CHAPTER 47

Isla’s POV

The night had fallen by the time I made it back home. But as I made my way home, I began to feel more restless. Home should be a place for comfort, but for me, it was different. The familiar sense of deep emptiness settled in.

But today was different.

As I stepped through the door, the house, which had never truly felt like home, was surprisingly lit. I froze when I saw my parents waiting for me at the dining table.

I blinked, confused. The way they looked at me... it felt different. And there, on the dining table, was a meal they had prepared. For me. Simple but intentional. The weight of their sudden attention tugged at something deep inside me. For a fleeting second, I felt something I hadn’t in a long time, a flicker of hope. I wondered if they had finally realized I was their only daughter now and had finally decided to appreciate me better.

But that hope died quickly when I looked into their eyes. The same doubt. The same suspicion. My brother sat at the end of the table, his arms crossed, his expression hard to read. But the same questioning look was there too. It was like he was sitting there, forced, against his wish to play his part in this pretentious act.

We ate the food in silence, each of us seated there against our will, waiting for it to be over. When I could no longer take it, and was about to leave, my mother finally spoke, breaking that creepy silence that had settled around us.

“Is Stefan really the one who killed Elara?” she asked, her voice quiet, but heavy with accusation.

I clenched my fists, the warmth of their attention crumbling into a bitter feeling of betrayal. This wasn’t about caring for me. It was a setup to extract the truth. It was about Elara. Again.

"Can you really deny the proof Adrian has accumulated against Stefan? Tell me, Isla, did you know about it?" My father asked, his eyes boring into mine.

And my brother... Ryan was looking at me with so much disdain that I felt like choking. He had never liked Stefan. I didn't expect him to believe Stefan was innocent.

My wolf stirred inside me, her presence like a low growl in the back of my mind. "They don't trust us," she whispered. "They never have."

I took a breath, steeling myself. “Do you believe me?” I asked, my voice sharper than I intended.

Nothing. No answer. They only looked away, their bodies stiffening.

I scoffed, annoyed. “Stefan and I had nothing to do with Elara’s death. You should know if you ever actually trusted me.” I said, holding back the tears threatening to fall and show my weakness.

I expected something. Some reaction. But nothing again.

The silence that followed was suffocating. My father exchanged glances with my mother as if weighing the truth in my words. And they both agreed that I was still hiding things from them. Ryan's brows furrowed as if he was trying to catch the lie in my reactions. But they still didn’t speak. I puffed into the air, realizing I was stupid to be wanting some words of comfort or reassurance. Their silence confirmed what I had always known.

They hadn’t changed. They still didn't trust me. They never would.

"They will never believe you," my wolf murmured, her voice bitter. "They only see what they want to see."

I swallowed hard, and my throat tight. "We don’t need their trust," I told her, even though a part of me wished it wasn’t true. "But I have to find out who is behind all of this. We have to clear our names. The recent events... None of it feels right."

"Then stop letting them make you feel small," my wolf growled. "We will find the truth ourselves."

I didn’t wait for them to ask more questions or probe deeper into the mess of my life. Without another word, I turned and headed to my room, my mind racing. Even now, with Elara gone, I was still the outsider. The forgotten twin. The shadow.

Adrian’s anger, Stefan’s departure, and now the chilling suspicion. It was all too much, too suffocating.

As I sat on the edge of my bed, the ache in my chest only grew. There had to be something I was missing.

My thoughts spun back as I went through recent events. The mandrake flower, the cryptic flower order card, the shadow luring me inside the forest, Lucas's accident, and Stefan’s frame-up. Could all of it be coincidental? Never!

My mind zeroed in on the handwriting on the card, Stefan’s handwriting... or was it? It hadn’t felt right, but I was too overwhelmed to even deny it. Maybe I had been too close to everything to see clearly. There was more to this, more than what met the eye. Someone close to me was orchestrating everything. I was sure of this.

My wolf’s presence pulsed through me, her energy fierce and restless.

"The flower shops," I told her, running my hand through my hair. I still didn't know how Adrian found that slip. "We need to investigate all the flower shops in the pack."

I felt lonely without Stefan. I even missed Lucas. I no longer had a support system.

I sighed deeply, exhaustion tugging at every fiber of my body. I decided to figure it out tomorrow, after combat class. I would try to convince Adrian again. Even if he didn't believe me entirely, he was the only one whom I could approach in the given situation. But for now, I was too drained to think any further. My mind, clouded with the day's events, could no longer process anything clearly.

I crawled into bed, my mind racing with the overwhelming questions for which I had no answers yet. I could feel the invisible hand behind it all, pulling the strings.

And before I could further analyze, the weight of everything pressed heavily on my chest and I drifted into sleep.