I Survived My Father’s Test And Took His Throne Chapter 02
Evelyn’s words made my chest seize.
Before, when she “protected” me like this, all I felt was gratitude.
Now I finally understood. On the surface, she was pleading for mercy. In reality, she had just confirmed I was guilty of everything.
As expected, Julian’s expression turned colder.
I grabbed his arm, desperate to explain.
“Julian, listen to me. I didn’t—”
“Even Evelyn had to clean up your mess, and you still want to lie?”
He shook my hand off.
My body, weakened by years of wolfsbane poisoning, was no match for his strength. I slammed into the wall, a tearing pain shooting through my shoulder blade.
The disappointment in Julian’s eyes was absolute.
“Three years. I thought life in the laundry would cure your arrogance. I never expected that not only would you refuse to change, you’d also learn to lie.”
“If you don’t want to touch those clothes, then you have no need for those hands.”
He turned to the guards standing outside the door.
“Bring me the silver interrogation clamps.”
It was a restraint device from the black-site detention sector, used to stop dangerous werewolves from shifting. It was not a tool for lawful punishment.
But the two guards didn’t hesitate. They pinned me to the floor and locked each of my ten fingers into a mechanical clamp lined with silver.
The silver seared my skin. My wolf let out a weak cry and fell silent.
“Julian, don’t hurt my sister!”
Evelyn lunged toward us, only to be firmly restrained by two people.
She cried and begged for me, performing the part of a sister who loved me dearly.
I no longer had the strength to watch.
When the clamps tightened for the first time, my vision flashed white.
The second time, I heard the clean snap of breaking bone.
Werewolves were supposed to heal quickly, but three years of silver and wolfsbane poisoning meant my wounds wouldn’t close.
I gasped for breath and finally bowed my head to Julian.
“Make them stop.”
“I need my hands,” I rasped. “To write. To handle a crossbow. To review Council documents. There’s still so much I have to do.”
It was the first time I had ever begged Julian for mercy, and the first time I had ever cried in front of him.
His brow knotted, and his tone finally softened.
“If you—”
“Julian, if you dare hurt my sister, I’ll fight you!”
Evelyn suddenly broke free and hurled herself at him.
She hadn’t even touched him before she tripped and fell. A black command badge slipped from the pocket of her coat.
Julian snatched it up, his pupils shrinking.
“Isn’t this the one I gave Laurel?”
I recognized it, too.
It belonged to the Mercer bloodline heir, engraved with Julian’s private security code. He had given it to me as a token of our betrothal, a symbol of his trust.
On the first day I was sent to the laundry, I was searched, and the badge disappeared.
Before I could make sense of why it was in Evelyn’s possession, she turned to me, her face a mask of guilt.
“I’m sorry, Sister. I hadn’t had a chance to give it to Mason yet.”
Then she turned back to Julian.
“Give it back. Sister asked me to pass it on to Deputy Commander Mason Blake.”
Julian stared at me.
“The token I gave you… you gave it to another man?”
“No. I never—”
The clamps tightened again.
This time, Julian yanked the controller from the guard’s hand and personally drove the pressure to its maximum setting.
Agonizing pain shot through my fingers as all ten bones shattered at once.
My scream tore through the conference wing.
I begged him over and over to stop, but he acted as though he couldn’t hear me.
In my despair, I looked at the tightly shut conference room door.
“Father, save me!”
Every expression in the hallway froze.
Julian’s hand froze, too.
The next second, the conference room door opened.
A man in a tactical mask stepped out.