Rejected and Claimed by her Alpha Triplets Chapter 232 - his offer

232

~Lisa’s POV

I lay on the cold hard floor of the cell, my back against the damp stone, and I could barely feel the baby move. For a long ti I watched the slow trail of water run down the wall and I counted it like a prayer. I kept thinking of Damon, only Damon, and whether his eyes would ever open again.

A key scraped the lock and the heavy door creaked. I didn’t look up at first. I knew the sound of boots at the entrance; I knew the corridor voices. But then a slow, clean throat cleared and my skin went cold.

"Enjoying your stay, Lady Lisa?" a voice said from the doorway. Smooth. Clean. Full of cruel patience.

I turned my head slowly. Fridolf stood there, coat dripping rain, but dry as always, as if storms bent to let him walk through them untouched. He smiled like he was telling a joke that only he understood.

"You.... I knew it when the guards brought here and not my chambers, I knew you ordered this!" I tried to stand but my legs shook. "You have no right to lock here!....get out now!"

He stepped in and the guard left the door open, like a prop. Fridolf crossed the cell with long lazy steps and stopped only a few feet away from . He set his palms on his hips and watched . The smile never left his face.

"You look tired," he said softly. "You look... frightened."

"You’re the one who should be ashad," I spat. "You put poison in Damon’s food. You and Belinda. How could you...how dare you...?"

Fridolf’s smile twitched like a blade. "Oh, dear. Words like that are dangerous. Bold, even. Dangerous for a little human in a cold cell."

"Answer !" I cried. "Why would you do this? Why him? He trusted you, and you stabbed him in the back!"

He sighed like soone who had heard an old song and was tired of the tune. "Such fury. Such pain. How very dramatic." He tilted his head. "But you are being unfair. You think the world is simple. You think poison and power are always what they look like."

"Don’t speak to like that." My fingers clutched at the iron bars. The baby kicked once, and the movent knocked the breath out of . For a mont I forgot his face on the bed and only felt the life inside .

Fridolf watched my hand press against my belly. His smile softened for a second, like a man who enjoys a toy he has been given, then he made it cold again.

"You should think about your child," he said. "You should put your head to better use than useless sobbing. There is a way out for you, you know."

"I don’t want your ways," I said. "I don’t want anything from you."

He laughed, low and empty. "Of course you say that now. But words change when a life hangs in the balance. Tell this: would you rather watch your child born in the palace and branded a traitor, or watch your child born while your man, if he lives, never trusts you again because you did nothing to save him?"

"Save him?" I repeated. "You expect to save him by lying against myself and breaking everything I swear by? I would never lie. I would never...."

He raised a hand and cut off. "You would do anything to live, Lisa. Don’t be naive. Love is not so shield that keeps n safe from the world’s cruelty. You are clever enough to know that."

"I am not clever," I said, shaking. "I am not..."

"You are human," he said, as if that were sothing to be scorned. "Which is to say you are useful. Useful people make mistakes. Useful people are forgiven when they give what is asked of them."

He smiled, but it wasn’t warm. It was cold and sharp.

"Testify," he said quietly. "Tell the truth. Say you are the one who poisoned Damon."

My heart slamd against my ribs. "What?" I whispered.

He laughed wickedly and then started his explanation.

"You know the triplets’ bond can’t be broken," he said, voice soft and mocking. "So I need one gone for the bond to falter. You’ll take the fall. Let them chase you, tear each other apart, and I’ll walk into the throne while they’re busy. I’ll take them when their bond breaks. To keep this from tracing back to , you must take the fall.,"

I laughed then, a short, broken sound. "You think I will lie just for your plan to workout? Do you know what you are asking?"

"I know very well," he said. "I am asking you to think, Lisa. To put your child first." He took one step closer and his eyes slid over with a slow deciding look. "Believe , your life will be much easier if you lift your voice to accuse yourself. I will make sure you are safe,"

"You are crazy." I whispered, disgust and fear twisting my voice.

His eyes flashed then, a tiny storm. "Careful," he warned softly. "Do not let your anger be so loud it drowns the sound of survival."

I pressed my cheek to the iron and laughed ugly. "I would rather die than sar myself like you ask. I would rather die."

His smile deepened. "Did you think Damon will wake up to save you? Don’t be delusional. The poison is going so strong to kill him! Then let tell you what happens when you refuse. Would you like to say it out loud so you can hear? Because I am patient, but my patience has a cost."

For a long beat, he only held my gaze and waited.

"What will you do?" I whispered. My voice was small now, the bravado gone. Inside my chest the ache lit up, and I felt smaller than before.

He spoke soft and even, as if he were listing steps in a household task. "You will remain here. You will watch Damon dead... or you will wake each morning for the next months while your child grows inside you and see how few people smile at you. You will be watched. You will have every small comfort removed. You will be humiliated if I choose. I can make life very difficult for a woman who refuses . Or..." he said, leaning in, "...you make the choice to save your child and live."

"You delight in cruelty," I breathed.

"Not cruelty," he corrected. "Control. Stability. You can na it anything you wish. I call it practical."

The corridor door rattled. A guard’s voice barked sothing about the doctor’s needs. Fridolf straightened and let the mont pass. He had given his offer.