An afternoon, years ago.
We were all in the living room. I approached, fingers twisting the hem of my too-small school blouse, cheeks burning.
“Dad… Mom…” I had murmured. “Can I… have five thousand? For school… tuition…?”
Kael had slammed his newspaper down.
“Money, money, money-that’s all you ever talk about!” he’d snapped. “Is that what you came back to this house for? To leech off us? If the Vales weren’t rich, would you have stayed away?”
I remember my hands trembling. My voice had broken when I whispered, “I just need it for school…”
He scoffed. “You want money? Scarlett just got top ten in her class. What did you get?”
“I… I was first…”
“First from the bottom, I bet,” he barked, rolling his eyes. “Unbelievable.”
I had felt so humiliated I ran from the room.
Later, I overheard them chuckling as Scarlett tugged Kael’s arm. “Brother, I did so well this month! Can I have a reward?”
He had immediately brightened. “What does my baby sister want?”
“I saw a purse-ten thousand. Can I have it?”
“Of course! If Scarlett wants it, even a hundred thousand is worth it!”
And I-I was forgotten.
Snapped back to the present, I saw Kael’s face contort with a storm of emotions.
“Is that what you’re remembering now, Kael?” I asked softly. Coldly.
He flinched at the use of his full name. Not “brother.” Not anymore.
That word had died the moment they let me rot in prison.
He clenched his fists, scowling. “Well, it’s not like you deserved a reward! You were failing all your classes! Coming in last-how dare you even ask for money!”
I tilted my head, my voice sharp as glass. “I was first in my year. All three years of high school.”
His expression cracked.
I smiled coldly. “But of course you didn’t know that, did you? You don’t even know what school I went to.”
His face turned pale. “You weren’t at Halston Academy?”
Halston Academy-the most prestigious private school in Mooncrest City. Scarlett’s school. The school he just assumed I went to.
He turned abruptly to Alaric and Luna Zara, his voice hoarse. “Did you transfer her into Halston when she came back?”
Neither answered.
Alaric’s face went ashen, his lips moving uselessly.
Luna Zara just stood there, eyes wild, lips trembling, mascara streaking.
Their silence said everything.
And in that silence, Kael’s carefully constructed world began to crumble.
He looked at me, barely able to breathe. “Riley… then where did you go to school all these years?”
Riley’s POV
My life had already been destroyed, and now he suddenly cared about my education?
How ironic.
I had spent my entire youth chasing the light-ten years of studying until my fingers bled, just to rewrite the fate I had been handed. I dreamed of breaking through my circumstances with nothing but sheer determination. My dream was Ashmoor Academy, the most prestigious institution in the Werewolf Alliance. I wanted to become a combat instructor, stand at the front of a classroom, and help kids like me escape the chains of their birth.
But dreams are fragile things.
The Vale family crushed mine with one careless decision. A single false accusation, and I was sentenced to five years in hell. All my hard-earned potential, all those sleepless nights… buried.
Because in their world, effort meant nothing.
A Broken Alpha Heiress’s Revenge
Power and bloodline ruled all.
The ache in my chest flared as I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms, but I barely noticed.
“Mooncrest Academy,” I said softly.
The moment those three words left my lips, the atmosphere shifted. Alpha Alaric. Luna Zara. Kael. Their faces went pale.
Because Mooncrest wasn’t just any school. It was the top-ranking academic institution in Mooncrest City. Entry wasn’t bought with gold or influence-it demanded scores.
Unlike Halston Academy, where Scarlett had studied.
I smiled bitterly. “I didn’t go to Halston Academy with Scarlett. We were never classmates. Never even had breakfast together. Mooncrest’s morning study sessions started at six. I left home every day at four a.m., riding my old bike for two hours just to get there on time.”
I took a breath. “I never came home for lunch-there wasn’t time. And I had no money, so I just drank water and pushed through until the day ended. When I finally got home, you’d all already eaten. I ate leftovers, if there were any. And when I did, you called me a stray. A parasite. Greedy, disgusting.”
Luna Zara started to cry. “Riley… I didn’t know it was this bad. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault.”
I looked at her, calm as still water. “You have nothing to apologize for,” I said coolly. “You didn’t raise me. I was just the daughter you abandoned. I don’t expect anything more from you.”
Her sobs choked in her throat.
My memories burned behind my eyes-
Riley, I know you’re stronger than Scarlett. You survived Rogue Pack. I know you’ll adapt to prison too. Please… take the blame for her. For your sister.
That voice had haunted me for five years.
Kael snapped, trying to save face. “We may have neglected you, but that doesn’t mean you’re blameless. You’ve always hated Scarlett. You used every chance to retaliate against us.
You’re bitter, jealous, mean.”
I didn’t even blink.
Luna Zara grabbed his arm. “Don’t talk to her like that.”
But Kael shook her off. “She framed Scarlett over Tessa’s disappearance in the Black Forest, and now she’s putting on this show in front of the guests. She’s manipulative, vindictive, and ungrateful.”
Zara looked at me, eyes darting like a trapped animal. I knew that look. Guilt.
She had deleted the only surveillance footage that could have cleared my name.
“Enough.” Alaric finally stepped in, his Alpha authority darkening the air. “Riley, if you were coming home today, why didn’t you say something? We could’ve prepared a proper dress.”
I stared at him.
“You didn’t know I was being released today?”
He blinked. “Of course not. If we had, I’d have sent the driver. How did you get home?”
“Alpha Kael picked me up. He said you were throwing me a welcome banquet.”
Gasps spread across the hall.
“Welcome banquet? Isn’t today Scarlett’s birthday party?”
“That’s what my invitation said-Scarlett Vale’s birthday celebration.”
“What kind of family throws a release party for a convict?”
The whispers started. Gossip buzzed like flies.
Kael’s face burned red. He opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.
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