Tamara's pov
Jack continued speaking, "I promise you sweetheart, Kate will only stay with us until she is healed, and after that, I will personally make sure she leaves." I felt a surge of annoyance. This was an old lie he had told me in the past. He had sworn up and down that he would kick Kate out, but he never did. Instead, he laid back and watched as Kate took everything from me. And that same thing would happen again if I didn’t find a way to stop them both now. But I couldn't let him see my anger. So I forced another smile and pretended to accept his apology. "Thank you, Jack. I appreciate your concern." Jack moved closer, and caressed my face. “Anything for you my love. You know I would do anything it takes to make you happy. I love you so much Tammie.” He said and I tried very hard not to gag. How could he lie so boldly like that, especially while he was planning to kill me? Jack bent to kiss me, but I turned my face away. "Darling, not tonight, I'm tired," I said, keeping my voice steady. Jack frowned for a moment but recovered quickly. "Of course my love. Let me bring you some milk before you go to bed," he offered,. "It would help you rest." Before I could refuse, he left the room, and returned with a glass of milk a few seconds later. I reluctantly accepted it, but instantly noticed how he lingered around, anxiously waiting for me to drink it. Why was he doing that? what was in the milk? My mind immediately flashed back to how he had poisoned me with tea, and I became even more hesitant to drink the milk. But I didn’t want him to know something was off, so I pretended to take a sip. “Thank you Jack, it’s so good," I said, pretending to enjoy it. Jack smiled widely, and helped me get into bed. I suddenly remembered that in our past life, Jack always brought me milk before bed every single day. I had always thought he did it out of love, but now that I knew how much he hated me, I had to find out why he was he so insistent on giving me milk before bed. I feigned another sip, and pretended to get something from my closet, but I quickly threw the milk in an empty shoe box, then hurried back to bed like I had finished the milk. Jack kissed me goodnight and I lay down, pretending to fall asleep. After a while, I heard him softly calling my name. I kept my eyes shut and remained still. Soon, I felt him waving a hand in front of my face, testing to see if I was really asleep. When I didn't react, he sighed softly and left the room. I waited a few moments and then slipped out of bed to follow after him. I heard him enter the room next to ours—it was Kate's room. ‘Of course,’ I thought and pressed my ear to her door, to catch what they were saying. "Did you give her the milk with the sleeping pills?" Kate's voice asked in an irritated tone. "Yes, she’s sound asleep so we can fuck as loud as we want," Jack replied, "But I'm worried you might have given too much." He asked in a surprisingly concerned tone. "Oh, don't be ridiculous," Kate snapped. "Why are you so worried about that bitch? I thought you hated her? And you don’t have to worry, I didn't use enough to kill her yet. I still have some delicious plans for our Tamara first." She laughed and Jack joined her. “Now fuck me Jack,” Kate moaned, “I’ve been thinking about you all day, I almost couldn’t wait for that bitch to fall asleep.” She cooed and they proceeded to have sex loud enough for the whole house to hear. My blood ran cold and tears filled my eyes as I slipped back into my room. So this had been going on for years and I didn’t know. They were drugging me, controlling me and making fun of me behind my back, thinking I would never find out. Well too bad for them, I was prepared this time. They would not get away with this. I would find a way to stop them. And I would make them pay for everything they had done to me. But first, I had to had to find someone powerful enough to protect my pack from Jack when I broke up with him. But who would that be? My mind came up with only one answer and my mood turned sour. Alpha Dante. Alpha Dante, was the only name I could think of. He was the most powerful Alpha in the region, powerful enough to protect me from any attack Jack could bring. But he was also the same person who would kill my parents in the future, he was famous for being greedy, heartless and cruel, so how could I trust or even ask him for help? Maya my wolf spoke up. “But Alpha Dante hasn’t killed them yet in this timeline. So if we can convince him to not attack us, then we can save our parents and every one else. Then we can also use him to frighten Jack off.” Maya said and I felt like shouting in joy. Maya was brilliant as always. She had found a solution. If we could convince Alpha Dante to form a partnership with us, we could build a relationship and find a way to stop him from killing our parents. It was brilliant! Now I just had to talk to Alpha Dante and convince him to stop hating me.Ivonne’s POVI pressed the phone tighter against my ear, bracing myself. “Mr. Archibald... Grandpa sorry,” I said carefully. “I… I didn’t expect your call.”His voice on the other end was smooth but laced with a cold distance, like every word had been weighed before it left his lips. “No. I imagine you didn’t.”Silence stretched, heavy, until he spoke again. “Your mother. She’s gone.”I froze in the middle of the hallway. My grip on the phone trembled. “H-how do you know…?”“I make it my business to know most of what happens under this family’s roof—and beyond it,” he said flatly. “News travels quickly to me, Ivonne. Especially when it concerns my grandson’s wife.”The bluntness of it all knocked the breath from my chest. “Then… then you know she—”“Yes.” His tone softened, barely. “And I’m… sorry. I mean that. A mother’s death is never easy, no matter the circumstances.”For a moment, I didn’t know what to say. I expected cruelty, judgment, maybe even satisfaction. But pity? An apolo
