Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 199

Chapter 199: 0199

Lorelei POV

It wasn’t because I cared about Jaxen’s life. If he dropped dead right in front of me, I wouldn’t shed a single tear.

But I wasn’t going to let him ruin my night.

More importantly, I refused to let him escape everything he’d done to me that easily. If he died here, in front of half the Empire’s nobility, all the years I’d spent suffering because of him would mean nothing. His betrayal, the humiliation, the pain he’d put me through...

He didn’t get to walk away from all of that with a quick bullet to the head.

Of course, Jaxen completely misunderstood why I had stopped Paul.

He wiped the blood beneath his nose with the back of his hand, and somehow, that smug expression slowly returned to his face.

"It’s good to see you still remember your place," he sneered, straightening his suit jacket as though he’d somehow managed to come out on top.

My stomach twisted with disgust.

I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing it, so I forced every emotion off my face until nothing remained but cold indifference.

"Alpha Jaxen..." I said calmly, my voice dropping into an even, measured tone. "What exactly do you want from me?"

His smug smile immediately disappeared.

"What do you mean, what do I want?" he shot back, taking a half-step toward me before his eyes flicked toward Paul’s gun and he stopped himself. "Don’t you think I deserve an explanation, Lorelei?"

His expression twisted with confusion and anger.

"You’re alive." His voice cracked slightly as he stared at me. "Why the fuck are you standing here, looking like this... alive?"

A dry, bitter laugh rose in my throat at the sheer absurdity of his words.

Alive?

Of course I was alive.

I had fought like hell to survive, and I hadn’t done it because of him. I had done it despite him.

But before the laugh could escape, something across the ballroom caught my attention, making my breath catch in my throat.

Callista.

She was walking back into the ballroom, probably returning from the ladies’ room. She wore an ethereal light-pink gown that made her look almost delicate, one hand resting protectively over her heavily pregnant belly.

But it wasn’t Callista who made my blood run cold.

It was the woman walking beside her.

My mother.

Her arm was linked through Callista’s as they walked together, looking every bit like the proud mother she had always pretended to be.

For a second, I couldn’t move.

Everything seemed to slow down as I watched them make their way across the marble floor, their heads held high and their expressions carrying that same arrogant look I had known far too well growing up.

The same look that had made my childhood a fucking nightmare.

Then Callista’s eyes found mine, and she froze.

The color drained from her face so quickly that, under any other circumstances, I might have almost felt sorry for her. Her step faltered, and her fingers tightened around my mother’s arm.

My mother immediately noticed. She followed Callista’s gaze, and the moment her eyes landed on me, her entire face changed.

Shock.

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