CHAPTER 2

“Leona?” was the only word that escaped Joffrey's lips, which was stained with the crimson lip tint that Myrtle oftenly used.

I could feel the terror reflected in his gaze. Joffrey was wearing the face of a fraidy thief cornered by the person who caught him stealing. Although in Joffrey’s case, it was different. 

He might not have particularly stolen any material thing from me, yet, it was my trust on him that has been taken for granted. After being gone for three months, I had been busy preparing a dowry for his family in anticipation of our marriage, only to be greeted in this manner upon my return.

Shock was more than what I was feeling at the moment, especially after finding out the truth that he was actually cheating on me, and that most of all, he dared  sleeping with my step sister—of all women.

“Leona?” Myrtle groggily muttered upon being disturbed by the noise I created. Much to my shock, she didn't seem surprised that I was standing here witnessing this infidelity and betrayal.  “Welcome back, Leona? When did you arrive?” Her tone exuded a mix of tranquility and subtle malice.

She gazed at me while wrapping her arms around Joffrey's left arm, as if it was a perfectly orchestrated moment upon my return. I could feel the rage pulsing through me as my hands trembled uncontrollably. My gaze intensified as the anger bubbling inside me reached its peak. 

I could see Myrtle’s mouth moving, and yet, I found it odd not to hear them. Everything around me suddenly fell into an eerie silence, overwhelming my senses. All I could hear at the moment was the thunderous pounding of my heart, as if it might burst from within.

Before I knew it, I was already inching forward towards Myrtle to grab her by the hair. Even I was surprised that I had all the courage and strength to be able to pull her swiftly and slammed against my bedroom door.

“You wench! My family gave you clothes, food, a roof, and even a family name with a good reputation. Yet, every day, you keep wrecking it with your filthy upbringing!” I roared before her face, both my hands were gripping her neck, choking her until she couldn’t say anything.

“Leona, please stop.” Joffrey attempted to halt me in a composed way, but I declined to comply.

Releasing Myrtle was the last thing I would do. I was resolute on ending Myrtle's life if it was the sole way to quell the rage consuming me.

But before I could even come to that, my heart shattered into many pieces when all of a sudden, Joffrey forcibly pulled me away from Myrtle, followed by him raising his hand to strike my face so hard.

The impact of his hand not only left a reddish mark on my face, but I was also thrown away on the floor. 

My eyes were still wide in shock and disbelief that a day like this would ever come when the man I so dearly loved would actually lay his hands on me and hurt me not just physically but also emotionally.

What seemed to have added more pain to the wound I already have, caused by their infidelity, was when I saw Joffrey rushing to ease Myrtle's pain—after I hardly grappled my hands around her neck to choke her—rather than to come to apologize to me.

“Are you alright, Myrtle?” Joffrey asked Myrtle, with such gentleness in his voice that he used to address me.  

Suddenly, I felt as though I had not just been cheated on, but I was also left broken by this upfront betrayal that Joffrey was displaying before me. 

“Why Joffrey? I don't understand why you chose to cheat on me? What did I do wrong?” I said as tears in my eyes raced down my cheeks. I had never been in a situation like this before where I would need to beg someone to come for my aid.

"You have done nothing wrong." Joffrey finally responded, his voice lacking emotion as he hugged Myrtle in front of me. "But, I just cannot allow you to harm Myrtle because she is my true mate," he said firmly.

Hearing those words from Joffrey felt like a sudden chill washing over me. "Your what?" I can't wrap my head around the fact that Joffrey just said that.

“You heard me, Leona. I feel in my veins and in my core that Myrtle is my true mate, so don’t you dare hurt her.” Joffrey’s voice changed into one that sounds intimidating.

He never raised his voice to me before, not until this very moment. But now Joffrey said those hurtful words to me paired with those viscous glare he has towards my direction, and it was all because of Myrtle.

She was crying and sobbing while being tucked in Joffrey’s embrace. It makes me more infuriated to see how that act of hers seemed too effective on Joffrey that he would rather choose to be by her side than with me—his very own fiancee.

As anger once again rose throughout my mind, I instantly stood back on my feet and pushed the two of them outside my room

. 

“Get out of my room, no—get the hell out of my house!” I screamed at the two of them after successfully pushing outside my bedroom.

The noise we all made created a commotion, making the rest of the servants inside the manor huddled around the receiving area where I casted both Joffrey and Myrtle who were only covered with towels and linen.

“How could you send me out looking like this, sister? Don’t you have any mercy?” Myrtle finally protested as soon as her throat was able to recover.

