<h4>Chapter 680: Talk To Them</h4>


    ?Olivia’s POV


    Two Days Later


    ?The healing process was slow. Levi’s muscles had wasted away, and the venom had left his heart scarred. But today was the first day the healers allowed him into a wheelchair.


    ?


    I pushed him out into the garden. He looked stronger, but his eyes were constantly scanning the grounds, searching for the two little girls who had been avoiding him like the gue. We found them by the fountain, ying with their dolls. Lennox was sitting on a nearby bench, watching them.


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    "Wait," Levi whispered, his hand stopping the wheel of his chair. He took a shaky breath. "Let me try. Just me."


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    I stepped back, my heart in my throat, as Levi used his arms to slowly roll himself toward his daughters.


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    "Lyra? Lana?" he called out, his voice still a bit raspy.


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    The girls froze. They didn’t turn around immediately. I saw their small shoulders tense up. Slowly, they looked back, their identical sea-blue eyes narrowing as they took in the sight of the man in the chair.


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    "Mommy said we have to be nice," Lana whispered to her sister, loud enough for us to hear.


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    "I don’t want to be nice," Lyra muttered back, clutching her doll tighter. "He makes the house feel sad."


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    Levi flinched, but he didn’t stop. He halted the chair a few feet away and held out two beautiful barbie toys.


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    "I heard it’s almost your birthday," Levi said, trying to force a smile. "I... I wanted to give you these."


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    Lyra and Lana didn’t move. They stared at the toys, then up at his face with a coldness that was too big for a child.


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    "It’s not our birthday yet," Lyra said, her voice sharp and t.


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    "And we don’t receive gifts from strangers," Lana added, stepping behind her sister. She looked at the toys like they were made of stones, not silk andce.


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    Levi’s smile faltered, then crumbled. The light in his sea-blue eyes—the same eyes currently staring at him with such distance—shook. "I... I’m not a stranger, girls. I’m—"


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    "He is not a stranger!" I snapped, marching forward, my patience finally snapping. I couldn’t stand the way they were breaking him. "He is your father! Lyra, Lana, take those gifts right now and apologize."


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    "No!" Lyra shouted, her little face turning red. "He’s just the man from the quiet room! We only have two daddies. We have Daddy Lennox and Daddy Louis! They were there when we fell. They were there for our parties! He was just sleeping!"


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    "Stop forcing us, Mom!" Lana cried, her bottom lip trembling. "We don’t want him!"


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    Before I could grab them, they spun around and bolted, their small feet pounding against the garden path as they ran toward the safety of the mansion.


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    "Lyra! Lana! Get back here this instant!" I screamed, starting to chase after them. My heart was thundering with rage and grief.


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    "Olivia, stop!" Lennox’s voice boomed. He caught me by the waist, pulling me back firmly. "Stop shouting. You’re pregnant, for Goddess’s sake. You need to stay calm."


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    The garden went deathly silent.


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    I froze in Lennox’s arms, the anger draining out of me and being reced by a cold wave of realization. I hadn’t told Levi yet.


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    I slowly turned my head. Levi was still sitting in the wheelchair, the toys having fallen from his weak grip into the grass. His eyes were wide, fixed on my stomach, then moving up to my face.


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    "Pregnant?" he whispered, his voice barely audible. "You’re... you’re having another baby?"


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    I took a deep breath and stepped out of Lennox’s hold, walking over to kneel beside Levi’s chair. I took his cold hands in mine. "Yes, Levi. I’m two months pregnant."


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    Levi looked at Lennox, then back at me, his head spinning.


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    "It’s Louis’s child," I said softly, searching his face. "Since Lennox has the boys, and you have the girls... we wanted Louis to have his own children."


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    Levi’s breath hitched. He looked like he had been struck. "The girls..." he rasped, his eyes filling with tears as he looked in the direction they had run. "You said... I have the girls? They’re mine? Truly mine?"


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    "Yes, Levi," I said, a tear of my own falling. "We even did a test to confirm it while you were under. They are your blood. Every stubborn, fierce inch of them is yours. That’s why they have your eyes. That’s why they look like your twin."


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    Levi let out a broken, jagged sob, covering his face with his scarred hands. "They’re mine... and they hate me. My own blood thinks I’m a stranger."


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    Lennox walked over, cing a heavy, supportive hand on Levi’s shoulder. "They don’t hate you, brother. They’re just protectively spoiled. We gave them too much power because we were mourning you."


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    Levi looked up, his face wet with tears.


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    "They wille around, Levi," I promised, squeezing his hands. "They just need to learn that you’re not a ghost anymore. You’re their father."


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    Levi didn’t answer immediately. He stared at the grass where the rejected toysy, his jaw tightening. Slowly, he wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. Then, he did something that made both me and Lennox gasp.


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    He gripped the armrests of his wheelchair. His knuckles tightened, and his breath became a series of ragged, determined hitches.


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    "Levi, what are you doing?" Lennox stepped forward, reaching out to steady him. "The healers said you aren’t ready to—"


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    "I’m done sitting," Levi rasped, his voice vibrating with a sudden, sharp authority.


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    With a low, guttural growl of effort, he pushed himself up. His legs shook violently, his muscles wasted away from four years of disuse, but he forced them to lock. He stood there, swaying like a leaf in the wind, his face pale with the sheer exertion of defying his own body. He looked like a man standing on a precipice, but he refused to fall.


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    He took one shuffling, agonizing step. Then another. He didn’t look back at us. He kept his eyes on the mansion, on the path where his daughters had disappeared.


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    Lennox and I stood in silence, watching his slow, painful retreat toward the house.


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    I turned to Lennox, my expression stern as I crossed my arms over my chest. "Lennox, you are their favorite. They hang on your every word. You’ve spoiled them until they think they rule this pack."


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    I stepped closer, poking a finger into his chest. "You need to talk to your daughters. Use that ’favorite daddy’ status to make them understand. Tell them that if they keep hurting him, they’re hurting you, too."


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    Lennox nodded solemnly. "I’ll talk to them, Olivia. I promise. I’ll make them listen."


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    "You better." I frowned and walked away.


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