Stel remembered her past life clearly like it all happened yesterday. It would be hard to forget all those three years she lived with the Chevaliers after what they had put her through. If she recalled correctly, the first time that she witnessed the omega’s true nature was during her first year of living with the family, specifically on Ophelia’s 17th birthday. This event marked the true beginning of Stel’s nightmare.

  “You call this a gift? Do you think someone like me, the daughter of Marquis, even considered this thing wearable?”

  The young alpha bought a simple yet elegant bracelet made of vender-colored crystals. It wasn’t cheap, but it was considered far less vish compared to the accessories the Chevalier aristocrats wore regurly. The reason Stel chose this as a gift was because its color reminded her of vender, which matched Ophelia’s pheromones. Also, its cssic appearance made it suitable for dies like her to wear on any occasion.

  “…”

  But the moment Ophelia threw it onto the ground, her good intentions were trampled, followed by humiliation from other cousins standing nearby and the guests who were gossiping from afar. They could tell from Stel’s appearance that she was the daughter of Duke Cedric, but even so, she seemed to ck the knowledge to find suitable gifts for noblewomen.

  “What is that cheap thing? I had never seen that kind of thing before in my life!”

  “I know, right? How could she present such a lowly thing to our Ophelia?”

  “Isn’t that more of an insult to present a cheap toy as a gift, especially on her birthday?”

  Ophelia ordered her servant to clean up and throw the hideous gift away since it was useless to her. Even at that moment, the young alpha remained as composed as possible since it was her fiancé’s birthday. Even though her genuine goodwill was brushed off like trash, she couldn’t show that she was hurt. She had no choice but to apologize for choosing an unworthy gift for her grandiose birthday before she took her leave. That was the first time she was disappointed in herself for thinking that she could trust Ophelia.

  -

  As an outsider, one may think that she was Ophelia’s fiancé, but truthfully, she was Chevalier’s prisoner. The arranged marriage was a cover for the truth that Stel was a reward for Chevalier’s cooperation in assisting Anthony’s ascension as the Duke of Albrecht. Thus, the family had full control of her life and they could do whatever they pleased with her. Later, she learned that Ophelia had been infatuated with her ever since their first encounter when they were just children, and so Marquis gave Stel to her as a present. Among the Chevaliers, everyone knew her as Ophelia’s alpha pet. If she resisted or challenged their authority, they would not hesitate to abuse her until she surrendered.

  At every meal, Stel must join the family at the dining table and sit next to Ophelia. Initially, they were welcoming of her, but that was all staged to ease up the young alpha before they began revealing their true personality.

  “Stel, have you ever tried this drink before? This is an exquisite wine from the finest grape farm in Northnd, owned by us.”

  The pink-haired alpha noble, Theo Chevalier, asked her with a smile as he took a sip of the fine wine. He was the eldest child of Marquis and was Ophelia’s older brother by three years. He knew that Stel was still underage to drink, yet he still asked anyway.

  “Unfortunately, I am still underage to drink. I cannot make any comments on that matter.”

  “That’s true… but taking a sip should be fine, right?”

  He snapped his finger to order the servant to pour a gss of wine for her, but Stel politely declined the offer. In aristocratic society, it was considered ill-mannered and unacceptable to drink before reaching adulthood, at the age of 16, regardless of the reason. Theo should’ve known this etiquette very well, but he still insisted she do so.

  “That’s rude of you to refuse my offer.”

  “My apologies that it has offended you, Sir Theo, but I simply cannot viote the basic etiquette.”

  He stared at her before he got up from his seat and walked towards her with a gss of wine. At first, Stel expected him to force her to drink it, but she didn’t expect he would pour a full gss of wine over her head.

  “…Now, you can tell me what it tastes like.”

  “—!?”

  Stel was at a loss for words as she was completely drenched in red wine, and she abruptly got up from her seat before gring at him.

  “What is the meaning of this—”

  Before she could finish her words, Theo punched her right in the stomach before she fell to her knees. She gasped for air, as she wasn’t prepared for an incoming strike into her diaphragm. Theo showed no mercy and stepped onto her shoulder to force her down onto the floor. Everyone continued having their meals like nothing happened, even though Theo was being ruthless with her. The dy next to her, Ophelia, was the first to break the silence, but her words were cold and just as heartless as those of her brother.

