NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4: The goddess wasn't too unfair
Evelyn's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she forgot that her hair was still being pulled. Miranda's body knocked the air out of her lungs, and she gasped.
How could someone be this blessed? If not that Miranda was not a pompous and arrogant lady, Evelyn would have thought that Miranda was deliberately showing off her good body.
Miranda has a round butt, a slender waist, flat tummy, and her breasts were just as perfect. Her skin glistened with droplets of water as she stepped out of the wooden basin.
Evelyn suddenly felt a pang of bitterness. She isn't as beautiful as this woman, she has no proper etiquette to stand by Markkus, she has no status, and she didn't even know who her parents were.
Rumor has it that she was abandoned in the Blackmoon pack at birth. Some said her parents ran away after commiting a crime against the pack. Some said she was a child born by a whore who passed away after giving birth to her...
"Don't be too hard on her, after all, she's just a victim of circumstance." Miranda's words jolted Evelyn back from stupor, only to see Miranda's outstretched hand.
Evelyn's hair was still being pulled and her scalp had gone numb by now. Just as she was about to lift her hand, Miranda pulled her hand back.
"Seems I'm not worthy to hold your hand," Miranda said with a sigh, her face painted with hurt.
"Are you looking down on your future Luna?" The other maid cried out, enraged.
"It's okay, Maria, I must be disgusting," Miranda smiled faintly and walked away before Evelyn could even utter a word.
Everything happened so fast that before Evelyn could blink, the bucket of hot water she brought was thrown at her.
"Ahh!" she cried out as the scalding water soaked through her clothes, burning her skin. She scrambled backward, tripping over her own feet as she desperately tried to get away from the pain.
"Maria?" Miranda called calmly.
Her reaction was definitely not one of concern. This was when Evelyn realized she'd been fooled, thinking Miranda was nice to her.
"Don't take it to heart, Evelyn. My maid's hand slipped. I'll have her apologize to you," she smiled and stepped forward, while draping a robe over her nakedness.
Evelyn gritted her teeth. Her chest heaving with anger, but she said nothing. Should she fight against them and then have her head severed from her neck?
"I heard you heal faster, it seems that's true." Miranda said, as she stared at the red patches rapidly fading away from Evelyn's skin. "Help her up, Agnes. She won't take my hand." She said without even putting out her hand.
She was right, Evelyn healed quicker than any shifter, and now, Miranda and her maids had used the same method. They bullied her, yet there was no evidence. Her hair would grow back before tomorrow morning.
Miranda has a dark heart, concealed with a refined appearance, thought Evelyn. A person like this, she wasn't willing to share Markkus with. Initially, when she thought Miranda was a sweet soul, she concluded that if the pressure was too much for Markkus to bear, she would allow him take Evelyn and make her the Luna, but after what she'd seen, Evelyn erased that thought. Since Markkus doesn't want anyone else but her, so be it. She won't force him.
Agnes grabbed Evelyn by the hair again, and yanked her up. Evelyn bit her lip until it bled. She didn't want to show these people her weakness anymore. She might be slow, she might be naive, but she wasn't stupid.
A bitter smile crossed her lips. In the end, only Markkus was truly nice to her, in this whole world.
Agnes's hold tightened onto her hair, as if she intended to make her go bald. Evelyn's neck was hurting, and her eyes watered from the pain, but she made no sound.
"You're just a dirty little omega. You'll never be good enough for Markkus or his family!" Agnes spat.
The words landed a fierce blow on her, but Evelyn knew Agnes was right. No one in Markkus's family liked her. In fact, they were behind the bullies, otherwise who would dare to offend Markkus? He was the heir. He'd become the Alpha soon, and his mate would undoubtedly become the Luna.
But because his family didn't like Evelyn, they enabled the bullies, who didn't see her as their soon-to-be Luna.
"That's harsh, Agnes. Let go of her hair. Don't hurt her like that. If Markkus sees you, he'd think I didn't teach you well."
Agnes let go of Evelyn's hair, not before pulling out a fistful of hair from her head. This time, Evelyn couldn't hold back her cry. It stung, it felt like hot needles were stabbed into her head.
"Leave," Miranda said casually and began to walk away.
"You should be grateful that the Lady is so kind and forgiving, even after you sneakily had sex with her soon-to-be mate last night." Maria sneered, "If it were up to me, I would have thrown you out of the pack a long time ago."
Evelyn said nothing. It was obvious that Miranda found out they had sex last night. But how?
But they didn't sneak, they never did.
…
Evelyn returned to the servant quarters to sleep, but as usual, she was left with no space on the bed. It's not as if she had any expectations for these people to change, but every time they treated her like an outcast, it hurt.
She thought she was already used to it. All her life, she knew nothing but pain and abuse, still, every time, it hurt.
The room suddenly felt suffocating. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. She turned and rushed out.
Evelyn sat under a huge tree, hugging her legs as she ransacked her mind for good memories to hold on to, but there was none, only those she had with Markkus, but they were few.
Her lips broke into a smile. The goddess wasn't too unfair after all. In a perilous life, she gave her Markkus, a candle light in a dark and stormy night.
His love was her comfort, her solace, and her strength.