The Lycan King's Fate Calling (Shawn Gibson and Sylvia)

Crystal's POV:

I was so scared that I couldn't help but shout, "Rufus, get away from Beryl!"

Rufus' eyes darted from Beryl, who was in his arms, and then at me. With a serious look on his face, he asked grimly, "What's wrong?"

Then I looked at Beryl again. The devious smile from earlier was completely gone, and her childish face was full of grievance and sadness. She wrapped her arms around Rufus' neck and looked at me in fear, as if what I saw just now was just an illusion.

This was ridiculous!

I stepped back in a trance, not knowing how to explain.

Even if Rufus believed me, Laura was here and she didn't know what was going on. Naturally, in her eyes, I was being unnecessarily harsh with Beryl.

Neither Laura nor Arron noticed Beryl's abnormality, which meant that Noreen's disguise was flawless.

If I didn't notice the weird smile just now, I too would've fallen for her little act.

Noreen was so damn cunning!

Rufus seemed to sense that I was in a terrible mood, so he put Beryl down and pulled me into a warm embrace. He kissed my forehead and whispered in a voice only I could hear, "Calm down. We'll talk about this later."

I took a deep breath and nodded slightly.

Sniffling, Beryl wiped her tears with the back of her hand and looked at me pitifully.

I returned her gaze and said nothing.

But my silence only served to make Beryl even sadder. Tears streamed down her chubby cheeks, and her nose turned red. She squatted down and buried her face in her hands, sobbing, "Mommy, you don't love me anymore! Why are you so mean to me? Is it because I forgot you were my mommy once? I'm sorry, Mommy! Please don't hate me!"

Her pitiful cries continued, which made everyone present feel sorry for her.

I clenched my fists and felt a sting in my eye and a lump in my throat. For a moment, I almost believed that the girl in front of me was the real Beryl.

But I knew I couldn't believe her. Noreen was a master at deceiving people. She knew how to use one's weakness against them, so I had to be extremely careful.

She was not my daughter.

"Don't cry," I said coldly, looking at her expressionlessly.

Beryl was stunned for a moment, but then she started crying even harder. "You really don't love me anymore! You used to comfort me!"

Enduring the unpleasant feeling in the pit of my stomach, I turned my head away.

"Baby Beryl, don't cry. I'm here for you." Laura picked up Beryl and rubbed her back comfortingly.

Beryl gradually stopped crying under Laura's coaxing.

Laura then took Beryl to the small round table and gave her a slice of cake. Arron also followed them to help cheer up his sister.

While Beryl was distracted, I whispered to Rufus, "When you were holding Beryl just now, I saw her trying to attack you with the bug, so I stopped her."

"I understand," Rufus said gently, but then he gestured for me to stay quiet, shooting a glance

over at Beryl. After cooling down, we also walked to the table.

Beryl was busy gobbling up the cake. When we approached, Laura couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong with you today? What you did was out of fine." "Crystal hasn't fully recovered yet, so her mental ↓

al health

is still in the rut," Rufus explained,

covering for me flawlessly.

Laura's expression softened. "Crystal, you should focus on your recovery. Don't worry about the kids. Rufus and I will take care of them."

I didn't object. She was right. I wasn't fit to take care of my children now.

It was getting late, so Rufus and I decided to stay the night in Laura's palace. After all, if anything happened, at least we were already in the area. The following morning, I woke up to an empty bed.

Rufus had already gotten up and left.

Sunlight flooded in through the window. If it weren't for what happened last night, I might've just gone back to sleep.

But now, I was too anxious to enjoy the thought of sleeping in.

Wrapping myself up with the quilt, I climbed out of bed. Then I gathered the clothes on the floor and got dressed.

I could hear Arron and Beryl playing outside.

When I opened the door, the two children ran up to me. Arron smiled as usual and clung to my leg, while Beryl looked at me timidly.

I tried not to show any emotion on my face and simply scooped up Arron. Rubbing the top of Beryl's head, I said gently, "Let's have breakfast."

In the dining room, Laura was

ordering the servants to serve the

food white Rufus was leisurely

drinking coffee on the sofa. When he

heard me approach, he stood up and walked over to give me a good

morning kiss. In a voice that no one else could hear, he whispered, "Don't worry. I'm watching her."

I nodded and gently squeezed his hand.

Breakfast was ready. The servants took Arron and Beryl away to wash their hands. I wanted to follow them, but Laura stopped me.

"Let the kids go by themselves. They can't always have their mother hovering over them," Laura chastised.

I frowned and thought for a while. Then I gave her a meaningful look and said slowly, "Try not to let Beryl and Arron be alone together. After all, Beryl's been acting strange."

But to my surprise, Laura seemed to

have misunderstood what I meant. She frowned at me and said, "Crystal, what's that supposed to mean? Are you saying Beryl will try to hurt Arron? What's gotten into you? You've been cruel to Beryl since last night!"