Ivonne's POV I took a deep breath to calm myself because there was a sharp, ugly twist under my ribs that made my heart hurt as I told my story. “After my miscarriage and the sudden appearance of Alison, everything turned. Lincoln was colder. He picked unnecessary fights at dinner and then started giving expensive gifts to Alison right in front of me. They started constantly laughing at me too. They would mock, demean and laugh at me, especially when I asked for help with Mom’s bills. Just yesterday, Alison tore up the first cheque I got right in front of me and Lincoln refused to sign another. They left us waiting until it was too late.” Dr. Charles’s hand hovered above the desk as if he wanted to reach for mine and thought better of it. “This… none of this sounds fair but I still think because your mother loved you so fiercely, She would not have wanted you to be consumed by hate.” “Well She’s gone now!,” I snapped, and the word didn’t have the softness I thought it wo
Ivonne's POVI signed the final forms with hands that wouldn’t stop shaking. The paperwork for my mother's cremation felt surreal. It felt like some official cold goodbye stamped to the worst day of my life. Doctor Charles suggested that I wait a few days for a proper funeral but I knew that no one would attend her service so I insisted they move it up immediately. I wanted her gone from the hospital, reduced to something I could carry in my arms, something I could keep close and speak to when the world felt too loud. Ashes didn’t need hospital bills or permission slips. Ashes wouldn’t be humiliated by Lincoln or laughed at by Alison. Her ashes were the only thing that would be mine to care for and love.Dr. Charles walked beside me as they prepared the body. He was gentle, quiet, the type of person who had been around sickness so long he knew how to carry other people’s grief without crushing it. When there was nothing left to do in the chapel, he asked if I would come to his of
Ivonne’s POV I clutched the cheque in my hands so tightly that the edges were crumpling. I had finally got the money! I could finally save my mom! I almost couldn't believe it.My heart pounded with hope and desperation all at once. Alison’s handwriting was scrawled across the paper, but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that it came from her, or that her smug little smile when she handed it to me made me want to claw her face off.I also didn't care that she was probably going to try her best to make me pay with my life for this. All that mattered was this cheque, this little piece of paper was my mother’s chance to live. “Thank you, Goddess… thank you…” I whispered under my breath as I ran down the hospital corridors. My heels clacked loudly against the floor, echoing like a heartbeat. “Please let me be on time. Please let her live. Please don’t take her from me yet.” By the time I reached the reception, I was panting, clutching my side. “I—I have it!” I yelled, almost shoving t
Ivonne’s POV I rushed to take a shower and threw on the first dress I could find, not even bothering to fix my damp hair. My hands shook as I buttoned it crookedly, but I didn’t care. My chest felt tight with too much panic. Every second wasted was another second my mother was lying in that hospital bed, maybe slipping further away. I rushed down the hall, my steps uneven, my pulse drumming in my ears. All I could think about was the cheque. If I could just get another cheque from Lincoln, then I could run straight to the hospital. That was all that mattered. But when I reached the living room, my body froze. Lincoln was there. He was already awake and already dressed, sitting casually on the sofa with Alison curled up against his side like she belonged there. His arm was draped around her shoulders, his fingers idly brushing through her hair while she giggled at something on his phone screen. The sight made me sick. For a moment, I almost turned back. Almost swallowed t
Ivonne’s POVA scream ripped out of me before I could stop it.It wasn’t one of those soft startled gasps. No, this was a full-on, top-of-my-lungs, horror-movie type scream that could’ve shattered glass. Because the man in my bed, the very naked man lying so casually beside me, wasn’t my husband Lincoln.It was him again.The rude alpha.The one who dragged me out of the pool.The one I never wanted to see again.The one I definitely never wanted in my bed.“What the hell are you doing here?!” I shrieked, scrambling back until I nearly fell off the edge of the mattress.He stirred with a low groan, rubbing his temples like I was nothing but an annoying alarm clock. His voice was gravelly, sleep-rough, but still dripping with irritation.“Do you have to be so damn loud first thing in the morning?”I gaped at him, my whole body trembling. “Loud? You—you’re in my bed! Naked! Why are you in my bed?!”Finally, he opened his eyes, sharp and stormy, narrowing at me with a look that made my s