over me.”

The more selfless she pretended to be, the more protective Silas and Rowan became.

Rowan glared at Ivy.

“Look at the daughter you raised, Mom. Rosie’s so kind, and Ivy still went after her!”

“If Ivy won’t grovel and apologize, I swear I’ll let go.”

Ivy closed her eyes, too weak to speak.

Bloodlust surged through me, but I forced it back. I couldn’t make a move here without exposing what we were.

I drew a slow breath and approached them one measured step at a time.

Silas smirked.

“That’s more like it. You should’ve taught Ivy some discipline a long time ago.”

I slapped Silas hard. He stumbled back, stunned.

The roof fell silent.

Rowan stared at me, and even Rosie forgot to cry.

Silas turned back, his expression turned furious. His hand went to the dagger at his waist, the one I had personally given him on his eighteenth birthday.

The next second, he raised the dagger in my direction.

“Ivy bullied Rosie, and instead of disciplining her, you hit me because of that useless girl?”

“Keep siding with Ivy, and those ten years you spent raising us won’t mean a thing!”