Rejected and Claimed by her Alpha Triplets-Chapter 44 - invisible

44

~Lisa’s POV

The water was cold against my skin, but I didn’t stop scrubbing. I kept rubbing my arms, my legs, every inch of myself like I could somehow erase what happened. Like I could wash the pain out of my bones. My fingers were sore and trembling, the towel rough against my skin, but I didn’t care. I wanted to feel clean. I wanted to feel like myself again. But the harder I scrubbed, the dirtier I felt.

Tears ran down my cheeks, warm and endless. I tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming. My shoulders shook with each sob as I knelt beside the bucket, breathing hard, my chest tight. I pressed my forehead to my knees, curling into a small ball on the cold floor.

I didn’t know how long I stayed like that. Minutes? Hours? Time didn’t make sense anymore.

Eventually, I pulled myself to the bed, still damp, my skin burning from the harsh scrubbing. I didn’t even bother drying off properly. I wrapped myself in a thin cloth and lay down, face pressed into the pillow. My eyes were swollen and sore from crying, my body aching in ways I couldn’t describe.

The pain wasn’t just physical. It was everywhere. Inside my chest, my heart, my mind. I felt shattered. Like something inside me had broken that would never be fixed.

I cried myself to sleep.

But peace didn’t last.

The banging on my door startled me awake.

"Open up!" a sharp voice barked.

Before I could respond, the door creaked open, and two maids stepped inside, smirking like they had just stepped into a comedy show.

"Well, well," one of them sneered. "Sleeping Beauty is finally awake."

"Get up," the other one said. "Your presence is needed in the kitchen. You know, where servants belong."

I blinked at them, trying to gather myself. My muscles screamed as I pushed myself up from the bed. I was still sore, my head throbbing, but I forced my legs to move.

They watched me struggle, arms crossed, their eyes full of judgment.

"Look at her, walking like a broken doll," one laughed. "Guess the alphas got tired of her real quick."

"Tch. Just another toy they played with and tossed aside."

I said nothing. I didn’t look at them. I just followed behind them slowly, each step a battle. Their whispers trailed behind me like poison.

When I finally reached the kitchen, the warmth of the ovens did nothing to comfort me. The noise of boiling pots, knives chopping on wooden boards, and feet shuffling around felt too loud. I just wanted to shrink into myself.

Matilda, the head maid, stood at the center of the chaos, arms folded, her sharp eyes catching me the moment I stepped in.

"So she finally shows up," she snapped, walking toward me with heavy steps. "Where have you been? Who permitted you to abandon your station?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. My throat was dry. My heart pounded.

"Well?" she barked.

"I was... sick," I managed, my voice barely a whisper.

Matilda scoffed. "Sick? Are you the first maid here to bleed and cry? Are you the first one to be disvirgined? Do you think we all came here untouched? Grow up. This is the palace, not a place for soft-hearted girls."

The maids behind me snickered. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks. Shame burned through me like wildfire.

"Since you’re so weak," Matilda continued, shoving a basket into my arms, "you can start by washing the vegetables. Alone. And if anything is late, you’ll answer for it."

I nodded slowly and turned to the sink.

The basket was heavy in my arms, and as I dropped it beside the large metal sink, I could feel everyone’s eyes on me. But no one offered help. No one even spoke to me again. It was as though I had become a ghost among them. I stood there, staring down at the dirty pile of vegetables, mud, and grit caked onto each one. My hands moved mechanically, lifting the first one and scrubbing it clean under the cold water. The chill seeped into my fingers, but I didn’t complain. I didn’t make a sound.

I scrubbed harder than I needed to, trying to drown out the thoughts screaming in my head. Matilda’s voice. The mocking laughter of the other maids.

The water splashed against the steel basin, the only sound I allowed myself to hear. I bent over my task, determined to focus only on the next vegetable, the next thing to clean. My hands were red and raw, my back already aching.

As soon as Matilda walked away, the noise in the kitchen returned, but it wasn’t just pots and knives anymore.

It was whispers.

Snickers.

Mockery.

I kept my head down, focusing on the vegetables, my hands moving even though they were shaking. The water ran over my fingers, but I barely felt it anymore.

"She thinks she’s special now," one maid muttered, just loud enough for me to hear.

"Special?" another scoffed. "Please. Even the alphas dumped her like trash. I heard they didn’t even look at her after using her."

A wave of heat rushed to my face, not from anger, but from shame. Embarrassment. Hurt. I kept scrubbing. I didn’t dare look up.

"I don’t know why she’s still here," a third one added. "She’s just a human. A broken one at that. What’s she good for anymore?"

They all laughed.

Their words stabbed into me, deeper than any cut.

"Maybe she thought one of the alphas would fall in love with her," the first one teased. "Isn’t that cute?"

More laughter. Cruel. Cold.

I clenched my jaw and scrubbed harder. The sink was full of vegetables now, clean and ready, but I kept washing the same one over and over. Just to stay busy. Just to avoid hearing more. Just to survive the moment.

One of the girls walked past me and ’accidentally’ bumped into my shoulder. My body jolted from the sudden pain, but I didn’t say anything. I just held my breath.

"Oops," she said with a smirk. "Didn’t see you there. You’re so... invisible."

I swallowed hard.

I was tired. Tired of being mocked. Tired of being treated like less. Tired of carrying pain while everyone around me laughed at it.

But I said nothing.

Because I had no voice left to fight.

And no one would listen if I did.

So I just kept working.