“Mercy? You’re asking me for mercy? Have you got any shame left, Myrtle?” My eyes grew wide at the audacity of Myrtle to beg for mercy. She was giving off the damsel vibe to make everyone feel pity on her and make me look like a villainess in everyone’s eyes. 

However, I couldn’t simply ignore the fact that she was abusing it. especially inside my own home. “Right, you wouldn’t have any left, of course. You even seduced my fiance while I was away. You’re such a whore!” I finally let out the derogatory word that best describes Myrtle—A whore.

But just as I was about to say another word, the main entrance to the manor sprung open rendering all of us to witness the sudden entrance of my wicked stepmother, Adelaine.

Her dark emerald pair of eyes wandered at the ongoing commotion in the receiving hall when all of a sudden, she stopped after seeing Myrtle crying while Joffrey was hugging her.

“My goodness! Who dared to hurt my daughter!” her voice pierced through my ears as I heard her scream behind me. It was fearsome, that it made me recall the initial days of her stay in this house when she and my dad got remarried.

She would often scold me this way, sometimes, even for petty excuse, just to humiliate me in front of her noble friends. This moment, however, was because of how infuriated she was after seeing her daughter get humiliated like that inside this house.

Everyone looked at me synchronically as though their gazes were meant to point out that it was all my fault. Adelaine seemed to sense all of them looking at me and with that, she dared not even ask what really happened. My evil stepmother immediately pulled my hair as she dragged me outside of my own house.

“How dare you even lay a finger on Myrtle! You shameless brat!” Adelaine screamed at me.

Meanwhile, Gwen, who was was still outside at the moment, saw everything front he moment Adelaine pushed me outside. This immediately made her run towards me. And as soon as she beside me, Gwen cried and I don’t even have any clue why. 

“My lady, are you alright?” She immediately asked me after witnessing how Adelaine had just treated me now.

I eventually noticed the awkward look on Gwen’s face, as though she couldn’t even look at me straight. For some reason, I had a sudden notion that something was off and that she couldn’t just tell it to me directly.

“What’s wrong, Gwen?” I asked, and yet there was no response.

It wasn’t until Gwen began to cry again, “I’m sorry, my lady. I tried to protect it but—”

That was when it made me quickly look behind Gwen, only to see that all of my luggages was already opened and scattered across the front yard. This made me look at the two maid standing behind Adelaine and they were carrying the bag of gold coins I was able to acquire from the auction.

I quickly ran towards Adelaine, and quickly aimed to take back the gold coins. However, I was immediately hampered by her personal butler, who stood in front of me, preventing me from coming through.

“Where are you taking those? Those gold coins are mine!” I protested while still trying to pass through the butler.

However, Adelaine quickly laughed at me. “Not anymore. Especially after what you did to Myrtle, these won’t be enough.”

“Give it back to me. I worked hard for that, and it was the proceeds from my mother’s jewelry, so you have no claim for them!” 

“Is that why you went to that capital then? To secretly see these jewels that were supposed to be mine since I am married to your father. You selfishly took them when you know this should have been used to pay off your father’s debt.” Adelaine used my father’s debt again as an excuse when, in fact, it was all her fault that my father was drowning in these debts and had to go into hiding.

“Yes. I took them because I have all the rights to do so since it’s my mother’s. I also went secretly to the capital to put my mother’s collection up for auction. I had to do that because I was saving up for the dowry of a supposed marriage to Baron Joffrey Hanes, until your wench daughter slept with fiance while I was away.”

And as what I said sounded offensive to Adelaine, she immediately raised her hand aiming to hit me on the face. “Why you wretched—”

However, before she could even lay her hands on me, we were all surprised to witness how Joffrey stopped Adelaine from hitting me. And even I was shocked to see Joffrey’s action.

“There’s no need for this.” he told Adelaine, and then, he took the bag of gold coins from the two maids.

"What is the meaning of this, Baron Joffrey?" Adelaine inquired at Joffrey. Curious about his sudden actions.

It made me briefly consider if he did it out of remorse for cheating on me and for raising his hand against me before. Part of me wished he would sincerely apologize and ask for my forgiveness. If he were to do that now, I wouldn’t mind becoming a martyr—I would still forgive him.

My hopes were dashed as I realized Joffrey's true intentions. He callously threw the bags of gold coins at my face and said, “Take your dowry with you and be gone. I’m calling our engagement off because—I, Baron and Alpha Joffrey Hanes of Flarewing Pack, reject you, Leona Klaus of House Victorian.”