Chapter 140: Chapter 140 Three Fathers Revealed

Bella’s POV

I forced my way through the cluster of council members, their bodies pressed so close together I could barely breathe. The space between them felt suffocating, trapping me in their circle of judgment.

The bedroom door remained hidden behind their towering forms until piercing screams cut through the air.

Everyone surged forward at once, and as we spilled into the room, I found Zack and Leah huddled together in the far corner, their small bodies trembling.

Tara thrashed on the bed, her face flushed crimson with rage.

"I want them gone! Get them out of here!" Her voice tore through the room with such force that it made my ears ring.

My heart shattered as I watched my children flee past me, their arms wrapping desperately around Alpha Morris’s legs instead of seeking safety in mine.

The cruel realization hit me like ice water. They knew I would never choose them over Tara when she was like this, so they had learned to find protection elsewhere.

"Well, this settles the matter entirely. These children cannot remain in your care," Lord Morris announced, his voice carrying that same cold authority that made my skin crawl. He was using my children’s fear against me, twisting their terror into evidence. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"This illness controls her completely. It controlled me too, and I have guided these children through her episodes before. How can you stand there and claim my children are unsafe with the very woman you summoned to care for your own?" My voice cracked as the words poured out, every nerve in my body screaming.

The council members behind Lord Morris shifted uncomfortably, their gazes dropping to the floor because they understood the truth in my words.

I stepped toward my children, gently loosening their desperate grip on Morris’s legs and drawing them protectively behind me.

"Tara, sweetheart, you need to calm down," I said, moving toward her next.

The weight of their stares pressed down on me, making my chest tight with anxiety.

In the past, I had always been able to soothe her by simply agreeing with whatever she demanded during these episodes.

"I don’t want them here!" she shrieked again.

But something was different this time. Her voice remained her own, without the otherworldly tones that usually accompanied her worst moments.

The observers could not grasp the true horror of what we were dealing with, leaving me feeling completely alone in this nightmare.

"All right, we can send them to their father. Would that help?" I asked her, watching as her body began to relax slightly.

"You want to send us away, but she is the one being mean to us. Why are we getting in trouble? Don’t you love us anymore?" Leah’s voice broke my heart, her confusion evident in every word.

Zack began sobbing, and I caught the gleam of satisfaction in Lord Morris’s eyes.

"What exactly do you mean by getting in trouble? Does your father hurt you when you misbehave?" he asked, his tone deceptively gentle as he seized this opportunity to interrogate my child.

Children cannot always articulate their feelings clearly, and while I understood exactly what Leah meant, these vultures were twisting her innocent words into something sinister.

"I don’t want to be away from Mommy," Zack sobbed, and his tears revealed the truth. To him, separation from me felt like the worst punishment imaginable.

"Please, Tara, just breathe," I pleaded with her.

I felt stretched between my responsibilities to all of them while these spectators stood around making everything infinitely worse, turning my private struggle into their public entertainment.

"You promised you would make them leave. Are you going to keep your word?" Tara demanded, and every pair of eyes in the room fixed on me with terrifying intensity.

I turned to her and nodded slightly, trying to keep my response as ambiguous as possible.

"No. Say the words. Tell me you will send her away. Promise me you will send both of them away," she screamed, becoming more agitated with each moment I hesitated.

"Yes, you are my only daughter. Does that make you feel better?" I asked, watching her shoulders finally drop as the tension left her body.

"Remarkable. A mother who openly favors one child over the others," Lord Morris commented with fake shock.

My head snapped toward him, my glare carrying every ounce of warning I could muster.

"I am simply stating facts. Do you not see how unfair it is to punish innocent children because one of them is causing problems?" he pressed further.

Tara had returned to herself now, clinging to my side with her entire body shaking from the episode.

At the same time, I could see the hurt and anger burning in Leah and Zack’s eyes as they processed what they had just witnessed.

"You need to stay out of this," I said firmly, pointing directly at Lord Morris while everyone around us gasped at my boldness.

I faced the rest of them, these voyeurs who had come here to watch my world crumble for their own twisted amusement.

"This is what the sickness does to her. Surely you understand that much," I said.

Lord Morris raised his hand, cutting me off mid-sentence.

"Tell us which parent should take custody of the children," he demanded.

His words felt like a blade sliding between my ribs.

"I don’t understand what you mean," I said, my breath coming in short gasps.

"Mrs. Bella Vance, we must place you under arrest and restraint while we investigate how a she-wolf could bear three children to three different fathers. Since we have learned there are three different alphas involved, we require their identities. We must also determine whether you pose a supernatural threat," one council member stated with clinical detachment.

My mind raced frantically, trying to figure out my next move.

Their faces showed barely contained fury, and if I fought back now, they would use my resistance as proof of my alleged aggression.

"So reveal them. Who are the three alphas who fathered your children?" another council member pressed.

I closed my eyes, clenched my hands into fists, and forced the words out.

"Alpha Hugo, Alpha Derek, and Alpha Parker," I said.

"And who should care for your children during this investigation?" Lord Morris asked, his shocked gasp still echoing in the room.

I met his stare directly, knowing exactly whose name he expected to hear, and I refused to give him that satisfaction.

"Alpha Hugo," I said, watching his face darken with disappointed rage.