Approved for Her Rejected for Me novel Chapter 20

Chapter 3

Riley’s POV

I was forced to my knees in the center of the great hall, my back straight and rigid.

This was the Stormhowl Pack’s main hall, the place I had respected and feared since childhood.

“I said those photos weren’t me!”

My voice scraped like gravel against stone.

“Grayson, anyone else can doubt me, but not you.”

Briar stood at his side, the corner of her lips tilting upward, savoring the moment. Heat surged through my skull. The wolf inside my chest growled low, fury coiling like a storm.

I lunged at her. “Our family fed you, sheltered you, and you dare frame me—”

But I didn’t even touch the hem of her shirt. Grayson shot to his feet and yanked Briar behind him.

A second later, a loud slap cracked across my face. For a moment, the world fell silent.

And suddenly, a memory hit me like a blow:

Eight years old. Our parents’ funeral.

A drunken vampire relative swinging his fists at us. Grayson shielding me with his own body, taking every punch, every kick. His face bruised, smiling through the pain.

“Don’t be scared, Riley. I’m here. No one can touch you.”

That memory shattered before my eyes. I pressed a hand to my cheek, whispering, “Grayson…”

But his face stayed cold, voice hard as iron.

“Kneel. You’ll apologize to the entire academy tomorrow morning.”

“I won’t!”

Tears rolled down in fat, helpless drops.

“Grayson, Briar did this to me! She did it!”

His expression darkened. He pulled a leather whip from the wall.

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The family whip. An heirloom from our parents. Something we had never dared to touch.

“You’re still lying?!”

Alpha power threaded through his words, freezing the air around me.

“Briar is our sister! She saved my life. She’s kind, gentle, why would she hurt you? This whip was

used by our parents to teach their children lessons. Today… I’ll teach you some.”

The whip cracked through the air. Pain exploded across my back, and my scream was torn from my

throat as I collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air.

“Grayson…”

Briar stepped forward, her voice soft and sweet:

“That’s enough. She didn’t mean it. Big sister was just confused-”

I pushed myself up with shaking hands, glaring at her with my last reserves of strength. My teeth

ground hard enough to crack.

“You… bitch-”

Another lash tore into my skin.

Grayson roared, “Still speaking nonsense?!”

The whip struck again and again. My body curled, rolling across the floor, each snap slicing open

skin. Blood filled the air in a thin metallic haze.

Through the pain, through the spinning darkness, all I could see was Briar’s triumphant, quiet

smile behind him.

At some point, the world went black.

I woke in the middle of the night. Pain dragged me back to consciousness.

I lay face-down on my bed, my shirt cut open, my back burning like an open flame.

Grayson sat beside me, dabbing ointment onto the raw welts. Under the dim light, his face looked

worn and shadowed.

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When he saw my eyes open, he sighed softly.

“Riley… you say Briar hurt you… But when I was in that car accident, she was the one who saved me. She took care of me for a month. Do you really think a child like that would lie?”

“Grayson is tired. Can’t you be more understanding?”

I bit down on the pillow, tears soaking through the fabric.

And in that moment, I finally understood, whatever bound me to this family had snapped that day

Everything after felt like one endless nightmare.

From that day on, the house wasn’t mine anymore. It belonged to Briar Monroe. And Grayson… he was her brother, not mine.

Briar’s health was “fragile.” Grayson moved her into my room.

“This room gets more sunlight. The doctor said it’s better for her.”

Briar had no friends. Grayson summoned my friends to the house and reprimanded them.

“Briar is my sister. Riley, do not participate in any school bullying.”

After that, I had no friends. But Briar became the academy’s adored little princess.

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