Fated To Not Just One But Three novel Chapter 507

Chapter 507: Back Home

Selene’s POV

As the car drove into the familiar gates of home, a strange, heavy feeling crept over me, that old, suffocating sensation I knew too well. The closer we got to the mansion, the tighter it wrapped around me. It was the same every time. That invisible weight pressing down on my chest, the reminder that here, I wasn’t free.

For the past few days, while I was away, I’d felt different, lighter. I could breathe without thinking twice, laugh without feeling like I was being watched, and speak without fear of being corrected. But now, now that the gates had closed behind us, that freedom seemed to fade with every second.

I turned my head slightly, staring out the window. The garden was just as perfect as ever, the trimmed hedges, the roses in neat rows, the marble fountain glistening under the sun. Everything was too perfect, like it was all pretending to be something it wasn’t.

My hands tightened in my lap as the car rolled to a stop in front of the house. A guard opened the door for me, but I didn’t move right away.

"Miss Selene?" the guard said softly.

I nodded and stepped out, forcing a polite smile. The breeze brushed against my hair, carrying that familiar scent of home: lavender, stone, and control. I hated it.

As I walked toward the front doors, I could already feel their eyes—the maids, the guards, everyone pretending not to stare but doing it anyway. The front doors swung open before I reached for the handle. Two sentries dipped their heads. I didn’t slow down. If I hesitated, the walls would close in, and I’d forget how to breathe.

The sitting room waited like a courtroom. Heavy curtains. Dark wood. Portraits of stern men who stared like they were still judging the living. My father sat in his usual chair, back straight, hands steepled, while my brother stood at the window, shoulders squared, face blank. Alpha posture. Puppet eyes.

I stopped at the edge of the rug and bowed my head out of habit. "Father. Brother."

My father stood up without saying a word and walked quickly across the room. Before I could understand what was happening, he slapped me. The sound was so loud that the maid standing nearby jumped. My head turned to the side, and I could taste blood in my mouth.

For a heartbeat, there was nothing, no sound, no breath, just the echo of his palm and the quiet shame of the rug under my feet.

Then his voice, low and venomous. "I gave you a simple task."

I lifted my gaze to him slowly. My cheek throbbed in time with my pulse. "It wasn’t—"

"A simple task," he repeated, eyes cold. "Kill Lord Frederick. The vampire who butchered your mother. The only thing this family has asked of you since the day you could hold a blade. And what did you do?"

I didn’t answer. I didn’t trust my voice not to shake.

He leaned closer. I could smell the mint on his breath, the old steel of his temper. "You failed. Not only did you fail, you dragged them into it. Olivia. Lennox. You put their lives in danger for nothing."

His words landed like stones.

My father straightened, disgust twisting his mouth. "You are a useless daughter."

Something burned behind my ribs. I glanced toward my brother, searching for the smallest sign of spine, of loyalty, of anything human. He kept his face turned to the window, jaw clenched, hands folded behind his back like a perfect statue.

My father let out a humorless breath. "I wish Olivia were my daughter. She would have done a great job."

Heat rushed up my throat. "Would she have?" I asked softly.

He ignored the question, turning away like I’d already been dismissed. "You’ll be confined to the estate until I decide what to do with you. No visitors. No correspondence. No more embarrassments."

The old Selene would have lowered her head and swallowed the order until it cut her from the inside. The Selene who had felt free for a few days refused.

"Fuck off," I said.

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