His Abandoned Luna, Her Disabled Alpha

CHAPTER 4

"Ivy, Emma doesn't have to apologize for something she did not do. Aren't you back now? Is it really necessary to make a scene?"

Luke's voice echoed off the silent walls. For a long time, that's all she heard. The silence reminded Ivy of her place. It kept pressing her to be smaller; invisible.

Ivy's expression pulled taunt in defence. "I'm sorry if it felt like an attack. I didn't mean to hurt your fragile feelings."

Luke shook his head, glancing at her scars, "Why didn't you tell us about this earlier? Why didn't you resist? Couldn't you fight back?"

That strange heaviness sat on his chest, so heavy it made him gasp. If he said he hated Ivy, it wouldn't be true. They grew up as siblings for eighteen years. Those eighteen years, Ivy was the only sibling he knew and cared about.

But Emma's arrival changed everything. He couldn't not care for Emma. She was his blood sister and that's a connection he couldn't deny.

He felt both guilty and heartbroken for Ivy but when it came to Emma, he didn't believe she deserved to be treated that way either. It wasn't her fault. She didn't do it on purpose, so why did Ivy have to be condescending?

Ivy had it tough but Emma wasn't the one who hurt her. Luke's emotions were all over the place. However, he firmly believed Emma hadn't done anything to deserve Ivy's hate.

When Ivy didn't answer, he frowned and said, a bit impatient, "She didn't do it on purpose back then and we had no idea that the princess would be so cruel. Ivy, let the past go. It will only make your life hell."

"Hell..." Ivy's tongue rolled. It was bitter. "Y'all sure like to throw that word around without actually knowing what it is. You are after my grudges will make your life difficult. And to answer your question, I did resist at first."

Ivy shifted closer to the wall for support. The fall had aggravated her ankle injury and the pain was spreading up her leg. Still, she maintained a blank face.

"It didn't work out very well, as you can see." Ivy said quietly, adjusting her sleeves to cover the exposed scars on her wrist. "The first time she punished me, I tried to explain that Emma was the one who broke the crown. She whipped me and said, slaves don't talk."

Emma stiffened behind Luke. She fisted his shirt as blood drained from her face. The thought of being in Ivy's place, hurt and broken, terrified her.

"The princess isn't reasonable. The next time she came, I grabbed the whip with my hands." Her fingers squeezed into a loose fist. Her thumb stuck out weirdly. "Her guards broke my thumb and held me down so the princess could whip me to her heart's content."

The maids had gathered at some point. They couldn't believe their ears. Such cruelty was unheard of. They exchanged glances among themselves, eyes wide in disbelief.

An image of bloody and broken Ivy filled their minds. Her voice didn't shake when she spoke of the hellish days because none of it made a difference to her now. However, the ones hearing it now were affected.

Luna Doris covered her mouth in shock. She wanted to hold Ivy and comfort her but remember how she avoided it at the door. She sneaked a look at Luke, who started it all. Her eldest had it no better.

Luke was blank in the head. He felt the overwhelming urge to hit something. To draw blood, especially of a certain rude royal. At the same time, he couldn't look away from Ivy. With his reddened eyes he begged her to stop.

But Ivy didn't stop there. She continued, "I was tied up whenever the princess wanted to vent. I became the nominal punching bag that anyone could hit as they pleased. After that I realised, the more I resisted, the worse it got. So I stopped fighting back."

"I tried to run away once too." Ivy said as if the memories weren't her own. "I did not even make it to the first door. They locked me in a celler in the dead of winter without any food for three days. All this happened within the first six months. I didn't try after that."

The memories were fresh yet distant. The princess used every trick in the book to crush Ivy inside out. That was the worst punishment in all of three years Ivy spent caged in the palace.

Luke shifted slightly. His face scrunched as if he had swallowed something dirty. However, the discomfort only lasted for a moment before it turned into else.

He wanted to say a lot of things. All of it was stuffed in his heart like a volcano that just wouldn't errupt. But the only thing that came out of his mouth was a careless remark, "So why didn't you say something earlier? You wouldn't have to suffer so much if only you talked to us!"

Ivy didn't contact them for three years. They hadn't abandoned her. They would have done everything to get her back if only she'd said something. He believed it was avoidable. If only....

Ivy stared back blankly. The void in her eyes made his skin crawl. He turned his gaze away from her face only to land on the horrid scars on her ankles.

They chained her, she said. The marks were far worse than what metal chains could make. His chest suddenly weighed at ton.

"It wouldn't change anything." Ivy stated quietly. "Besides, I thought you would be relieved."

"Relieved?" Luke echoed sharply.

"Relieved that it was me who was taken to there," Ivy looked behind him with an imperceptible smile. "Not your precious Emma."

The words landed heavily. Perhaps due to the truth they carried. Even the maids shifted uneasily. They were witnesses to how differently Emma was treated.

Emma wiped her silent tears and rushed to explain, "That's not true! Luke would never think that way! He treated both of us the same! He cared for you the same way he cares for me!"

Luke didn't know how to respond to Ivy. He glanced at Emma, who stood in front of him and was defending him. His gaze softened for a brief moment before he sighed impatiently.

"You're too kind for your own good. You believe anything she says, Emma." Luke grunted. His eyes on Ivy were cold and skeptical. "Not everyone is as innocent as you."

"Luke, that's enough!" The Luna scolded loudly.

"No, mom! She comes back after three years and immediately starts showing off these scars? Suddenly we're the bad guys? We're not the ones who did this to her so why are we made to feel guilty?" Luke's said without thinking.

A subtle shift vibrated in the air. Ivy felt the stares on her back as the sympathy in their eyes turned into uncertainty.

Ivy looked at everyone, deciphering their thoughts.

Emma's face was buried in Luke's back as she sobbed softly. Luna Doris looked conflicted as if she wanted to speak in Ivy's defense but didn't know how. The maids didn't dare meet Ivy's eyes.

The shift was obvious. Maybe it was an old injury that made it harder to breathe. Ivy wanted to get out of here.

She didn't ask for sympathy. They asked her questions first, but when the answer didn't fit their narrative, Ivy became the bad guy?

For a moment, she couldn't conceal the exhaustion in her eyes. What's the point of arguing? She didn't want to prove it to them. Her suffering wasn't on their account, so why?

'Because you wish they cared' A tiny voice replied from within a small corner of her broken heart.

Ivy closed her eyes and sighed. "I see."

She pushed away from the wall. Pain zapped through her bones as her weight fell equally on both legs. Ivy managed to endure it without showing it.

"I guess this isn't the right time to meet grandma." She said, turned on her good heel and limped away from the crowd.

"Ivy, wait -" Luna Doris reached out.

Ivy's injury forced her to slow down. Her slow and uneven steps echoed faintly in the hallway as she left.