  “Brother, your wine got on my clothes. Do you know how expensive these clothes are?”

  “My sincere apologies, Ophelia. How about I take you out after lunch for dress shopping? You can buy anything you want.”

  Theo casually chatted with his little sister while one of his feet was crushing Stel to the ground. As the pink-haired man realized that the younger alpha was resisting, he gave her a stomp, which forced her back onto the ground again.

  “U-Ugh…!”

  “Ah yes, you’ve reminded me you haven’t answered me yet. So, what does Chevalier wine taste like to you?”

  He directed his attention to Stel, as his pheromones were getting thicker. He had a strong whisky-scented pheromone, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable. The scent of another alpha was not something she would consider pleasant, especially when the other person was exerting absolute dominance.

  “Brother, your pheromones are disrupting our palettes. Can you stop?”

  This time, another dy spoke up, and she was Eleanor Chevalier. She was a beta and was just a few months younger than Ophelia. Theo and Ophelia were Marquis’s children with his first wife, Marchioness Shannon. As for Eleanor, she was also his child with his second wife. Marquis himself had three wives in total, which was normal for alphas to have multiple partners.

  “Oh, my bad then…”

  Theo’s pheromones slowly dissipated, but his foot was still on the younger alpha. He had a chance to gnce down to look at how pathetic she was, but he was met with those icy blue eyes gring straight at him. Even in such a state, she showed no signs of weakness, and it was as if she was ready to attack if she had the chance. The man could only smirk with excitement and wonder what face she would have once he shredded every st bit of her dignity.

  “You should train your dog properly, Ophelia. She’s so unruly and had the audacity to refuse my offer.”

  “I’ll make sure to educate her properly. So, can we continue our meal, or you’re going to continue stepping on my cute alpha?”

  “Right, I forgot that she is your favorite.”

  He pushed her off with his feet before returning to his seat. Stel slowly gnced over in Ophelia’s direction, who showed no emotion to Theo’s abuse and ordered her to clean herself up and get ready to head out to the city for dress shopping in 30 minutes. Obviously, Stel had no say in this and had no choice but to comply with her orders. What made it worse was that Theo, the abuser, was also coming with them. After lunch hour, they got onto the carriage, and she sat next to Ophelia. It was clear that Theo was dissatisfied with the young alpha tagging along with them for shopping, and he bluntly expressed his thoughts in front of her.

  “Do we need to bring this mutt with us? She can just stay back.”

  “Mind your nguage, brother. Stel and I have an image to maintain if you care to pay attention to our past meetings. She is my dear fiancé, and we are on very good terms. So, you better behave as a good brother around her while we are out in public.”

  “Hmph… Fine. I guess I’ll rolepy for a bit then.”

  Stel remained silent since she didn’t wish to take part in this conversation, and her shoulder was still aching from earlier. They followed Ophelia to every boutique she wanted as she tried to find dresses that caught her attention. She picked a few of them from the racks and turned to them to ask for their opinions.

  “What do you two think about this dress?”

  “You’re beautiful with anything, Ophie. What do you think, Stel?”

  For Theo to act nice to her gave Stel the creeps. She wished that they would just ignore her rather than actively get her involved in these pretentious conversations. This time, Ophelia turned to her to force her to speak up.

  “What do you think about this dress, Stel?”

  “…I believe it will be gorgeous on you.”

  She said it for the sake of it and couldn’t care less about what she chose to wear. Ophelia only smirked in silence before she continued to try out more dresses. Usually, the nobles would have their personal maids help them with wearing their clothes, but she intentionally left her maids behind and made Stel help her instead.

  “Lady Ophelia, we have a selection of professional staff members that can assist you in the dressing room if so required.”

  “That’s okay. I have my cute fiancé that will help me, right?”

