<b>Chapter </b><b>224 </b>


    “And I’m telling you, she is banned from this pack,” I said with utmost serious. “If she even tries, she <b>will </b>


    be confined permanently, if not outright killed.”


    A few of my family members leaned back, their faces skewed with distaste.


    One of my aunts said, “She was always such a sweet girl. I wondered what happened.”


    “It doesn’t matter,” Uncle Peter said. “Truly, we don’t care about Olivia so much as we care about your mother, Julian. We are between a rock and a hard ce here, with how weak–minded she is.”


    “What if…” One of my younger cousins said, a girl named Penny who was barely out of high school. As she imed everyone’s attention, her voice went quiet, nervous. But after a moment to gather her bravery<b>, </b>she continued, “Maybe we could hire a fake? Like, an actress?”


    “There’s a point,” Uncle Peter said. “Your mother probably wouldn’t notice the difference between a real Olivia and a fake one, especially with the rest of us backing her up.”


    <b>“</b>No,” I said firmly.


    “Julian, don’t be disagreeable,” said one of my


    wunts.


    date while also harming my child,<i>” </i>I


    “You are ignoring how Olivia tried to ruin my life and kill my


    reminded them all pointedly. My gaze went from one to the next. “Now you want me to – what? Pretend that <b>I’m </b>still with her?”


    “In your mother’s eyes, Olivia has always been the one for you, ever since you were children, when she found you in the forest that time you got lost and led you back?” Uncle Peter’s wife, Aunt Kathy said. She was quiet most of the time. For her to speak up here told me that she truly believed in this n.


    <b>I </b>vaguely remember the incident she referred to. I remembered being lost in the woods, and being scared, and then being led out of it. But the rest was all a blur.


    Everyone told me Olivia had been the one to ‘save‘ me, but I never knew the full story. The older members of my family were sticking with that story though, and used it as an excuse to try to push Olivia and me together for years.


    I didn’t care what our shared past looked like anymore. The fact remained that Olivia had tried to kill Amber and tried to hurt Alice. As far as I was concerned, nothing else mattered. <fn69bc> Discover more novels at f?ndnovel</fn69bc>


    Even if they hired an actress, I would not take part in the make–believe, not even for Mom’s sake. Amber and Alice meant too much to me for me to discard them like they were nothing.


    “I know a few actresses,” Cousin Tony said. I imagined he did, as he spent most of his time down at the theater, chasing around the actresses. His reputation as a yboy preceded him. Even though he was my


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    age, he had yet to settle down, which I knew was a point of contention between him and his parents.


    Even now, sitting beside him, they both looked like they had tasted something sour.


    “I’m against this,” I said firmly. “And I will have no part of it.”


    “Then stay out of the room when she is in it,” Uncle Peter said. “But the rest of us will do what’s best for your mother.”


    “I don’t think lying to her is what’s best for her,” I said.


    “It is if it gives her peace,” Uncle Peter said. “Let the old woman see out her days in peace.”


    I didn’t understand how her peace was so directly tied to Olivia being my wife, instead of my actual wife<b>. </b>


    “Amber is my wife,” I said.


    Uncle Peter gave me a t look. “And I would think long and hard about how much you love your mother before you tell her that, because something like that could be enough to kill her.”