410\u2013I Surrender\u00a0<\/p>\n
Madeline:\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt as if they had sucked the soul out of my body. The way they spoke about Baxter, the way they hinted at everything they could use against him, none of it felt right,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lord William could only defend him to a certain point. By the end of the day, he would have to sit in court and listen to everything. I knew how easily they could twist the truth. 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would be left alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were not one, but three offenses attached to Baxter\u2019s name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The monster accusation alone would spark rage among the people, especially once they learned that his pendant, the one he never took off, had been found in the victim\u2019s hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It looked as if she had tried to save herself in her final moments.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My breathing grew heavy as I tried to calm myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can open a court case,\u201d Elgin continued, \u201cand you know what will happen. Until the case is resolved and you prove his innocence, he will not be allowed in the hospital. Even Lord William will not be able to stop that. It will be one voice against many, and he will have to listen to the complaints.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did not stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFor now, he protected you because you and your husband were seen as innocent people whose only crime was choosing each other. But once the truth comes out, that your husband has been breaking rules so carelessly, Lord William will not have the power to keep him here. Not even for a few days. And you know every minute matters for him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time Elgin finished, I felt like my knees would give out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you so determined to make my life miserable?\u201d I snapped. \u201cWas Baxter never your friend? Did he never mean anything to you? Tell me one thing, just one thing that we did to you that turned you into this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words poured out before I could stop them. I did not know what I had done wrong. All this time, I thought they were hurting me for no reason. Instead of guilt, instead of facing consequences for their actions, they kept placing punishment after punishment on me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After I asked, both of them stared at me in silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou let my daughter die,\u201d Graham said suddenly. 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you accused us of touching you,\u201d Elgin added quickly. That led to my children being bullied.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It sounded like an excuse, something he had convinced himself was enough to justify everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about before that?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They looked at each other, then swallowed hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said you used us,\u201d Elgin replied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was after everything,\u201d Graham corrected him quietly\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had nothing else to say. They just stood there, staring at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever,\u201d Graham said finally. \u201cWe are not here to explain ourselves. You will listen to us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
112 Touk\u00a0<\/p>\n
We are offering you in turn, we will be open your headed. He will stay here and recalve\u00a0<\/p>\n
five rev\u00e9s tes pay. That to All\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
P1\u00a0<\/p>\n
He he found his footing again, donging the seed once or after realizing they could not justify what they were doing to the\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you have to toes,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
stated, slipping his hands into his pockets and taking a deep breath, as if eaper for thy answer, \u201cYou can walk away today, go to Lord Willia, tell him we are threatening you, and explain exactly what those threats are so we can openly discuss Baker\u2019s crimes, Or you can accept our job\u00a0<\/p>\n
He paused briefly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you will also need to explain your wolf,\u201d Graham added casually, \u201cI am just saying, we could slip that into the discussion as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched their faces with disbelief and disappointment. What had 1 done to these people? Nothing. They were simply cruel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were content with their lives, and from what I could see, their only problem was that they did not want me to be happy. They would rather tear me apart than see me at peace. That was their victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThink about your children, Madeline,\u201d Graham whispered \u201cThey are alone now. They do not have a father. And if their mother is also taken away for investigation, whether for her wolf or her husband\u2019s crimes, I do not think they will survive this world\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He spoke softly, as if he wanted me to believe he was grieving Gina. I did not believe him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is the job?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As I took a steady breath, the way the two of them exchanged an excited glance and stepped closer sent a chill through me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is nothing harmful,\u201d Graham explained quickly, \u201cYou will come over and discuss the sickness with us. That is all\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I did not believe that either. If sickness were truly their concern, they would have gone to Lord William.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what else?\u201d 1 demanded,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their expressions shifted. The frowns disappeared, replaced by something blank, almost offended. Elgin scratched the back of his neck,\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will see,\u201d he replied. \u201cThere may be moments when you need comfort, and we are willing to provide it.\u201d 3\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words hit hard. I closed my eyes and turned my face away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want to see how far you are willing to go for your husband and your children,\u201d Graham added. \u201cBecause Madeline, you already lost Gina. I do not think you are ready to lose anyone else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked back at him. He rested his hands on his waist and looked away, glancing back only once as he waited for my decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo tell us,\u201d Elgin said calmly, \u201cShould we expect you to come to work on the sickness in two hours, or should we go to Lord William and inform him that we are threatening you over the case? The choice is yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were not afraid. Not even of admitting what they were doing. Their words were chosen carefully and deliberately,\u00a0<\/p>\n
We Listened to the Darkness by Sorin Pax 410 410\u2013I Surrender\u00a0 Madeline:\u00a0 I felt as if they had sucked the […]<\/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":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-no-daddy-novel-by-novelnozi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24330","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=24330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24330\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}