Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 51

Chapter 51: 0051

Lorelei POV

My steps faltered instantly, and my hands curled into tight fists at my sides as that familiar, aggravating voice rang out behind me.

It was loud enough that several maids working throughout the spacious corridor immediately stopped what they were doing. Heads turned one after another, curiosity flashing across their faces as they looked toward the source of the commotion.

My first instinct was to keep walking.

Ignoring Chelsea would probably be the smarter choice.

But something about hearing her voice after everything that had happened made irritation flare hot inside my chest.

Besides, wouldn’t walking away now just make me look weak in front of everyone watching?

Despite every instinct telling me to leave, I slowly turned around.

Chelsea was standing in the middle of the polished hallway with a bucket of soapy water and a mop at her feet. Two other maids stood nearby, and judging by the wet streaks across the marble floor, the three of them had been scrubbing it together.

The sight alone surprised me.

Cleaning floors like this was far beneath the usual duties assigned in the east wing.

They had definitely been punished for something.

"What did you just call me?" I asked, raising my voice to match hers as I started walking directly toward her.

"What? Am I wrong?" Chelsea shot back immediately.

Her voice practically dripped with venom.

"You climb your way into the Alpha King’s bed to save your ass after getting caught stealing, and now you’re trying to look down on the rest of us? Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?"

Chelsea looked incredibly pleased with herself.

The smugness written all over her face made it obvious she thought those words would crush me.

And they did sting.

Just not in the way she wanted.

"Why should I be?" I shot back, lifting my chin. "Yes, I was in the Alpha King’s bed. So what? Aren’t we all just trying to survive this place? Who the fuck are you to judge the way I do it?"

For the briefest moment, Chelsea looked caught off guard. The smug smile slipped from her face so quickly that I almost laughed.

Clearly, she hadn’t expected me to answer back.

But with half the corridor watching us now, she couldn’t afford to back down.

Her expression hardened.

"We’ve been here for years longer than you," she snapped. "And none of us have ever stooped so low as to use dirty tactics like that to get what we wanted."

The irony was so ridiculous that I almost laughed out loud.

Especially considering how desperate Chelsea had become over the past few weeks just to make my life miserable.

If anyone in this hallway was willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted, it was her.

"Now, that’s where you’re wrong," I said, taking one final step forward until I was standing directly in her space.

I looked her up and down slowly, letting a mocking smile curl across my lips.

"The only reason you haven’t crawled your way into the Alpha King’s bed isn’t because you don’t want to, Chelsea. It’s because you can’t."

A collective gasp rippled through the corridor, and Chelsea’s face immediately turned a violent shade of red.

"How dare you—"

"How dare I?" I interrupted calmly.

My voice wasn’t nearly as loud as hers had been, but somehow that only made the words hit harder.

"You’ve been trying to destroy me since the day I arrived here. You framed me, tricked me into entering the Alpha King’s chambers, and tried to get me killed. And now you want to stand there pretending you have some kind of moral high ground?"

The sheer hypocrisy of it made my stomach turn.

I was honestly tempted to spit in her face.

"So what if I seduced the Alpha?" I continued, raising my voice so everyone gathered in the corridor could hear me clearly. "I did it because I can. I mean, look at me. I have a face and figure blessed by the Moon Goddess herself. No man can resist me."

Another wave of shocked murmurs spread through the watching crowd.

Chelsea’s fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Her entire face looked seconds away from exploding with rage.

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