  She gnced over to Stel with her signature smile. To outsiders, she may seem lovely and friendly, but to Stel, she was disgusted by it. In the changing room, Ophelia asked her to unzip her dress from behind and helped her with changing behind the curtains. She knew that the pink-haired noble was pnning to tempt her by exposing her scent gnd right at the juncture of her neck, but she had no intention of falling into her little game. Her loathing for the older omega was stronger than the alluring scent of her pheromones.

  “Which color do you think suits me?”

  “You know I couldn’t care less about this.”

  “You can at least pretend to say something. We’re still outside.”

  Ophelia turned around and grabbed onto her injured shoulder, and it was obvious that it was intentional. She leaned in closer to whisper right against her ears to offer a deal.

  “If you give me a thoughtful answer, I will consider being nice to you a little bit more.”

  “What makes you think I’ll trust the words of a Chevalier?”

  “At the very least, I keep my word. So, look at me... and tell me what color suits me in your eyes.”

  She insisted on forcing an answer out of Stel and had no intention of leaving the changing room until she answered her question. Did she have much of a choice? At that moment, she couldn’t care less and just gave what she wanted to hear.

  “…Something white or baby blue. There, is that good enough yet?”

  Ophelia wore a satisfactory smile before she continued with her shopping. She picked several dresses before they headed over to the next shop to buy accessories to fit with her new dresses. The shopping trip took the entire day, and they arrived at the manor before sunset.

  “Stel, take all my dresses back to my room.”

  “…”

  Once they arrived, the noble dy was quick to give her a job to do. Stel exhaled loudly with a hint of annoyance in her expression before she reluctantly carried all the bags. When Theo saw the young alpha give an attitude to his beloved sister, he pnned to discipline her again so she would know her pce.

  “Hey mutt, how dare you show my sister an attitude—”

  “Theo! You’re going to ruin my dresses again. I told you I'd be the one to discipline her. Don’t cross the lines.”

  “Sorry, Ophie. I’m just concerned about her unruly attitude. No one disrespects my lovely little sister in front of me like that.”

  Perhaps Stel should be thankful for the bags of dresses she was carrying that prevented Theo from being violent with her again. As they arrived back at Ophelia’s room, she pced all the bags down before she quickly returned to her room. Being her prisoner, they gave her a room connected to Ophelia’s so she would always be monitored 24/7. However, she froze on the spot the moment she opened it and saw the state of her room.

  Everything in her room was destroyed. Anything that could be shredded was shredded into pieces and left on the floor. The culprit intentionally damaged all the furniture as well, since it was heavily damaged beyond repair. At that moment, Stel couldn’t even describe how she felt because she felt nothing at all. This pce was already a hellhole enough; it wouldn’t make any difference to turn her room into another hellhole too.

  “Hmm…it must be Theo. I had a feeling he’s up to something mischievous again.”

  Ophelia came from behind and saw the state of her fiancé’s bedroom. She exhaled softly before she ordered her personal maid to take care of the room and make sure to repce everything that was destroyed by tomorrow night.

  “Tell the servants that I need to see the room become spotless like new. Repce everything that was destroyed; use as much money as need be.”

  “Yes ma’am. I’ll get started right away.”

  “…”

  Upon hearing those words, she couldn’t believe what she heard. She was more used to being oppressed by the older omega, but now she was helping her this time. Meanwhile, Ophelia could feel Stel staring in her direction with disbelief, which was as she expected.

  “Is that how you treat someone who is helping you out?”

  “I doubt you’ll do it out of goodwill. You won’t do it for free without getting something in return.”

  Stel could never trust her, especially not a Chevalier. She stared at the smirking pink-haired dy before she reminded her that Stel belonged to her, so it was her responsibility to take care of her as well. At least, she should have a decent room and clothing to be worthy of her side, or else it would reflect poorly on her image.

  “I didn’t expect Theo to be this childish. I’ll give him an earful lecture next time for making me spend money unnecessarily…”

  “…”

  “Since your room is in a complete mess, you have no choice but to sleep with me instead.”

  The young alpha felt the chills run down her spine, and she would rather sleep in the bin than share the same bed as her. What was Ophelia pnning to do to her? Was this all her scheme to destroy Stel’s room so that she had no choice but to sleep in her room instead? There were many possibilities that she could think of.

