Page 105

"A physician you paid to ignore the side effects," I cut in, my voice steadier than I'd ever thought possible when confronting her. "Dr. Chen confirmed it. Ten years on those suppressants has damaged my system. I may never have a normal heat cycle again."

I could feel the tension radiating from the alphas behind me, their protective instincts flaring at this public acknowledgment of what had been done to me. The cameraman shifted, adjusting his angle to capture both my face and my mother's reaction.

"You're being melodramatic," my mother snapped, momentarily forgetting her audience. "Everything I did was for your own good.”

"You monitored my food, my weight, my friends," I continued, finding strength in finally saying these things aloud. "You scheduled my life down to the minute. You made me believe I was nothing without your approval."

"That's not true," my mother hissed, her composure cracking. "I was preparing you for the real world—"

"You were preparing me to be traded like property," I countered.

"You were grooming me to be a bargaining chip in your social climbing.

And when I finally found happiness on my own terms, you couldn't stand it. Not when they didn’t give you what you wanted them to give you.

" I paused letting my words grip hold. "Because this was never about my happiness," I continued, my voice growing stronger with each word.

"It was about what I could do for you. What connections I could bring, what doors I could open. "

My mother's face contorted with rage, her carefully maintained facade crumbling. "You ungrateful little—" She caught herself, eyes darting to the camera. "These men have poisoned you against your own family."

I felt Miles step closer behind me, his presence solid and reassuring. I didn't need to look to know all four alphas were there, supporting me without taking over.

"The only person who's ever manipulated me is standing right in front of me," I said, my voice unwavering. "You've spent my entire life convincing me I was only worth what I could provide to our family's status. These men showed me I'm worth so much more than that."

I felt Julian step closer behind me, his warmth radiating against my back without touching me. His silent support gave me courage to continue.

"Tell me, Mother, why is Karen here?" I asked, turning my attention to the assistant who was trying to shrink behind my mother.

"Is it because she's the one who leaked some of the rumors? Or did you leak some of the recordings she did when we argued. Did she leak the whole thing? Did everyone hear me begging you? OR when you hit me? Kneel on glass? Or when you made me throw up the cake I ate at an event but I wasn’t supposed to have it?”

I spit those facts one after another, noticing the tensing of the men after each new fact that was told.

I watched as Karen's face went white, her eyes darting nervously between my mother and me. The cameraman had stopped pretending to be discreet, now openly filming the confrontation.

"Don't be ridiculous," my mother snapped, but I could see the calculation in her eyes as she gauged how much the cameraman had captured. "You always had such a flair for dramatics."

"You can deny it all you want," I said, feeling a strange calm settle over me. "But I'm not afraid of you anymore. I'm not the scared little omega who would do anything to avoid your disapproval."

I felt Christopher's hand brush lightly against my back—a silent reminder that I wasn't alone. The touch gave me strength to continue.

"You used to tell me that no one would ever want a defective omega like me," I said, my voice steady despite the cruel memories.

My mother's expression shifted from shock to calculating in an instant. "Lilianna, you're being hysterical. No one has hit you or made you do anything. These men have clearly filled your head with delusions."

The cameraman had gone completely still, his lens fixed on my face. I could almost feel the thousands of viewers watching through my phone upstairs, witnessing this confrontation in real-time.

"Are they delusions when there are witnesses?" I asked, my voice steady despite the trembling in my limbs. "When the household staff saw the bruises? When my old tutors noticed I couldn't sit properly after 'etiquette lessons'?"

I felt Nicolaus shift behind me, his protective energy radiating outward. "We have documentation," he said, his voice cold and precise. "Medical records from before and after Lilianna came to us. Testimony from staff members who witnessed your treatment of her."

My mother's composure fractured further, her eyes darting to the camera then back to me. "You're making a scene," she hissed, dropping her concerned motherly act entirely. "This is not how a proper omega behaves."

"No," I agreed, finding strength in the admission. "It's how a person with self-respect behaves. Something you never wanted me to have."

The cameraman stepped closer, clearly riveted by the unfolding drama. Karen looked like she wanted to disappear, her knuckles white around her tablet.

"You came here with a camera," I continued, gesturing toward the man filming. “You brought the spectacle to my home. You brought someone to film this confrontation, hoping to catch me looking frightened or controlled. But all they're going to capture is the truth."

Karen finally spoke, her voice thin with nervousness. "Mrs. Wycliffe, perhaps we should—"

"Be quiet," my mother snapped, causing Karen to flinch. The reaction was subtle but unmistakable, and I saw the cameraman zoom in slightly to capture it.

"See that?" I said, pointing to Karen's reaction. "That's the real you showing for everyone to see. The way you treated me.”

My mother's face contorted with fury. "You would air our private family matters in public? This is exactly why you needed discipline—you have no sense of propriety!"

"Propriety," I echoed, a bitter laugh escaping my lips. "Is that what we're calling it now? When you locked me in my room for three days without food because I spoke to an alpha you didn't approve of at a charity gala?"

The silence that followed my words was deafening.

Even the cameraman seemed stunned, his lens wavering slightly as he processed what I'd just revealed.

I could feel the alphas behind me go deadly still, their protective instincts warring with their respect for my autonomy in handling this confrontation.

My mother's face cycled through several emotions—shock, rage, calculation—before settling on a cold mask I knew all too well. "That's... that's not..." she stammered, her eyes darting to the camera. "You're exaggerating. You always were prone to—"

"To what? To lying?" I stepped forward, my voice gaining strength.

