Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother

Chapter 208

Elara’s POV

"Why did you leave? Why didn’t you want me anymore?"

The words hung in the air like shards of broken glass. Valerius stood in the doorway, his satchel forgotten at his feet, tears streaming down his face. His dark gold eyes—so much like his father’s—bore into me with an intensity that made my chest crack open all over again.

I scrambled to my feet. My legs were numb from kneeling, unsteady beneath me, but I moved toward him anyway. Arms reaching. Heart splitting.

"Valerius—baby—"

"Don’t." His voice broke on the word. Then hardened. Something shifted behind those wet eyes. The desperation curdled. Twisted. Became something sharp and jagged. "Don’t call me that."

I stopped mid-step.

"You left us." His chin jutted forward. His small hands curled into fists at his sides. "You left and you never came back. Not once. Not for my birthday. Not when I was sick. Not ever."

"Valerius, please let me explain—"

"You’re NOT my mother!"

The scream tore through the room. Raw. Violent. It echoed off the walls and slammed into me with physical force. I staggered backward.

Behind me, Lyra hid behind Kaelen’s leg, sobbing brokenly, her small body trembling.

"You’re not my mother," Valerius repeated, quieter this time but somehow worse. His voice was thick with tears he was fighting to suppress. His eyes were clouded with tears. "My mother wouldn’t have left. My mother wouldn’t have abandoned us. You’re just—you’re just a stranger."

The word stranger landed like a blade between my ribs.

I couldn’t breathe.

The room was shrinking. The walls pressed inward. The air turned thick and heavy, like trying to inhale through wet cloth. My vision narrowed to a pinpoint—Valerius’s face, contorted with rage and grief, swimming in and out of focus.

My chest seized. A steel band tightened around my lungs. My heart hammered so fast it felt like a single continuous vibration rather than individual beats.

Panic.

I knew what this was. I’d felt it before—in the underground rings, in dark alleys, in the moments between waking and sleeping when the memories clawed too close. But knowing didn’t stop it.

"Enough." Kaelen’s voice cut through the chaos. Low. Commanding. The timbre of an emperor who expected immediate obedience. "Both of you. Upstairs. Now."

Valerius’s head snapped toward his father. His mouth opened in protest.

"Now, Valerius." No room for argument. No warmth. Pure authority. "Take your sister. Go to your rooms."

The Alpha command threaded through the words—subtle but unmistakable. Valerius flinched. His jaw clenched, but his body obeyed what his mind resisted. He moved toward Lyra, took her hand, and pulled her toward the staircase.

Lyra went willingly, her small feet pattering on the steps. She looked back once—those green eyes finding me—before disappearing around the corner.

Then silence.

Dead, suffocating silence.

My lungs wouldn’t expand. The steel band tightened further. I pressed my hand flat against my sternum, fingers clawing at the fabric of my shirt as though I could physically pry my chest open and force air inside.

"Elara." Kaelen was in front of me. When had he moved? His hands gripped my shoulders—firm, steadying. "Breathe. Look at me. Breathe."

I couldn’t. I couldn’t see him. The edges of my vision were going dark, sparking with white pinpricks. My knees buckled again, but this time his grip held me upright.

"I can’t—" The words came out in a thin wheeze. "I can’t—breathe—"

"You can. Focus on my voice. In through your nose. Out through your mouth. Slowly."

But the room was spinning. Valerius’s scream echoed in my skull on repeat. You’re not my mother. You’re not my mother. You’re NOT—

I wrenched free of Kaelen’s hands.

Instinct took over. The same instinct that had kept me alive in fighting pits and back alleys for years. Run. When the world collapsed, you ran. When the pain became too much to contain within the walls of your body, you ran until your legs gave out or the distance swallowed it.

I lunged for the front door.

"Elara—"

My fingers closed around the handle. I yanked it open.

And froze.

A woman stood on the threshold.

Tall. Elegant. Warm brown hair swept into a casual twist. A porcelain complexion that glowed even in the dim lantern light. She held a decorative food container in both hands, and her smile was the kind that belonged in paintings—soft, genuine, effortlessly maternal.