  “Don’t worry, I have no interest in mating with a child if that’s what you’re afraid of. I’m simply offering my room for you to rest in tonight.”

  “Well, I’m gd you have some dignity left in you to not act shamelessly.”

  “I’m simply keeping my word. Have you forgotten about it already?”

  Stel remembered their conversation in the dress shop and said that she would treat her a little bit nicer if she were to answer her question. As Stel did as she was told, reluctantly, it was her part to keep her word and treat her nicely as promised. Thus, this expined why she was oddly helpful to Stel today. That night, the young alpha was against sharing the same bed as her, even if they were just sleeping, but Ophelia had her ways of forcing her to comply anyway. She wasn’t given much of a choice; she could either sleep voluntarily or be sedated instead.

  The younger alpha was overly cautious with Ophelia’s every moment in bed, despite there being a pillow dividing between them. She was just so tired from what happened today and just needed a good sleep before having to face another drama tomorrow. The exhaustion kicked in, and she didn’t expect she would have one of the best sleeps ever since she came here. When she woke up the next day, Ophelia was gone and had left a small note on the bedside table.

  [Your clothes for today are on the table. Go wash up, get changed, and come find me at the library.]

  Stel preferred that Ophelia treat her like a prisoner rather than pretending to be generous with her. When she got up, she noticed that her shoulder wasn’t as infmed as she expected. Perhaps the injury wasn’t as bad as she thought, despite it aching badly yesterday. Today was another day that she continued living in this hellhole without knowing when it would end.

  -

  Aside from receiving Theo’s abusive treatment, Stel had been picked on by other Chevalier cousins who lived within the area. These nobles found pleasure in making sneering comments at her whenever they found the chance to, as they knew that Stel wouldn’t fight them back.

  “Stel, do you think these earrings are pretty? Oh, wait! I doubt you would truly understand since you didn’t know how to pick a decent accessory for a noble dy.”

  “Oh gosh, you’re so mean, Mabel!”

  “Don’t worry about it, Stel. It’s okay to not be educated about it since you’re an alpha. We’ll teach you what kind of things aristocratic dies love to wear.”

  One of Ophelia’s distant cousins, Mabel Chevalier, was the most annoying person to Stel because she attempted to find ways to mock her whenever she could. Other cousins would always join in to ugh at her, but she couldn’t care less. Comparing this to Theo’s violent attitude, she would prefer to listen to these dies yapping since she just needed to pretend they didn’t exist.

  “Hey Stel, you’re free right now, aren’t you? Why don’t you go get more desserts for us?”

  Ophelia and her cousins were enjoying afternoon tea in the garden, and Stel was forced to come along as well. The pink-haired omega sipped her tea as she chose not to say anything to stop them either. As a prideful alpha herself, Stel despised being ordered around like a dog, especially by someone weaker than her. Ophelia noticed that Stel had no intention of complying with her cousin’s orders, so she must take action to discipline the alpha.

  “Stel, I believe you understand that you don’t want to make your life even more challenging than this, correct?”

  Those words reminded Stel of her status in the Chevalier household. She was their prisoner, and her life was in their hands. If they wanted to get rid of her, they could do so whenever they found her worthless to keep. It was like a ticking bomb that could go off at any time. At the very least, she was able to convince herself to follow Ophelia’s and Marquis’s orders.

  “Fine. I’ll be right back.”

  It was supposedly the servant’s job, but these aristocratic dies loved to see an alpha at their feet. They were all sick and twisted from finding pleasure in humiliating her, especially being aware that Stel was the previous Duke’s daughter. Once she came back with a tray of desserts, the young alpha walked off to take a breath of fresh air. She leaned against one of the stone pilrs to the side and was uninvolved with their tea party, so she could have her peace to herself.

  While she was enjoying the view of the garden, the cool breeze carried the scent of her pleasant pheromones into the air. The dies at the tea table slowly shifted their attention and peeked in her direction shyly. Stel had a unique scent of burning pinewood, which exuded a cozy feeling, unlike other alphas that have quite a thick and musky scent. Even though they enjoyed harassing her, they couldn’t deny how charming and attractive Stel was for her age. Thus, Mabel decided to try her luck and ask Ophelia for her permission.