My mother recovered quickly trying to save face with the camera recording her every movement, “You were grounded for inappropriate behavior, like any parent would—"

"Three days without food isn't grounding," I interrupted, my voice carrying across the yard with startling clarity. "It's abuse. And you know it."

My eyes narrowed as I looked to my mother's assistant, "Karen, you were there. You brought me water on the second day because you were worried I'd pass out. Tell them."

Karen's face went ashen, her tablet trembling in her hands. She looked between my mother and me, clearly torn between self-preservation and whatever conscience she might have left.

"I... I don't..." Karen stuttered, but her guilty expression spoke volumes.

"Or should we talk about the time you had me fitted for a special shock collar when I was sixteen?" I continued, my voice growing stronger with each revelation. "The one disguised as a choker necklace, that you could activate with your phone if I said something 'inappropriate' at events?"

My mother's face contorted with rage, her carefully constructed public persona crumbling entirely. "That's enough! You ungrateful little—"

"Mrs. Wycliffe," Christopher interrupted, his voice carrying that deadly calm that made even my mother pause. "I suggest you consider your next words very carefully. The camera is still rolling."

The cameraman had indeed moved closer, clearly captivated by the unfolding drama. I could almost see the headlines forming in his mind.

"You're making a terrible mistake," my mother hissed, her voice dropping to that dangerous register I knew too well. "Our family has connections you can't begin to imagine," my mother finished, her voice dropping to a threatening whisper. "This little performance will cost you more than you know."

I felt a strange calm wash over me at her threat. It was the same one she'd used my entire life—the specter of powerful connections, of consequences too terrible to bear. But something had changed. I was no longer that frightened girl who cowered at her warnings.

"No, Mother. It's you who's made the mistake," I replied, standing taller. "You miscalculated when you thought I'd still be too afraid to speak up. You underestimated what these men have helped me become."

Julian stepped forward, his shoulder nearly touching mine—close enough to support without overshadowing me. "Mrs. Wycliffe, I believe my mate has made herself clear. This is private property, and you are trespassing.”

“I don’t see any claiming mark on her.” My mother snapped back.

“You rudely interrupted that by showing up unannounced.” I snarked, taking pleasure in her reddening face. I was bluffing but she didn’t need to know that.

"You... what?" My mother sputtered, her composure completely shattering at my implication.

Nicolaus stepped to my other side, a slight smirk playing at the corner of his mouth. "As Lilianna said, your timing is... unfortunate."

I could feel heat rising to my cheeks at the bluff I was maintaining, but the shock and disgust on my mother's face was worth the momentary embarrassment. Behind her, Karen looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole.

"You're lying," my mother hissed, but I could see the uncertainty in her eyes as they darted between the four alphas surrounding me. "You were afraid of alphas…"

"I was afraid of the alphas you chose for me," I corrected, my voice steadier than I'd ever imagined possible when confronting her.

"Men three times my age who looked at me like I was property.

Men who discussed my breeding potential while I sat silently beside you.

" I lifted my chin. "These men are nothing like that. "

The cameraman shifted, capturing my mother's furious expression as she realized how this was playing out—not the rescue of a vulnerable omega she'd planned, but the exposure of her own cruelty.

"You've always been so dramatic, " she said, her voice dripping with condescension as she tried to regain control of the narrative. "These delusions of abuse—"

"Are documented," Miles cut in smoothly, stepping forward with his tablet. "Would you like to see the medical reports detailing Lilianna's malnutrition when she arrived?” My mother's face paled slightly at Miles' words. I'd never seen her so close to losing control.

"This is absurd," my mother sputtered, but her eyes darted nervously to the camera, still recording every moment. "You can't possibly believe—"

"We have the evidence," Nicolaus stated flatly. "And unlike you, we didn't have to falsify anything to get it."

The cameraman stepped closer, clearly riveted by the confrontation unfolding before him. This wasn't the story my mother had promised him—not the tale of a helpless omega rescued from predatory alphas, but something far more damning.

"I think we're done here," I said, surprised by the firmness of my voice.

"You can't just dismiss me," my mother snapped, her carefully manicured hands clenching into fists. "I am still your mother."

"Being a mother is more than biology," I replied, feeling a strange calm settle over me. "It's protection, support, love—none of which you ever gave me."

The cameraman circled slightly, capturing my mother's furious expression from a new angle. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he realized the story he'd been brought to film was transforming into something far more explosive.

"Mrs. Wycliffe," Miles said, his voice carrying that dangerous edge that made even my mother hesitate, "you have exactly thirty seconds to return to your vehicle before we contact the authorities for trespassing."

My mother's eyes narrowed to slits. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try us," Julian replied, his phone already in his hand, the emergency number typed in and ready to go at any second.

The standoff stretched for several tense seconds. My mother's gaze darted between Julian's phone, the camera still rolling, and my face—searching for any crack in my newfound resolve. Finding none, her expression twisted into something ugly and desperate.

"This isn't over," she hissed, taking a step backward toward her car. "You think you've won, but you have no idea what you've just unleashed."

"Actually," I said, my voice carrying a strength I'd never known I possessed, "I think it is over. You have no power here anymore."

Karen had already retreated to the car, clutching her tablet like a lifeline. The cameraman hesitated, clearly torn between following my mother and continuing to film what was obviously becoming a much bigger story than he'd bargained for.

"You," I called to him, causing him to freeze. "I want a copy of everything you filmed.” The man gave a quick nod, giving Nicolaus his card before quickly leaving and leaving the five of us in total silence.