Mated to the Mad Lord-Chapter 108: Ouch!

Violet had barely finished her question when her words were completely disregarded. Her father, who had remained silent since sitting down, suddenly spoke, his voice cutting through the air like a blade.

"Is that the question? Or should we be asking how you changed your voice to sound like a man and cut your hair to pretend to be one?"

The accusation was so sudden that Violet’s heart began to race. Panic surged as she glanced around, checking to ensure no werewolves were nearby to overhear. If any of them caught wind of her father’s words, the consequences could be catastrophic. She turned a glare on him, snapping back with all the urgency she could muster.

"A-are you mad?" she hissed, her voice sharp and low.

"I agree—Father shouldn’t have said that," Sarah added, her tone barely above a whisper. "There are werewolves around!" But Violet couldn’t shake the suspicion that her father’s words hadn’t been a careless slip. They had felt deliberate.

Before she could dwell on it, Oliver placed his hand on the table, pulling Violet’s attention. Slowly, he unraveled the bandage wrapped around his fingers. What lay beneath made her stomach twist—a grotesque sight of mutilation. One finger was missing entirely. Violet’s breath caught in her throat as, one by one, the rest of her family followed suit. Her mother, her sister, and finally her father all revealed their own disfigurements, each missing at least one finger.

"Wh-who did this to you?" Violet stammered, her voice trembling as she feigned ignorance. She knew full well who was responsible, but the weight of her guilt kept her from admitting it.

How could she tell them that it was all because of her and if not they wouldn’t have had to go through such a terrible thing.

But they themselves didn’t dwell on who did it as Luke, began to immediately speak, his focus elsewhere.

"It doesn’t matter who did it," Luke said, his tone dismissive. "What matters is that we need money. A lot of money. Ten million, for starters."

Violet blinked, caught completely off guard by the demand. A sharp, humorless laugh escaped her.

"Wh-what?" she asked, her voice laced with disbelief.

"We need it to fix our hands," Luke continued, unbothered by her reaction. "And more importantly, to move out of the lower section of the district. You live here six days a week, so you’ve probably forgotten what it feels like down there."

"Ten million?" Violet repeated incredulously, her voice rising before she forced herself to lower it again. She leaned forward, her glare piercing. "Where the hell do you expect me to get that kind of money?"

Her words carried an edge of fury she couldn’t suppress. "Your debt is the reason I’m here in the first place! Do you think I enjoy this? Did you miss the bodies hanging outside this building? That could just as easily be me!"

"Honestly, I feel for you, sister," Oliver interjected, the word sister dripping with sarcasm. He leaned closer, his expression dark and calculating. "But I’d feel worse if I didn’t know about your little arrangement as the Lord’s lover."

The accusation made Violet freeze, her blood running cold.

"If the Lord likes you so much, you can get more than ten million," Oliver continued, his smirk sharp.

Sarah chimed in, her voice soft but pointed. "Of course, you’re not really his lover, are you? Since he thinks you’re a man. But what do you think will happen when he finds out the truth?" Her worried tone did nothing to hide the threat in her words.

"You need a backup plan to get out of here too," Sarah added. "The ten million would be enough to pay off Father’s debt and quit. It would even help us move into the higher section of the district."

"And that wouldn’t be so bad," June, their mother, murmured as she continued to eat. Her delight in the quality and abundance of the food on the table was almost obscene, given the gravity of the conversation.

"I can’t," Violet said firmly, cutting them off before they could push further. "What I have with the Lord is something none of you can understand. It would be better if you all stayed away from—"

Luke interrupted her, his voice colder than she’d ever heard it. "We don’t care about whatever it is you think you have with him. But I’m sure he would be very angry to find out your secret."

The words hit her like a slap, and for a moment, Violet’s lashes fluttered as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard. The air around them grew tense, the weight of Luke’s threat hanging between them like a storm cloud.

"Violet, we’re not threatening you!" Oliver said quickly, his voice a poor attempt at damage control. Sarah nodded in agreement, her tone hurried. "Don’t listen to Father—he’s just desperate!"

But Luke was far from done. Raising his mutilated hand, he slammed it onto the table, the sound reverberating through the room. The stumps where his fingers had been only made the gesture more grotesque.

"I’ve lost three fingers. I’m willing to do anything to get that money," he growled, his eyes boring into hers.

Violet met his gaze, her voice soft but no less cutting. "Even if it means getting me killed?"

Her question hung in the air, a challenge she already knew the answer to. Luke didn’t hesitate.

"You won’t die unless you ignore us. If you refuse to get the money, though..." He let the threat linger, his eyes colder than she’d ever seen them.

At that moment, the truth Violet had tried so hard to avoid became impossible to ignore. The man sitting across from her wasn’t her father—not in any way that mattered. He didn’t care about her. Not as a daughter. Not as a person.

She stood abruptly, her chair scraping against the floor. Her voice was calm but devoid of warmth. "I’ll get you the money—or at least most of it—by next week when I visit."

She turned to leave, unable to stomach the sight of him any longer. But just as she began to walk away, she felt a hand grab her wrist.

Turning back, she saw Sarah, tears streaming down her face. Violet expected an apology or some desperate plea for forgiveness. Instead, Sarah’s words were like another dagger to her heart.

"Can’t I call you?" Sarah asked, her voice breaking. "I have something to ask."

"No," Violet said immediately. "Phones aren’t allowed here. It’s for security reasons."

Sarah’s tears fell harder, her voice trembling as she pressed on. "Then... do you think I could work here too? I lost my job because of this—because of my hand—but I can still work hard! Please, Violet, I need this."

Her sister’s desperation made Violet’s chest tighten. She nodded stiffly, her voice hollow. "I’ll find out and let you know next week." Her guilt binding her to them like a chain.

Without another word, she turned and walked away, not bothering to say goodbye. She couldn’t. Not when her so-called family had become strangers to her—strangers who would sacrifice her without hesitation if it meant saving themselves.