  “Hey Ophelia, what will you say…if you’ll let us borrow her sometimes?”

  “Borrow her for what purpose?”

  “You know what I mean... just a couple of days to have some fun. She’s your alpha, but there’s no harm in sharing a bit, right?”

  “—!?”

  Stel couldn’t describe how disgusted she was with these dies asking Ophelia to lend her to them so that they could sleep with her. These aristocrats treated her like a prisoner, and now they’re going to make her their sve mate? Just the sheer thought of it sent chills down her back and made her want to vomit.

  “Ophelia, have you slept with her before? Is she good in bed?”

  “Oh gosh, Mabel... That’s so unwomanly of you to ask..."

  “Please, I know you’re also curious about that too.”

  They all giggled and had fun with the topic of their conversation while Ophelia sipped her tea while putting on an unreadable expression. The young alpha had the feeling that the pink-haired noble would casually lend her body to her cousins and might as well just accept her fate as of right now. However, deep down, she hoped that Ophelia would help her out like st time…

  “What makes you think I like to share what’s mine with others?”

  Her authoritative tone made everyone speechless in an instant. All eyes were on her, and perhaps they realized that they had asked a question that they shouldn’t have and had crossed the line with her. They were quick to apologize.

  “My apologies, Ophelia. I think we joked a little bit too much, r-right everyone?”

  “I-Indeed! We’re sorry if that sounds like we’ve crossed the line.”

  Stel could tell that wasn’t a joke, and they were serious when they asked that. The pink-haired noble only smiled in silence, but the moment she uttered them, her words were so sharp that they sent chills down their spines.

  “Let me be clear: Stel is mine alone to enjoy. I don’t mind my little alpha being useful with doing some trivial duties for us, but not prostitution service to satisfy your lust and thirst.”

  Her sharp tongue instilled fear in them instantly. As expected from the eldest daughter of the Marquis, she was the embodiment of nobility with prideful standards and would not tolerate any ignoble behaviors. The moment she spoke up, everyone naturally sided with her and agreed that Mabel crossed the line and made such a shameful request earlier. She was humiliated so badly in front of her cousins that it would be hard to make a comeback from that.

  “I just remembered I have matters to attend to, so please continue to enjoy the afternoon tea.”

  Ophelia smiled like nothing happened before she excused herself first. Stel followed right behind her, and she silently exhaled with relief. For once, she was grateful for Ophelia’s nobility for saving her life from becoming one of those dies’ sve mates. Once they arrived at her room, she ordered the younger alpha to sit down on the couch. Silently obeying her, she was wondering what Ophelia was thinking as she stood in silence in front of her.

  The next thing she realized was that her face abruptly turned before being greeted with a sharp stinging pain spreading across the left side of her cheek. Stel was speechless and angry at the same time, since it wasn’t even a light sp, and she could feel the burn numb clearly.

  “You…”

  Stel gred with immense anger, but Ophelia was completely unbothered by her reaction. The noble dy reprimanded her for unnecessarily attracting her omega cousins at the tea party with her pheromones. Even though it wasn’t Stel’s intention, she irrationally decided to punish her anyway.

  “How feral. Should you be giving me that kind of look?”

  “…”

  “As your punishment, remove your vest and unbutton your shirt.”

  “W-What—!?”

  “Don’t let me repeat myself, Stel... or else you’ll make me angrier.”

  The more Ophelia treated her like a dog, the more she brewed resentment in Stel’s heart. The young alpha vowed to herself that the moment she was free from Chevalier’s grip, she would make sure they would pay threefold for what they put her through. For now, she must focus on surviving in this horrendous pce, no matter what it takes…and so she began removing her outer vest.

  “Very good.”

