Your ‘Bro’ in Our Ritual? I Reject You. Chapter 07

Your ‘Bro’ in Our Ritual? I Reject You. Chapter 07

At nine in the evening, I stood outside my parents’ front door with my suitcase.

My fingers hovered over the keypad for a long time.

I just couldn’t bring myself to press the buttons.

A whirlwind of thoughts flooded my brain.

What were Mom and Dad doing right now?

Usually at this time, they’d be finished with dinner and lounging together on the couch.

Mom would be watching cheesy soap operas while Dad scrolled through videos on his phone with his

reading glasses on.

How would they react if I walked in right now?

Would they forgive me-after I’d thrown everything away, even cut ties with them, for that heartless Alpha?

Just as I took a deep breath and typed the first digit, a hesitant voice called out from behind me.

“Olivia?”

I whipped around.

My parents were standing by the elevator, staring at me in shock.

Warm tears spilled over my cheeks.

I bit my lip, forcing out a single breath. “Mom. Dad.”

In the living room, after I’d told them everything, Mom erupted. “Alpha Archie went way too far! We’re going

over there tomorrow to settle this.”

Dad pulled out his phone, too. “Let me check if there are early train tickets tomorrow. If not, I’ll drive us there

myself. So what if he’s an Alpha? I don’t care what it takes-I’m not letting my daughter get walked over like

this.”

took a sip of the coffee my father had poured me, then reached out to stop them as they practically sprang to their feet. “Don’t. Let me handle this myself.”

Archie was an Alpha, while my parents were just ordinary wolves. Going over there rashly would only put

them at a disadvantage.

On the trip back, I had already reached out to a senior from my college days.

She had studied journalism and was now running an emotional relationship vlog channel with millions of

followers.

She had been asking around for juicy content lately, so I submitted everything that happened today to her.

Now, all I had to do was wait for it to blow up.

My parents didn’t really get how content creators worked or what I was planning.

Even so, they respected my decision.

My lips parted, my eyes stinging with tears.

Ever since I was little, my parents had always been like this.

I wasn’t like other kids who got yelled at by their parents for being picky eaters.

In our home, from everyday grocery runs to picking out my college majors, my parents always gave me total freedom.

They always said all they wanted was for their baby girl to grow up happy.

The only thing they ever fought me on was Archie.

That was the one time I dug my heels in and ignored every single warning they gave me.

And now, I had run headfirst into a brick wall.

I clutched my mug, staring at the coffee grounds settled at the bottom as I whispered, “Mom, Dad… I’m so

sorry.”

Mom rubbed my hair gently. “We’re family-you don’t need to say sorry. As long as you’re okay. Thank

goodness everything can still be fixed.”

Dad wasn’t one for words. He just opened his arms and pulled both Mom and me into a tight hug.

Wrapped in the warmth of home, I drifted into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, I plugged in my phone and turned it on.

The second it booted up, it vibrated violently as over ninety-nine notifications slammed onto the screen.

Aside from a few spam ads, almost all of them came from Archie.

Starting with anxious texts: [Olivia, where are you? My parents and the guests are waiting for you.]

To outright threats: [Olivia, you dare throw a fit at our mating ceremony? I’m giving you thirty minutes to get

here, or we’re done.]

Archie probably thought I was just acting out, so he didn’t try contacting me for the next half hour.

When the thirty minutes passed and I still hadn’t shown up, he spiraled into panic.

He started calling me nonstop.

Dozens of calls, less than a minute apart, exposing all the panic and desperation he felt.

He even sent messages through our shared music app.

In the middle of the night, Archie left one final voice message.

“I’m sorry, Olivia. I know I was wrong. Wait for me, I’m coming to find you right now.”

Olivia: [No need. We’re done.]

After sending that, I blocked all his contact information before he could even reply.

Around noon, when I came home from grocery shopping with my parents, a gaunt, exhausted figure was

standing right outside our front door.