Page 188 of Wisteria and Cloves
"We're not certain yet, but given the timeline and the type of information being shopped..." Nicolaus paused. "It's likely someone who had been around her a lot or even someone herparents paid off. We don’t know for sure yet.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back the wave of nausea that threatened to overwhelm me.Of course.She had played off people before to start rumors and make drama when she was wronged or snubbed. She had gotten a lot of people out of her social circles that way.
I should have expected this. Mother never fought fair—she preferred to destroy people through whispers and carefully planted stories. She'd done it to former friends who'd crossed her, to business partners who'd dared to challenge her, to anyone who threatened her carefully constructed image. Now she was turning those same tactics on me.
"The publisher turned it down," Nicolaus continued, and I felt a brief flicker of relief. "But that doesn't mean others won't be interested. Especially if they can spin it as an exposé on 'predatory alphas' or some similar angle."
Julian's growl was low and dangerous. "Over my dead body."
"That's not all," Nicolaus said quietly. "There's also been inquiries about Lilianna's medical records.” There was silence…then a deep sigh.
"We need to wake her," Nicolaus said, his voice heavy with reluctance. "She shouldn't hear this from anyone else."
"I know." Julian's footsteps moved closer to the bed. "Lilianna? Sweetheart, we need to talk."
I took a shaky breath and slowly turned over, blinking as if I'd just woken up. "What's wrong?" The words came out smaller than I intended, betraying my fear.
Julian was beside me in an instant, his warm hand cupping my face. "Hey, it's okay. We're going to handle this together." But it wasn't okay. I could see it in their faces.
I sat up, pulling the sheets around me as I looked between them. The tender soreness from my time with Julian was suddenly overshadowed by the dread pooling in my stomach.
"Handle what?" I asked, though I already knew. I'd heard enough.
Nicolaus came to sit at the edge of the bed, his expression carefully controlled. "Why don't you shower first? We can talk downstairs with everyone."
"No." The word came out sharper than I intended. "Tell me now. Please."
The men exchanged glances, and Julian sighed, sitting beside me and taking my hand. "Someone is trying to sell a story about you—about us. They're claiming to have inside information about our relationship."
Though I'd overheard this much, hearing it stated directly made it real in a way that eavesdropping hadn't. My chest tightened. "Can we stop it?”
"We're working on it," Nicolaus said carefully, his analytical mind already parsing through options. "Most reputable outlets won't touch unverified gossip, but there are always those willing to publish anything for clicks."
Julian's thumb traced soothing circles over my knuckles. "Miles is tracking down the source, and Christopher's reaching out to his media contacts to get ahead of whatever story might surface."
I pulled my hand free, wrapping my arms around my knees. "What kind of information do they claim to have?" My voice was barely above a whisper.
The silence stretched too long, and I felt my heart sink further.
"Details about our living arrangement," Nicolaus finally said. "How we met and the agreement that was made between our two packs. And..." He hesitated.
"And?" I pressed, though I dreaded the answer.
"Questions about your medical history. Your heat cycles, specifically. And whether you were... prepared for what living with four unmated alphas would entail."
The blood drained from my face. My medical records were private, protected—or so I'd thought. The idea of strangers pawing through the most intimate details of my biology, my omega status, my heat suppressants... it made my skin crawl.
"They can't access those legally," I whispered, but even as I said it, I knew legality had never stopped my mother before.
"No, they can't," Julian confirmed, his voice tight with barely controlled anger. "But they can make implications. Ask leading questions. Plant seeds of doubt about your consent and our intentions. Our age difference also doesn’t help with those doubts if it gets out."
I felt sick. This was exactly the kind of scandal my mother excelled at orchestrating—plausible enough to spread, salacious enough to stick, and devastating enough to destroy everything I'd built here.
"Ten years apart isn’t that bad.” I muttered, though I knew how some people could be. My mother and father didn’t care about the age, but now that they aren’t getting what they want they are using every angle.
"It's not," Nicolaus agreed, his voice firm. "But your mother knows how to twist facts to fit her narrative. She's counting on people not looking too closely at the details."
Julian's jaw clenched. "She's trying to paint us as predators who took advantage of a vulnerable omega. Make it seem like we coerced you into this arrangement."
