Mated To The Crippled Alpha-Chapter 361: Atone for Your sins

There were too many people with that surname. That was probably why they never connected it sooner.

I crossed my arms and looked at him coldly.

"So tell me," I asked, "did the Morrigans truly commit sins?"

Josh immediately denied it. "Those were grudges from the older generation. How would I know anything about that?"

Vito’s eyes turned sharper.

"It doesn’t matter if you didn’t know. My grandparents died. Wisteria’s grandparents died. Your family stepped over our blood and rose. All these years, we lived in fear. The elders who survived lived in sorrow every single day. You destroyed a family. And now you dare say you didn’t know?"

His voice hardened even more.

"Fine. I’ll make sure you remember."

For the first time, I saw real rage in Vito. Not his cold silence. Not his obsession. This was pure fury.

He raised a dagger.

Whitney moved before anyone else could.

She rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"Vito, don’t hurt them."

Her words cut through his anger immediately.

He froze.

Then she looked up at him with tears shining in her eyes.

"You invited them to the wedding, didn’t you?"

That was when I realized I had underestimated how deeply he felt for her. This man had carried hatred for years, yet he still went through all this trouble to bring the Morrigans here for one reason.

So they could witness her wedding.

Josh looked dazed. "Wedding? Whose wedding?"

Vito straightened and pulled Whitney into his arms.

"Mine and your daughter’s," he said coldly. "Dear father-in-law."

Josh stared at them.

"Y-you two..."

Then his body gave out.

He collapsed.

"Dad!"

"Honey!"

The room exploded into panic, but Vito stayed calm.

He looked at his men and said, "Get a doctor. Make sure he stays alive. Don’t let him die and ruin the occasion."

Hearing that gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.

It was ugly.

It made me wonder if something inside me was broken too.

As the doctor tried to save Josh, I felt nothing. Not fear. Not concern. Honestly, part of me thought it would be better if this unfair man died. Maybe only then would he understand the pain I had carried.

While I stood there with no expression, Kate walked toward me carefully.

"Elena, we misunderstood you," she said weakly. "Can you let go of your anger toward us?"

I had seen enough fake tears for two lifetimes.

"Mrs. Sander, stop wasting your tears. They mean nothing to me."

Greg looked at me in outrage.

"Elena, Dad is in a coma. Must you still say things like that? Do you want to upset Mom even more?"

That man, who was supposed to be my brother, made me laugh.

Not because he was funny.

Because he was absurd.

He glared at me. "How can you smile? You’re so heartless!"

"Greg," I said coldly, "are you trying to put all the blame on me just to make yourself feel less guilty? Now the truth is out. The Blackwells were behind everything. And the way all of you treated me before was beyond cruel. Do you really think I’m responsible for what happened today?"

I stepped closer.

"Don’t forget something. I was the first one to die."

My voice shook, but I didn’t stop.

"I died on a snowy night after being abandoned by my fiancé. None of you cared enough to look for me after I disappeared. Because of that, my body was mutilated, skinned, and broken. What did I do to deserve that?"

I looked straight at him.

"My only crime was being born a Morrigans."

"You—"

Greg lunged at me.

Carter moved faster.

He kicked Greg hard, sending him crashing into the coffee table. Greg groaned in pain, but Carter didn’t stop. He grabbed him by the neck and smashed an ashtray into his head.

Blood splashed onto the floor.

Kate froze.

Then she screamed.

Carter was about to hit him again when I grabbed his wrist.

"Carl, stop. There’s no point hurting someone like him. You’ll only hurt yourself."

He went still.

Then, realizing how brutal he looked, he let the ashtray fall. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Sorry, Elena."

I glanced once at the others.

"They’re not my family anymore. Go rest, Carter."

I didn’t bother explaining anything else.

There was no point.

To me, my family died with me on that snowy night.

I didn’t want to stand there and watch them cry. I didn’t care whether their tears were real or fake. The Elena they once knew was gone.

Once, I thought I was too heartless.

Now I understood something else.

I hadn’t been cruel enough.

I left with Carter, ignoring Greg’s desperate voice behind me.

"Elena, wait! Come back! Explain!"

I didn’t turn around.

When the door closed behind us, Carter gently wiped the tears from my face.

I looked away quickly, annoyed at myself.

"Why would I cry over people like them? It’s just... dust in my eyes. That’s all."

Before I could say anything else, Carter pulled me into his arms.

"There’s no one else here," he said softly. "Let it out if you need to."

That was all it took.

I grabbed his shirt and finally broke. My tears soaked into the fabric as my body shook. My voice trembled when I whispered against his chest,

"Carl... did I deserve to die?"

The pain I had buried for so long finally burst free. It rose inside me like a storm I could no longer control, and the tears I had never shed when I was only a wandering soul poured out now without restraint.

Only Carter truly understood how heavy my heart was. He knew the weight of my sorrow, the depth of everything I had lost, and the bitterness that still lingered inside me. No one else could see it the way he did.

Bill and Philippa had been kind to me. They treated me with warmth and patience, and I knew they cared for me deeply. But no matter how gentle they were, they could never replace the parents who had raised me.

Sometimes their kindness made the pain even sharper. It reminded me of the parents who had chosen to abandon me again and again.