Claimed By My Husband's Enemy novel Chapter 97

Chapter 97

(Eli)

“Is he on something or is he just being himself?” Mom asked while glaring at her personal guard’s retreating form.

I was stunned. Mom was normally soft-spoken. I witnessed her say yes to whatever crap her ex-husband said to her although I now knew she had to do that to survive since she had to depend on him while we were hiding. Frederick used to come home late at night, drunk, and heavily coated with his woman’s nasty perfume and still, mom would greet the asshole at the doorway while he screamed at her, waking the neighbors in the process, as he blurted out that he married a boring lay, a beautiful puppet.

Frederick used to humiliate the hell out of her and during those times, I imagined beating his ass six ways to Sunday while feeling frustrated because she didn’t talk back although now, I knew better. She roasted people like a pro, but she was worried that if she used even a fraction of her mana, her hunters would detect it and show up at our doorstep.

But these days, I’d often catch her either arguing with Aramides or openly burning the things that he gave her. Snacks, drinks, cards, flowers, and sweets, name it. If she could burn him too, I knew she would. Luckily, her guard had the moon goddess’ protection as the former king of his realm. Her tamer powers wouldn’t kill him which made him suitable for the job and it bothered her a lot.

I’d never seen mom this upset, this enraged. I’d never seen her emotions out in the open like this apart from the time she was hysterical weeks ago. Her cheeks were still red; she looked pissed… and more alive than I’d ever seen her. Lately, there was fire in her eyes, even if said fire was out of fury, it was still better than seeing them empty. In fact, that fire helped bring color to her gray uniform. She often wore that color in different styles.

“How would I know, mom?” I answered softly as I sipped on my hot choco. “I only met the man two weeks ago.”

That brought her attention back to me, her hands freezing on her teacup for a while, before she deliberately changed the topic and discussed the servants she fired after learning what they were saying behind my back. Vanna and her friends had one of their wings cut, courtesy of my uncles’ dragons. For slandering a royalty, they would never be able to fly again.

I waited for my conscience to kick in, for the angel in me to feel something and intrude, but then I realized there had never been an angel in me in the first place or if there was, it must have died a long time ago and the bitch in me took full reign since then, turning me into a full-fledge bitch depending on the person in front of me. I could either be a good or a bad bitch and today, I was the latter as I chose not to care anymore.

“So…” Mom cleared her throat. “How are things going? How are you?”

Two weeks ago, those were the questions I found really hard to answer. Back then, when she asked me the same thing, I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I was not feeling very motivated to wake up. I was only half-alive.

“Getting better.”

And I meant it.

I’d been eating better, sleeping better, and living better these days although I’d been waking up during ungodly hours craving a particular food and the scent of my alpha guard. Just last night, I woke up with a strong desire for a cheesecake and Creed. After gobbling up two slices, I pulled him to my bed, pressed my nose into his throat, and just inhaled his scent until I fell back into sleep and woke up cuddled by him.

It was a glorious morning.

I wouldn’t even use ‘glorious’ in any sentence until I met Creed Black.

Mom was quiet for some time before saying, “I’m glad. I’m happy for you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, mom. And you? How are you?”

Her frown returned as she glanced at a particular spot where our guards were watching us a couple of meters away from us although mom used a spell to ensure the men wouldn’t hear our conversation. We were currently in the rose garden, our favorite place in this mansion.

“I think I might die of a rage-induced illness, thanks to Aramides. His name is as ancient as his love letters.”

That was according to another ancient. I suppressed my laughter. If her guard would hear that, he would be devastated. I heard Aramides was five decades older than mom and two decades older than his brother. He was around two centuries old although he looked like he was only in his late forties.

“Letters. Who does that these days?”

“Why? Would you prefer he texts or chats his f. Successfully unlocked!

fee

This time, I was the recipient of her glare. Another first, which only made me giggle.

“I will prefer it more if he vanishes and never appears in front of me again.”

