Fated To Not Just One But Three novel Chapter 681

Chapter 681: The Deal

Olivia’s POV

​The atmosphere at dinner was suffocating. Usually, our meals were a chaotic symphony of the boys bragging about their training and the twins giggling, but tonight, the long oak table felt miles wide.

​I sat between Lennox and the empty space where Louis usually sat—he was still out at a late meeting. Across from me, the twins were picking at their mashed potatoes, their little faces dark with a stubbornness they had definitely inherited from the man sitting at the far end of the table.

​Levi had insisted on joining us. He wasn’t in the wheelchair, but he looked exhausted, his face gaunt as he sat upright in a high-backed chair. He hadn’t touched his food. He just watched the girls, his sea-blue eyes filled with a desperate, quiet hunger to be noticed.

​"Pass the salt, Daddy," Lyra said, nudging Lennox’s arm.

​Lennox didn’t move. He looked at Lyra, then at the salt shaker sitting right in front of Levi. "The salt is right there by Levi, Lyra. Ask him."

​Lyra’s little jaw set. She looked at the shaker, then looked back at Lennox, her eyes narrowing. "I’m asking you, Daddy."

​"And I’m telling you that your father is sitting right there," Lennox’s voice was stern, lacking the usual playful indulgence he showed them. "Use your words, Lyra."

​The silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable. Lyra looked at Levi for a split second—a cold, fleeting glance—before she stood up on her chair, reached across the table, and grabbed the salt herself. The legs of her chair screeched against the stone floor.

​Levi flinched at the sound, his hand trembling as he lowered his fork. He looked like he’d been slapped.

​"Lyra, that was rude," I said, my voice filled with frustration. "Sit down and apologize to Father Levi for reaching across him."

​"No!" Lyra shouted, her eyes sparking with that familiar Alpha fire. "Why do we have to be nice to him? He just came here and made everyone grumpy! You were happy before he woke up! Now you’re mean and Father Lennox is mean!"

​"Lyra!" Lennox roared, his palm hitting the table with a loud thwack.

​The twins jumped. The boys went dead silent, their spoons frozen halfway to their mouths. Lennox had never raised his voice like that at the girls. Never.

​"Listen to me," Lennox growled, his eyes glowing with annoyance. "You two have been pampered too much. But that ends tonight. This man," he pointed a shaking finger at Levi, "is the reason you are alive. He is the reason your mother is alive. If you cannot show him respect in this house, you will not sit at this table."

​Lana’s bottom lip began to wobble. "But we don’t know him, Daddy Lennox..."

​"Then learn!" Lennox snapped.

​Levi suddenly pushed his chair back. The wood scraped harshly. He stood up slowly, his legs shaking so badly I thought they might snap. He looked at Lennox, a look of profound defeat in his eyes.

​"Don’t, Lennox," Levi whispered, his voice cracking. "Don’t make them hate me more by forcing it."

​"They don’t hate you, Levi, they’re being brats," I said, standing up to steady him.

​"No, Olivia," Levi said, stepping away from my touch. He looked at his daughters, his heart bleeding out in the middle of the dining room. "They’re right. I’m a stranger who moved into their home and stole their peace. I’ll eat in my room from now on."

​He turned and began the long, agonizing trek out of the room, one shuffling step at a time.

​As soon as he was gone, Lyra looked at Lennox, expecting him to soften. "Can we have dessert now?"

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