Chapter 372\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many times have you made a scene in the one month since you were released from prison?\u201d Kael\u2019s voice rang sharply through the hospital room, cold and full of judgment. \u201cThe whole family has been spoiling you, tolerating you, loving you-yet you keep pushing us away, again and again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words were like sharp needles, pricking at my ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did Mom inject you with the suppressant, huh? Wasn\u2019t it because you attacked Scarlett at the banquet like a feral rogue? You shoved her in front of the whole Pack and disgraced our family. Then you had the audacity to strike her again after we got home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were in the wrong, Riley. Don\u2019t tell me a mother doesn\u2019t have the right to discipline her own daughter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat there, staring at him in silence. My mouth curled into a slow, bitter smile, but my eyes remained icy. What was the point in arguing? In this house-this pack-they never cared about the truth. Scarlett was always the saint in their eyes. The victim. The golden child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And me? I was the rabid white wolf no one wanted to claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But someone outside the room couldn\u2019t bear it anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door burst open, and Mia stormed in. Her usually kind face was tight with fury, her eyes bloodshot, breath unsteady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She shoved past Zara and Kael, heading straight for me. The insulated container in her hands slammed down on the bedside table with a sharp thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had enough,\u201d she growled. \u201cEnough of this cruelty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My chest clenched as I watched her trembling hands and the quiver in her voice. I knew what was coming- Mia never raised her voice. Not unless it truly mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLast night, if it weren\u2019t for that kind gentleman who helped carry her out of the estate, your daughter would\u2019ve died from infection and blood loss. She hasn\u2019t eaten a bite, hasn\u2019t sipped a drop of water since waking. And what do you do? You show up here to yell at her? To scold her for fighting back?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked like she might shatter from sheer rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of Alpha family treats their blood like this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael opened his mouth, but she cut him off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you dare. You think the whole Pack loves her? That you\u2019ve tolerated her? What a joke.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was tortured in prison for five years. I saw the scars on her back with my own eyes. Not one of you visited her. Not once. And the last time your father beat her with a belt until she bled, who stopped him? No\u00a0<\/p>\n
one.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:28 Wed, Dec 31\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 372\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned to Zara, voice rising with righteous fury. \u201cYou forced your own daughter to cut off a finger to repay a debt she never owed! And you still stand there and say it was for her own good?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara\u2019s face had turned ashen, her lips parted in silent horror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Kael was stunned, looking at me like I was a stranger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery time she\u2019s wronged, you defend Scarlett without asking a single question,\u201d Mia continued. \u201cYou scold Riley, punish her, humiliate her. And now you dare to say it\u2019s out of love?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t speak. My throat was tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I reached out and gently touched Mia\u2019s hand. \u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I whispered. \u201cThey\u2019re not worth your anger.\u201d,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because they weren\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had cried enough tears for them in my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
17\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara finally seemed to come back to herself. Her voice was shaky as she tried to explain, \u201cMia\u2026 we didn\u2019t mean to hurt her. Riley is just\u2026 so impulsive, so disobedient. We\u2019re trying to help her-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp her?\u201d Mia laughed, and the sound was raw. \u201cLook at her now. Is this what \u2018help\u2019 looks like to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pointed to my bandaged arm and bruised collarbone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never loved her, Zara. At least admit that. You didn\u2019t raise her-you never bonded with her-and maybe that\u2019s understandable. But not loving her doesn\u2019t give you the right to destroy her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara went pale and turned her eyes to me, seeking something-guilt, sorrow, even recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gave her nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a flicker of emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, I turned my eyes to Mia-the only one who had ever protected me. And I looked at her like she was my mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because, in every way that mattered, she was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Zara? She meant nothing to me anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched as realization began to dawn in her. The regret. The fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when she truly started to panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley\u2026 no matter what, I\u2019m still your mother,\u201d she whispered, reaching for my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slapped hers away. \u201cLegally, I have nothing to do with the Vale family.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words landed like a thunderclap. Zara froze, eyes wide with disbelief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael\u2019s face contorted with anger. \u201cRiley, must you say such cruel, pointless things?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 372\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to him, calm as ever. \u201cPointless? I don\u2019t think you understand. The Pack registry-the official family ledger-has never listed my name. Isn\u2019t that right, Zara?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His gaze snapped to her. \u201cMother? That\u2019s not true\u2026 right? She came back eight years ago. Her name should\u2019ve been added long ago.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0e07 2.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara\u2019s lips trembled. Her hands fluttered uselessly at her sides.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She couldn\u2019t deny it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wouldn\u2019t dare lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael\u2019s jaw clenched as the truth hit him like a hammer. \u201cYou never added her to the Pack record? She\u2019s not even\u2026 registered as one of us?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara crumbled, sobbing into her hands. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Riley\u2026 I\u2019m so sorry\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, unmoved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sorry didn\u2019t mean anything when the betrayal was carved into your bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I\u2019d spent my whole life learning to bleed quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
798\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 372 Chapter 372\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 \u201cHow many times have you made a scene in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20646"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20646\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}