I was sure she had protested to my uncles about it. But in the end, it was the dragon king who always had the last word.

1/3

Chapter 97

And what he wanted was for Aramides to stay until the hunters were caught.

We later moved towards mom’s working area. I watched her paint like I used to when I was a kid, the soft violin music playing in the background while I quietly munched on my burgers. We stayed there until sunset. It must be her mana causing the miracle here. She was able to finish a portrait of me caressing my baby bump with a smile on my face. There was another work in progress portrait which she ended up putting in the bin although I refused to comment on it after seeing how her shock had morphed into irritation at her recent art.

When I opened the door, Creed and Aramides were there. He was about to march towards my mom when I spoke. “Can I have a word with you please?”

I glanced at Creed. The latter nodded and motioned he’d get me a drink.

“My mom seems to hate you a lot,” I commented as I closed the door as quietly as possible. Mom was still engrossed in painting.

“Yeah.” The former alpha king plastered his killer smile. “I like her a lot too.”

It was getting harder and harder to keep a straight face as I watched his eyes sparkle, making him look so much younger. ” What did you do to incur that level of wrath?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “I exist, I guess?”

This time, I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, seriously.”

“I asked her out.”

“Bold of you to do that knowing how much she despises your kind.”

“I had to. When else would I have the chance? After this job, I might never see her again.”

“Do you really like my mom? Don’t you think this could just be the tamer charm working?”

Aramides laughed this time. “Eloise is beautiful, no doubt about that. But I am too old to be swayed by outside appearances. Beauty does not keep the relationship long and steady. And right now, your mother does not have a very commendable personality, Eli.”

I bit my lower lip, nodding.

“You know, I was there when she appeared after years of hiding to give you the cure when you were injured. Eloise was cursing the hell out of us with her eyes, but her face softened each time she spoke your name. It was her fierceness that moved me as she walked in like a valiant tiger and stepped out of the treatment room like a wounded sheep, disregarding her pain and the blood in her hands, only caring about extending your life.”

Aramides smiled, as if he was remembering the exact time it happened. “Eloise glanced at me with the determination of a mother because that was where her strength came from, I realized. In being your mother. She showed us that there was power in being a mother. That was the time she looked the most beautiful to me. I could not forget her since then.”

I couldn’t see mom at the moment although I felt the exact time she dropped her paintbrush inside her workroom. I surrounded us with a concealing spell to hide my next words from her; another trick she taught me.

“Thank you for saying that. Mom refuses to accept half-assed bullshit from men. She’d been through a lot.”

“I know.”

That’s why he wanted to take care of her. I saw it in his eyes even if he didn’t say the words anymore. The painting that mom ripped apart which I planned to recover once she was out of her workroom was Aramides with a goofy smile on his lips. She painted him without being aware of it and only realized it when it was almost finished which infuriated her more.

When I could no longer stop myself, I tiptoed and surprised the old man by hugging him.

“Princess?” he asked, still shocked.

Who would have thought a time would come when I would see him fall in love and become like this, when we could relate to each other like this?

“I miss you, uncle.”

“You… remember me now?” he croaked.

“Just the part where we stood in front of dad’s portrait as you told me about him.”

And I hoped to remember more in the future although anything related to me and Creed was giving me an extreme headache, like my skull was about to burst, that’s why I couldn’t keep trying as much as I wanted to.

Uncle embraced me back, sounding very emotional as he whispered, “I miss you too, Eli.”

On the way back to my quarters, Creed broke the silence by asking first. “Anything you would like to say to me, princess?”

I was sure he saw me embracing Aramides. “You said we knew each other from before.”

“We did.”

2/3

Chapter 97

“Did we fall in love?”

“Helplessly.”

“Do you remember all of it now?”

“I do.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? What else do you remember?”

I was dying to know.

Creed shrugged. “You asked me to marry you and I said yes. And then the amnesia thing happened. Alphas have a word of honor that’s why I am here. I’ve been waiting for you to remember and take full responsibility.”

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