Scarlett’s POV
The manipulation was perfect. It was a cage built out of my own feelings. If I stayed, I would be the reason they killed themselves. If I left and faked my death, I was their savior—but I would be dead to the world, a secret kept in a Swiss mountain house while they moved on to other won.
I looked at my mother, who was wiping a stray tear, and my father, who looked like a stranger in his royal crest. They had already made their choice. They had chosen the "greater good" over their only daughter a long ti ago.
"And if I agree?" I asked, my voice sounding like it belonged to soone else. "The witch... she mutes the bond? They’ll feel die?"
"It will be a sharp, sudden snap," Sir Levi said, his voice devoid of emotion. "Painful, yes. But clean. They will believe you are really dead. And eventually heal."
More tears fell on my cheeks, hot and stinging. For two years, I had hated the triplets for what they did, but now the truth was a bitter pill to swallow. They hadn’t killed my parents... they were just pieces in a ga created by the people in this room.
I closed my eyes and imagined what it would feel like for them to die. Then, I imagined what it would feel like for them to feel die. It would break them. Losing a mate was the deepest pain there was.
I looked at Sir Lennox, my voice trembling. "What body will you use? Are you going to kill soone just to prove I’m gone?"
"No," Lennox answered calmly, though his eyes were full of pity. "It will be frad as a rogue attack in the woods. We will leave traces of your blood near the border—which ans we’ll need to draw so from you—and pieces of the clothes you are wearing now. We will make it seem like you were ambushed, killed, and your body was carried off. There will be no body to find, only the scent of your death."
I swallowed hard, the bile rising in my throat. They had it all planned out.
Luna Olivia stepped toward , her face full of grief. "Scarlett, I am so sorry... so, so sorry. I know this is hard. I know exactly how you feel—"
"Stop!" I yelled, the sound echoing off the cold walls. "Don’t say that. You fucking don’t know how I feel! You weren’t the one being spat on for two years! You weren’t the one who had to choose between your heart and your life!"
The whole place went silent. Even the air seed to stop moving. I reached inward, searching for Zoe, but my wolf was quiet. She didn’t growl, she didn’t fight; she just let out a long, pathetic whine. She was heartbroken. She was mourning the triplets before I had even left them.
I thought about the dreams again. The blood. The dead bodies.
"Once they are married?" I asked, my voice small and hollow. "Once they are marked and bonded to other won... I don’t have to pretend to be dead anymore, right?"
"Yes," Sir Levi promised. "Once they are settled, the prophecy is dead. You can live your life."
I nodded slowly and closed my eyes, my mind drifting back to when I was a little girl. I thought about how I used to follow them around when we were kids, my heart already divided into three equal parts. I had spent my entire life imagining what it would be like to finally belong to them. I wanted all three of them—I always had.
I stared at the people who were supposed to be my family, my protectors, and felt a coldness settle deep in my marrow. I was about to give them exactly what they wanted. I was about to let them kill the Scarlett that existed in the hearts of my mates.
But I wasn’t going to be their puppet anymore. Not entirely.
"I will do it," I whispered, my voice cutting through the heavy silence of the room.
Relief washed over my mother’s face, and Sir Levi’s shoulders dropped an inch. They thought they had won. They thought they could just tuck away like a shaful secret in a mountain house in Switzerland.
"On one condition," I added, my eyes snapping to my father’s.
The relief vanished. "What is it, Scarlett?" he asked cautiously.
"I am not going to Switzerland," I said, my frown deepening. "I’m not staying with you. I won’t sit idle in so hidden room, staring at the walls and waiting for my life to be ’allowed’ to start while the triplets move on with other won. I won’t pause my existence for a lie you created."
I looked at Luna Olivia, who was watching with a pained expression.
"I want to go to France," I stated firmly. "I want to study. I want to paint. I want to build a life where I am not ’the traitor’s daughter’ or a ’prophecy.’ If I am going to be dead to this world, then let at least live in a new one. I can’t just wait around for years for them to get married and bond. I need to beco soone."
The room fell into a deep, tense silence. My father looked at my mother, his brow furrowed. I could see the subtle shift in their expressions—the flickering of their eyes. They were communicating through the mind-link, weighing the risks. I could practically hear Sir Levi’s ntal voice calculating the danger of being so far away.
But I didn’t blink. I didn’t back down. This was my only condition, and they must agree to it.
Finally, Luna Olivia let out a long, shaky breath. She looked at her husband, then back at . "As you wish, Scarlett. If that is what it takes to keep my sons alive... we will arrange it. You will have your life in France."
I felt a hollow pain in my chest. They were agreeing to send away, to let go alone, just as easily as they had agreed to fake their own deaths.
I nodded once, my heart sinking. I thought about the little girl who used to dream of three identical boys with mischievous smiles. I thought about the woman who had just hours ago felt Leo’s warmth.
I swallowed hard. "Let’s do it."
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