Rejected and Claimed by her Alpha Triplets
Chapter 38 - to breathe

Chapter 38: 38 - to breathe

38

~Lisa’s POV

I didn’t remember falling.

One second, I was washing dishes, trying to keep my balance, willing my body to keep going.

The next, everything went black.

When I finally stirred, it was like swimming up through thick, muddy water. My eyelids felt like they weighed a ton, and every part of my body throbbed in protest.

I blinked slowly, the dim light of the room coming into focus, and then I saw them.

Two maids. Standing beside my bed, arms crossed, looking down at me like I was something rotting on the floor.

Their expressions were cold. Disgusted. One of them rolled her eyes the moment I made a sound.

"Oh, so you’re alive," she muttered flatly.

I tried to sit up, but pain surged through my body like a tidal wave. My back, my thighs, my head... everything hurt. I felt like I’d been run over by a stampede.

I winced, gritting my teeth, barely able to move.

The other maid scoffed and tossed a small pouch of medicine at me. It hit my stomach and slid onto the bed.

"Don’t get too comfortable," she said, her tone sharp and void of sympathy. "The Alphas only gave you two days to recover. After that, you’re back on your feet...no excuses."

I looked up at her, stunned.

Two days? That was generous?

My throat burned. I wanted to ask who found me, if anyone had cared, but I already knew the answer. No one cared. Not really. Not enough to stay.

"They should’ve just left you there," the first maid added under her breath, turning to leave. "Would’ve saved us all the trouble."

The door slammed behind them, leaving me alone again.

The silence pressed down like a blanket soaked in ice.

I glanced at the medicine lying by my side. I didn’t even know what it was. I didn’t know if I could trust it. But the pain was so sharp I couldn’t breathe right, and my body felt like it was burning from the inside out.

Still trembling, I reached for the pouch with shaking fingers.

I wasn’t sure if I was trying to heal, or just survive long enough for someone to finally see me.

I picked up the pouch of medicine with trembling hands, my fingers barely managing to untie the string. My body was on fire, feverish and sore, every muscle screaming. I didn’t even know what was in the pouch, but I didn’t care. If it dulled the pain even for a second, I was willing to risk it.

Just as I tipped it into my palm, the door creaked open.

I looked up slowly, expecting one of the maids again, but it wasn’t.

It was Belinda.

She stepped inside like she owned the air itself, her sharp heels clicking on the floor, her nose wrinkling in distaste. She stopped just short of the bed, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

The look on her face was enough to make my blood run colder than it already was.

"Ugh," she said, fanning the air in front of her nose. "What is that smell? You reek of sweat and pity."

I tried to sit up straighter, but my body wouldn’t cooperate. I clutched the medicine in my hand, swallowing hard. "What... Do you want?"

She laughed lightly, a cold, mocking sound. "Don’t flatter yourself. I don’t want anything from you." Her gaze dropped to the medicine in my hand. "Though I see the palace is being too kind. A pity. Some people are better off forgotten."

I didn’t answer. There was no point.

She stepped closer, leaning down just enough for her perfume, sweet, floral, and suffocating, to flood my senses. "You listen to me carefully," she hissed. "I don’t care how broken you are. I don’t care how many lashes they give you. I don’t even care if you die. But what I will not tolerate is you still being here."

My heart beat faster. "You want me to leave," I whispered, my voice hoarse.

"I want you gone," she snapped, venom dripping from every word. "And if you don’t find a way to disappear on your own, I promise you, next time, I won’t just sit back and watch them punish you. I’ll make sure you don’t survive it."

Her words hit like slaps across my face, sharp, bitter, and meant to leave bruises deeper than skin.

Tears stung my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. Not in front of her. Not again.

I clenched my jaw, tasting blood from biting the inside of my cheek just to keep my mouth shut. She didn’t deserve the satisfaction of seeing me break.

She straightened, taking in my weakness like it was her triumph. Her smile was slow, cold, and calculating, an expression of power she’d always craved, now fully bloomed.

"Tick-tock, Lisa," she said, her tone light but laced with ice. "You have two days. If you’re smart, you’ll vanish before I make you regret not doing it sooner."

And just like that, she turned, the ends of her cloak brushing against the stone floor as she sauntered toward the door. She didn’t even glance back.

The door slammed shut behind her.

The silence that followed was deafening.

I sat frozen, staring at the pouch in my trembling hand, my chest rising and falling with shaky, uneven breaths. The medicine felt heavier now, like it carried the weight of the threat itself. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even cry.

Just breathed.

And stared.

I had survived lashes. I had survived humiliation. I had survived the death of the only person who showed me kindness. But this, this was something else.

This was exile with a blade at my throat.

I pressed the pouch of medicine against my chest and closed my eyes.

Two days.

That’s what I had. Two days to disappear or be destroyed.

I felt the pressure build in my throat again, but I swallowed it back down. Crying wouldn’t help. Nothing would help, not now. I was alone, sick, and broken... and still being hunted like a rat in a maze.

I shifted slightly, my body flinching at the pain. My back burned, my legs ached, and my fever hasn’t broken. Every muscle trembled from weakness, but I had no time left to recover. No space to breathe.

They didn’t just want me gone.

They wanted me erased.

I have to leave, I thought. Not just survive this, but escape it. All of it.

But how?