Chapter 84: Rhys’s own wife.

July 14 2026, 2:03pm.

For a couple of seconds, Nyx’ara heard nothing but the continuous ringing in her ears. Her heart pounded against her chest and her eyes thinned as they dragged from Kieran’s face to the crumpled paper on the floor.

He was asking her to leave... he was asking her to sign divorce papers and get the hell away from them.

In other words, he was granting her freedom. So why the hell does she not feel over the moon?

Why the hell does it feel like this rejection hurt a lot more than the time they had forcefully taken her in, wedded and marked her?

Her body trembled as she crouched slowly to pick up the paper, and after she did that, she rose. The paper felt crisp against her numb fingers. It felt sharp, too, and at this point it could cut her if she wasn’t careful. Tears blurred her eyes as she began to read through the contents of the document.

She read it again and again, and after what felt like an eternity, she lifted her head and muttered; "I-I don’t understand t-this?"

"What do you not understand?!" Seraphina hissed back at her, sounding very much like the viperous snake that she was. She planted one of her hands on her waist and would not stop jabbing the other manicured hand into Nyx’ara’s chest as she sneered;

"You have been exposed! How’s that difficult for you to understand?! Everyone now knows that you have been plotting to kill the Alphas! They know that you have been stealing from the throne right from under our noses and we know that you have a stash of everything you’ve been stealing so far somewhere! One of your subordinates confessed this morning after the servants’ quarters were raided! What else do you have to say?!"

The words hit Nyx’ara like a hard slap. Tears pooled in her eyes and she slapped her hand over her chest. For a moment, she could not say anything. She could only watch Seraphina as she smiled smugly at her, a flicker of satisfaction crossing her gaze, giving Nyx’ara the feeling that this was one large conspiracy.

She took a step forward, not missing the almost unnoticeable twitching of Seraphina’s eyebrows, then she hissed;

"I-I didn’t do any of that."

"You did, and you’ve also been having an illicit affair with your ex-boyfriend lol despite being married to us..." Rhys cut in, but surprisingly? He didn’t sound angry. Hell, he didn’t even look angry.

He was more... disappointed.

To him, Nyx’ara was a character to behold. She was smart and bright, and knew how to set his blood on fire with only a glance. He knew that there were more than enough reasons for him to hate her. However, he never did, even after she was accused of killing his sister.

That’s if she indeed really killed their sister in the first place... especially with this new information they’d just found.

The several accusations weighed down massively on Nyx’ara’s chest. She stumbled forward then her knees crashed against the floor.

For a split second, she was thrown back to several years ago... to the times when she used to plead for her innocence, but she was never believed.

She felt like she was reliving the moment she’d been accused of pushing Elara... when she’d been accused of killing the princess... when she’d been scorned for being a filthy bully, when in truth... Elara was the bully.

She could not control the tears that poured down her face nor could she help the series of emotions bombarding her all at once.

Her fingers clutched at her chest— desperately— and with all the desperation she could muster, she looked up at Rhys and cried out; "I ha-have cut ties wi-with Flynn ages ago. I-I have stopped seeing or talking t-to him. Flynn and I were done the mo-moment I started living here... you have to believe me!"

And goddess, he wanted to believe her. In fact, a tiny part of him did. What he could not shake off however was how she’d moaned his name last night.

If indeed, she had cut Flynn off, then his name would have never been the first name on her lips the moment her body began to heat up.

He would not be the one on her mind when she was touching herself...

Yet, he was.

Rhys shook his head. "I don’t believe you... and you have two options."

His words made his other brothers turn to him, their faces as dark as the clouds on a stormy night. Kieran was the first to hiss under his breath, but the warning in his voice had been clear as day.

"Rhys—"

Rhys did not look at him. If he’d heard his name, he gave no indication that he had. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, stalked close to Nyx’ara, and drawled; "Are you interested?"

Nyx’ara nodded before she knew what she was doing, and as she did, she could not help but notice the flustered expression across Seraphina’s face. She ignored it.

"Use your words," Rhys snapped.

She gulped. "Y-yes."

He smiled— more like smirked— because it sent shivers down her spine. Nyx’ara could only watch him with her heart roaring in her ears as he dropped to crouch in front of her. He hooked a finger under her chin, and using it to propel her face forward, he drawled;

"The only other way out is if you tell the truth."

The truth? Nyx’ara was all for the truth.

She nodded again, then upon realizing that he liked her best when she was using her head, she shook her head, ignoring the tears that dropped uncontrollably and rushed out; "Y-yes."

"Good. Now, tell me, why did you get a text last night reminding you that you had only fourteen days left to either kill my brothers and me or render us useless?"

Wait... what?

Nyx’ara’s jaw hit the floor. The questions hit her like a freight train, bursting through the tracks and causing a tornado of confusion to surge through her.

She pressed her lips together, half expecting him to take it back and call it a joke but he didn’t.

She frowned. "Th-that that’s... impossible!"

"Why did you steal from us?" Rhys continued, not missing a beat, and again, Nyx’ara responded with her usual confused glare.

She rasped; "I didn’t... I w-would never."

"See? Lies! I told you she would lie about everything!" Seraphina snarled but no one responded to her. No one even acknowledged the fact that she had spoken.

Nyx’ara leaned forward tentatively until she was almost sharing a breath with Rhys. Her eyes met his slowly and she muttered softly; "W-why would I steal from you? D-do I have a death w-wish?"

"Nyx—"

"I have s-seen your torture cha-chamber. I know what you are capable of doing. I have seen the extent to which y-your powers run... and you think... you think I’ll have the effrontery to steal f-from someone like you even after knowing all of these?"

"Shut up!" Seraphina snarled, but as soon as her voice rang out, echoing through the room, Rhys stood up in a second. His hand flung back, clipping her face and a cracking sound echoed through the air.

He’d slapped her.

He slapped Seraphina.

Her head whipped to the side from the force of the hit. A rush of metallic taste flooded her mouth and her eyes gaped as she stared between Rhys and a shocked crouching Nyx’ara.

When she spoke, her voice was tiny. It was nonexistent. It sounded like she had dragged her vocal cords through the hot, bumpy roads of hell and forced the words through.

She hissed; "You... you slapped me?"

"Yes, I did, Seraphina, and I will do it again if you keep hurling insults at my wife!"

The words landed like a tsunami. It carried so much weight, it was almost suffocating. Seraphina could not believe her eyes and ears, and she certainly could not believe that Rhys would slap her despite the number of accusations already piling up against Nyx’ara.

Or is he hexed? Is she a witch?

She was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt him move towards Nyx’ara one more time, and this time, maybe it was desperation. Maybe it was annoyance but she found herself screaming:

"She’s a thief! She stole from you all and you know it! She killed your sister and now plots to kill you, yet you’re taking her side? Hasn’t she done enough already?!"

*Crack!*

The sound of skin smacking against skin tore through the air one more time and this time, Nyx’ara was stunned to see that Rhys had slapped Seraphina again.

His eyes were as deep and dark as the depths of the ocean. But that was not all... He was going in for a third strike!