Claimed By The Mafia Rogue King (Snow and Cupid) novel Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Snowflakes

I dodged in time, but the hot soup still splashed onto my chest.

I suck in a sharp breath.

Finished

The soup is warm, burning my skin, soaking my dress. If I had a wolf, I would heal instantly. But I don’t. Pain flares across my chest.

Ares shoots up.

“Snow! Are you alright?” He reaches for me, genuinely alarmed, but my mother rolls her eyes.

“It’s not even that hot. Stop whining like you did four years ago.”

I freeze. Completely.

Did she just… Did she just call my screams from the night I was raped and stabbed whining?

The words hit harder than the burning soup.

I clenched my fists so hard my nails dug into my palms. The emotions trapped in my chest finally burst, beyond restraint.

The next second, I threw all my strength into it and violently overturned the table.

Plates crashed to the floor with a piercing clatter, soup and food splashing everywhere.

If I’m not allowed to eat, then no one else gets to eat either.

“Have you lost your mind?” my mother cried out in shock.

Lost my mind? Compared to everything Viviana has done to me, this was nothing. I muttered inwardly.

One furious glare after another fixed on me, as if they might lunge at me the next second and tear me to pieces.

At the serious moment, Viviana’s video call came through.

Her face glowing on the screen with a bright smile.

The anger on everyone’s faces vanished in an instant, replaced by sudden affection.

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Chapter 8

Finished

My husband, his eyes also fixed on her, and the look I catch in him is… different. So different from anything I’ve ever seen.

“Oh, What happened?” Viviana spoke first.

Dante shot me an angry glare and sneered, “It’s all because of Snow, utterly rude. She doesn’t even compare to a single finger of yours, vivian.”

“Snow?” Viviana giggles, as if she had only just noticed me.

“Hey, sister. How are you?”

She asks brightly, innocently, and my heart nearly drops to the floor. Tonight marks four years since I was raped and stabbed, and yet the real architect of that night still has the nerve to smile at me and ask how I am doing? Really?

Silence finally falls, and everyone slowly turns to me, waiting for my response. My father glares, and I bite my lower lip so hard I almost taste blood.

“What’s wrong with Snow? Is your husband giving you a hard time?” she jokes, and Ares actually giggles.

“I dare not,” he says, his palm brushing my waist briefly.

I didn’t resist this time, because a better plan suddenly took shape in

my

mind.

“I’m probably just tired. You know, my husband and I have agreed to make a pup, so we’re working on it. Maybe by the time you finish your modeling course, we’ll have two or three pups running around, calling you aunty.” I say it sweetly, leaning into my husband with intentional fondness, slowly enough that Viviana’s smile fades right off her face.

I feel Ares go rigid beside me. He definitely wasn’t expecting me to act lovey–dovey or announce our plan to make pups. He must have kept that from his true love.

I look at Viviana on the screen. She tries to act natural, but her eyes betray her. I see the flash of jealousy and anger before she forces a dry grin.

I can’t

say for certain whether she loves Ares or not, but I know one thing. She never wants me to have anything. Not him, not joy, not even the smallest win. Never.

“Well, congratulations. I remembered that your womb was stitched back. Maybe the doctor four years ago was inexperienced. I remembered he said you wouldn’t be able to have pups.” She says it lightly, but the shade pricks under my skin like needles.

“Ares is paying a fortune to a doctor to heal me. you know.” I answered and looked at Ares sweetly.

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Chapter 8

Finished

“Don’t fool yourself. You were never meant to have a child, you are barren!” my mother said flatly, cutting me off.

My heart sinks.

Barren? Did she just say that? So she knew all the time.

I expect someone, anyone, to speak up for me. But no one does. Not my father, who looks away and grunts.

“It’s not a big deal to be barren. None of us knew it would lead to all that,” Ares says.

And that is what shatters me.

I freeze, staring at him, then at all of them. The silence. The weight of his words.

None of us knew it would lead to any of that?

Of course. They didn’t know I’d survive. They didn’t expect me to live through the attack. Maybe they hoped I wouldn’t, the easiest way to get rid of the daughter with no wolf, the daughter who has no place in the pack.

With the truth burning right in my face, I lose every ounce of patience left in me.

I slapped Ares in a burst of anger, grabbed my bag, and stormed out of the pack.

I came here tonight to find out if they ever knew the truth, that Viviana was the one who set me

four years ago. And now I realize they did. They always did.

up

I rush outside, and behind me I hear Ares‘ hurried voice.

“I apologize. I’ll bring her back next time to beg for forgiveness.” Then he runs after me, calling my name, but I ignore him as I walk out of the pack’s grounds on foot and step into the snowy night, my heart racing.

I can’t see. I can’t breathe. I can’t think and I can’t believe any of it. All I want is to disappear, but even that is a luxury I can’t afford.

Before I even round the block, Ares‘ car screeches to a stop in front of me. He leans out the window.

“Get inside, Snow. Don’t be stubborn!”

I pause, glaring at him. When I turn to walk away, he drives forward again, stopping just inches from my toes. Jaw clenched, he steps out and walks toward me.

“Get in the car.“He grabbed my wrist, trying to shove me into the car.

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Chapter 8

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Finished

“Let me go! Don’t touch me!” I yelled, wrenching his arm free.

How could he flirt with another woman and then come back to me like nothing happened?

However, before I could think more, my feet left the ground.

Ares scooped me up without a word. He shoved me into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut.

In the car, Ares’s hand slid onto my thigh. I stiffened the moment his palm made contact.

I looked at him and found a tender gaze waiting for me.

“I’m sorry, Snow.”

I stared at him for what felt like eternity, stunned, before irritation rushed through me. I jerked his hand off my thigh at once.

“Don’t you dare lay your hand on me!” I snapped.

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