  Ophelia stared down at her in silence as Stel threw her gray vest to the side before she proceeded to unbutton her shirt. At least the only thing that prevented her from drowning in humiliation was her desire for revenge. Once she unbuttoned the third one, Ophelia ordered her to stop before she moved in closer to sit on her p. This level of intimacy made Stel uncomfortable and she tried to back away, but then Ophelia grabbed onto her face, so she couldn’t avoid their eye contact. Their faces were just an inch apart, and her attention went straight to those piercing green eyes.

  “Remember, you’re mine. My sweet cute alpha... so entertain me.”

  “You—!”

  Tiling her head to the side, she exposed Stel’s bare neck before brushing her lips against her smooth skin. The young alpha instinctively resisted and tried to push her away, but then Ophelia pushed back as she used her weight to lock her down on the couch. Even worse, she intentionally released her sweet pheromones to make it harder for her to fight back.

  “Wait! Don’t you dare!"

  The moment she felt the teeth brush against the juncture of her neck, where her scent gnd was, Stel knew what was about to happen. She instinctively pushed Ophelia back, and that made her quite unsatisfied. She sighed and didn’t hesitate to discipline her unruly alpha with another sp across her face. That left Stel stunned for a moment once again before she realized that she shouldn’t have done that. The more she angered Ophelia, the more she put herself at risk.

  “Do you know what you are doing? Try pushing me away again, and I may reconsider Mabel’s request.”

  “…!!”

  “Apologize to me, and I’ll consider forgiving you.”

  Her icy blue eyes were filled with immense resentment as she tightened her fist. She took a short moment to exhale before she apologized for pushing her earlier and said she wouldn’t do it again. Ophelia was certainly satisfied with the alpha’s bitter apology before she leaned in closer and forced their fingers to interlock so her hand was occupied. Nobody in her life wanted to hold her hand, but it wasn’t a choice. If she accidentally pushed Ophelia again, then she would face a life worse than death.

  “Very good… make sure to put on your best act and please me.”

  Ophelia buried her face in her neck and took a deep breath of Stel’s pheromones with great satisfaction. Her scent smelled more like heavily burned wood as it reflected her emotional state, but it was good enough to make her body heat up. Her vender pheromone was getting thicker and stronger, and it was so intoxicating. Stel just hated how she found her scent even more pleasant and how her body was responding to her. It was truly an excruciating experience. The more Ophelia kissed her skin, the more her entire body burned, and her pheromones oozed uncontrolbly.

  “G-Guh…Nngh…!”

  The moment Ophelia buried her teeth in her neck, she felt all her strength leave her body in an instant. Her hands trembled as she gripped her hand back. The stimution from being marked made her heart race, and the controlling omega loved what she was seeing.

  “How does it feel to be marked for the first time? It feels good, doesn't it?”

  “Shut…up…! You are a… disgusting lunatic…!”

  “You could be a little bit more honest like your body. Your pheromone smells even more pleasant than earlier, and it is mixing with my scent so well.”

  She smirked with satisfaction before she kissed the bite mark that she left on her neck and indulged in Stel’s soothing pheromones. The fact that her scent was gradually becoming pleasant meant that she didn’t dislike what Ophelia did. Despite her voice losing its strength, Ophelia could still sense the great hostility she harbored. She pulled back slightly to take a good look at her cute rebellious alpha. Even though her body and instinct may have given in to Ophelia’s intoxicating pheromones, passion and anger were still burning in her icy blue eyes.

  “I don’t dislike how you are so stubborn. It makes me excited to see how long you could st before you surrender everything to me.”

  As the poor young alpha thought it was over, Ophelia proved her wrong the moment she swiftly locked her lips against hers. Stel’s eyes widened, and she didn’t have time to respond before it quickly escated into a deep kiss. The older omega took the lead, and Stel experienced utter helplessness underneath her. She was drowning in her overflowing sweet vender taste. She did everything she could to resist, but the more she did, the longer her lips stayed connected.

  The seed of resentment was constantly nurtured through Chevalier’s harassment.

  She could never forget how helpless she felt that day as she went through humiliation and abuse. She hated every one of these filthy Chevaliers who treated her worse than an animal. This was another moment in her life to remember, as that was the first time she was marked and kissed by the woman she genuinely despised.