Chapter 75: breaking walls

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: breaking walls

The three brothers reached the recovery room and stopped just as they stepped in.

Amelia was still being fed, accepting each careful spoonful while Madame spoke in a low voice.

Whatever the conversation was, it had drawn a rare, sustained brightness to their mother’s face—something none of them had seen in a very long time. The sight of it held them still for a heartbeat.

Madame looked up, noticed them, and her smile widened at once.

"Speak of the devils."

Reid’s mouth curved into that half- charming smile as he stepped further into the room.

"Now, Mom, where are those manners you raised us with?"

Madame fixed him with an unimpressed look.

"The same place you three left your sense of timing. Hovering in doorways like lost pups isn’t the entrance I taught you."

She gestured toward the empty space around the bed.

"Sit. All of you."

Chairs scraped softly as the brothers brought them closer, forming a loose half-circle around Amelia’s bed. The sudden nearness of them made the room feel smaller.

Amelia kept her eyes on the tray for a second longer before Madame continued, completely unbothered.

"I was just telling Amelia a few of the more... memorable moments from your childhood."

Enzo’s voice cut in. "That’s not what we came here for, Mother."

Madame waved a hand at him without looking away from Amelia.

"Shush. I know perfectly well you’re all dying to have her to yourselves. Practice a little patience for once."

Amelia’s free hand came up and covered her face.

Madame’s eyes lit with remembered amusement as she turned slightly toward Dean.

"When Dean was five, he decided he was far too grown for me to keep bathing him. Absolute rebellion. He used to hide under the bed the moment he heard water running. Once he locked himself in a cupboard for nearly an hour. Another time he smeared himself in soot from the fireplace so I’d give up and leave him alone. I still don’t know what set him off that badly."

Dean did know.

The mole. The one secret no one else had ever discovered—except the version of Amelia who walked in her sleep. He dragged his long silver-black hair forward like a curtain, hiding most of his face as a low, mortified sound escaped him.

"Mommmm..."

Madame only smiled wider, clearly enjoying every second of his discomfort, and kept the teasing going just long enough to make him sink further into the chair.

Reid’s laughter broke first and Madame’s attention snapped to him at once.

"And you. There was that girl who turned you down flat because she preferred Dean’s beautiful long hair. I believe that was the exact day you decided to... what do they call it these days? Sharpen your ’charming’ skills."

Reid sat up straighter, expression wounded and theatrical all at once.

"I was the one who rejected her. And can we please stop dragging those days into the light?"

Madame’s voice softened. "Those were some of my happiest days. They still are."

She set the empty bowl aside and rose. The shift in her posture signaled the end of the gentle chaos. Looking at her sons, she spoke with quiet warning.

"Do not stress your partner. Not even a little. If I hear a single call of distress, I am not so old that I can’t still give all three of you a proper spanking."

Reid and Dean both shifted at the same time, hands twitching as if they might instinctively cover their backsides—old childhood reflexes rising before either of them could stop it.

Madame leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Amelia’s hair. "Take care."

Amelia’s thoughts followed her out.

Don’t leave me here with these men.

But it was already too late.

The door closed behind her with a soft, final click. Silence settled over the room, thick and awkward. Enzo cleared his throat once.

"How are you feeling?"

Amelia lowered her hand from her face and met their eyes. "I’m fine. So... what kind of punishment am I getting this time?"

All three brothers looked at her in open confusion.

She continued. "I caused a complete disaster back in the Blacksmith Territory. Obviously I’m going to be sanctioned for it, right?"

Enzo’s brow furrowed further. "We’re not that terrible. And that isn’t what I wanted to say."

Amelia gave a short, dry breath and tilted her head.

"Correction—you are that terrible. And I don’t believe for a second that the three of you actually came here because you were worried about me."

It would be nice if they had, a quiet part of her admitted before she could stop it. But come on. Why would I expect that from the devilish brothers?

The same thought sat uncomfortably in all three of them. The way their chests had tightened watching the lightning take her still didn’t make sense. Where had that feeling even come from? E

Enzo spoke as if he were choosing each word carefully. "We came to thank you. You saved our lives back there."

Amelia’s mouth opened. The question—how?—rose automatically. She closed it again. Asking would sound like concern. And she wasn’t concerned. She refused to be.

Dean’s gaze stayed on her. "We also misjudged you."

Reid leaned back slightly, one corner of his mouth lifting in something that was more like an attempt to lighten air that had grown too heavy.

"We’re cruel, sure. But not stupidly cruel. There’s a difference. Like the difference between a regular nightmare and one where you’re also missing your pants and your dignity is sprinting away in the opposite direction."

Amelia fixed him with a flat look, one eyebrow slowly rising. "Was that supposed to be funny?"

"A little."

"It wasn’t."

Enzo continued before Reid could dig the hole any deeper. "We no longer believe you’re connected to the Underworld Territory. Which means—"

"Which means," Amelia cut in as she sat up straighter against the pillows, "that this entire contract was a waste of time for both sides. You could have used those thick skulls of yours to figure it out properly instead of torturing me for weeks, forcing me into being your mistress, and then turning me into your wife so I would follow every order you gave without question. If you’re thinking of breaking the contract, that would be the best news I’ve heard in weeks. Or you can call it a reward for ’saving your lives’—whichever version helps you sleep better at night."

She stopped.

The expressions across from her weren’t angry. If anything, they looked irritated with themselves. None of them rushed to defend themselves. The silence that followed was heavier for it.

She looked at each of them in turn.

"But at the end of the day... even if you offered to break it, I would unfortunately have to disagree."