My Alpha Husband Forgot I Was The Blackridge Reaper Chapter 04
Seven Lashes Too Many
Richard warned Adrian.
Adrian ignored every word.
To him, the Scarlett who once put a silver bullet through her half brother’s knee belonged to the past.
All he saw was a wife who had let Ivy dump boiling soup over her dress without fighting back.
There was nothing left to fear.
So Ivy got worse.
First, she took my private SUV into town without permission and screamed at my driver until he apologized to her.
Then she sent Mrs. Turner, a housekeeper who had served the Halston family for twenty years, to work in the laundry room.
I said nothing.
Ivy mistook my silence for victory.
This afternoon, I am working in my study when a scream tears through the back courtyard.
Emma.
My pen stops.
Black ink spreads across the page.
I set it down and walk outside.
Emma is pinned facedown across a wooden bench.
Two female servants from the Hale house hold her in place. One grips her wrists. The other sits across her legs.
The back of Emma’s dress has been pulled open.
Six angry welts cut across her skin.
Two are bleeding.
Ivy stands beside her with a leather whip in her hand. Her face is flushed with excitement.
“I told you to bring my tea, and you ignored me. I told you to show me respect, and you refused.”
She raises the whip.
“You’re an Omega servant. Know your place.”
The whip comes down again.
Emma bites through her lower lip.
Her body shakes, but she does not scream.
Ivy bends close to her ear and laughs.
“Go ahead. Call your precious Scarlett.”
She straightens.
“Oh, right. She won’t come. She let me pour soup all over her and did nothing. You really think she’ll fight me for you?”
Ivy lifts the whip again.
“Enough.”
She turns.
Surprise flashes across her face.
Then she smiles.
“Scarlett. Your little attendant needed a lesson, so I gave her one.”
I do not look at Ivy.
I walk to the bench and crouch beside Emma.
Her cheek is pressed against the wood. Blood coats her lower lip.
Her eyes are wet, but she refuses to cry.
“Miss Halston,” she whispers.
Her voice is almost gone.
I push the loose hair away from her face.
Then I look at her back.
Seven lashes.
Each welt is swollen.
The deepest lash has split her skin open.
I touch the edge of the wound.
Emma jerks beneath my fingers.
When I pull my hand away, her blood stains my fingertips.
I stand.
My wolf stops snarling.
She goes completely silent.
I look at Ivy.
“Who the hell gave you the right?”
Ivy shrugs and drops the whip beside the bench.
“She disrespected me. I corrected her. What’s the big deal?”
“I asked who gave you the right to lay a hand on someone under my protection.”
“I don’t need permission.”
She plants both hands on her hips and lifts her chin.
“Adrian said I can run this house however I want. If you have a problem with that, ask him.”
I look down at Emma’s blood on my fingers.
Ten years.
Mom, I have kept my promise for ten years.
I put down my gun. I kept my wolf on a leash. I let everyone mistake mercy for weakness.
Now Emma’s blood is on my hand.
I am done listening.