Sylvia Vance.

I recognized her instantly. The restaurant. She had been with Kaelen at that restaurant, leaning close, laughing at something he said. Her hand on his arm. The intimate ease between them that had made my stomach turn to acid.

She blinked at me, her smile faltering slightly at whatever she saw on my face. Tear-streaked. Wild-eyed. Gasping for air like a drowning animal.

"Oh—hello." She recovered quickly, her expression shifting to polite concern. "Is Kaelen home? I brought—"

"AUNTIE SYLVIA!"

The shriek came from behind me. Small feet thundered down the stairs at breakneck speed. Lyra flew past my legs—past me, through me, as though I weren’t even there—and launched herself at Sylvia Vance’s knees.

"You brought cookies!" Lyra’s voice was pure sunshine. The tears from moments ago were gone entirely, replaced by radiant, uncomplicated joy. "Did you bring the chocolate ones? The ones with the sprinkles?"

Sylvia laughed—a warm, musical sound—and shifted the food container to one hip so she could ruffle Lyra’s braids with her free hand. "Of course I brought the chocolate ones, little sweetheart. Would I ever forget your favorites?"

"You’re the best, Auntie Sylvia! The BEST!"

Something inside me splintered.

I turned my head. Valerius stood at the top of the staircase. His arms were crossed. His face was still blotchy from crying. But when he spoke, his voice was entirely different from the one that had screamed at me moments ago.

"Sylvia?" Soft. Almost shy. "Can I have two?"

"Two cookies?" Sylvia looked up at him with an exaggerated gasp. "Only two? I made an entire batch just for you, darling."

A ghost of a smile crossed Valerius’s face. Brief. Reluctant. But real.

The steel band around my chest became a vise.

This woman—this perfect, beautiful, present woman—had what I had thrown away. She had their smiles. Their trust. Their easy affection. She stood in my doorway holding homemade cookies, and my children ran to her like she was sunlight.

And I was the storm they hid from.

I was the stranger who made them scream.

I pushed Kaelen away and ran out into the pouring rain. I didn’t stop. The porch steps were wet—when had it started raining?—and my bare feet slapped against the cold stone as I descended.

"Elara!" Kaelen’s voice behind me. Sharp. Alarmed.

I ran.

The rain hit me like a wall of ice. It had come on sudden and vicious—a downpour that soaked through my clothes in seconds and plastered my silver hair to my skull. The road stretched ahead, dark and gleaming. My bare feet pounded against the wet cobblestones. Every step sent jolts of cold pain up through my soles. I didn’t care. I couldn’t feel it. Couldn’t feel anything except the gaping wound in my chest where my children’s love should have been.

They had a mother already. A better one. One who showed up with cookies and knew their favorites and earned their smiles without begging.

I was replaceable. I had always been replaceable.

"Elara, STOP."

Footsteps behind me. Faster than mine. Longer strides. Gaining.

I pushed harder. The rain blinded me. Water streamed into my eyes, mixing with tears I could no longer distinguish from the downpour.

A hand closed around my arm like an iron shackle.

I was yanked backward so hard my feet nearly left the ground. My back collided with a broad, solid chest. Arms locked around me—steel bands across my torso, pinning my arms to my sides.

"Let go!" I thrashed. Kicked. Twisted. "Let me GO!"

"No." Kaelen’s voice was in my ear. Raw. Wrecked. His arms didn’t budge. "I am not letting you run from me again."

"There’s nothing to run FROM!" I was screaming now. The rain swallowed my voice, poured into my open mouth, but I screamed anyway. "You have everything! You have them—you have HER—"

"What are you talking about?"

"Sylvia!" Her name tore out of me like a curse. I fought against his grip with everything I had. My bare feet slid on the wet cobblestones. "They love her! They call her auntie! She brings them cookies and knows their favorites and they SMILE at her—"

"Elara—"

"You replaced me!" A sob cracked through the words. "You already have a perfect life! A perfect family! She’s everything I should have been and you don’t NEED me—"

"That is not—"

"You already have a new love!" The words became a wail. "Then why did you come find me?"