Chapter 144: All three.
Ella.
My eyes slowly fluttered open.
At first, everything before me was nothing more than a blur of white.
The ceiling above my head looked hazy and distorted, refusing to come into focus no matter how hard I blinked.
For several long seconds, I simply lay there, staring upward in confusion.
Then, without warning, a sharp headache split through my skull.
A painful throb pulsed behind my temples, making me wince immediately. I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, hoping the pain would lessen.
It didn’t, instead, it lingered stubbornly, making it difficult to gather my thoughts.
Slowly, the blurriness began fading.
My vision cleared bit by bit until I could finally make out the plain white ceiling above me.
I frowned slightly.
Where was I?
The question barely crossed my mind before I instinctively tried sitting upright.
The moment I attempted to move, however, three different pairs of hands immediately reached toward me.
They gently but firmly stopped me before I could lift myself any further.
"Don’t stress yourself." Lawrence’s familiar voice reached my ears first.
I slowly turned my head toward him, and the instant our eyes met, I noticed the concern filling his gaze.
It wasn’t only him.
Leonard and Lurgard wore the same worried expressions. Their eyes remained fixed on me, carefully watching every little movement I made.
A small wave of guilt settled inside me.
I had worried them again.
Closing my eyes briefly, I tried recalling everything that had happened before I lost consciousness.
The memories slowly resurfaced.
Nathan—his arrogant expression, and the way he had dared to lay his hands on me.
The anger I had felt at that moment had been overwhelming. It had burned so fiercely that everything afterward became a blur.
I honestly couldn’t remember the exact moment I had collapsed.
But then, another memory surfaced, it was not from the outside but from somewhere much deeper.
Before I collapsed, I remembered darkness and silence. I remembered finding myself suspended in an endless empty space.
There was nothing beneath my feet, and nothing around me, only a strange barrier standing before me.
It wasn’t easy to describe.
At one moment, it resembled an impossibly dense cloud and the next, It looked almost like transparent glass stretching endlessly before me.
I remembered throwing myself against it repeatedly. Again and again.
Every impact sent a strange surge of power rushing through my body.
The stronger I struck it...the stronger that power became and then...my wolf...I remembered hearing her growl...No... It was more than that.
She had completely taken over my consciousness. Her fury had echoed through that strange space.
"How dare you?" Her furious bark still rang clearly inside my head.
After that, everything became blank.
That was all I could remember.
I frowned deeply.
What exactly had happened to me?
What was that strange barrier?
And more importantly...what was preventing my wolf from breaking through it?
"Theresa?" Lurgard’s anxious voice pulled me back to reality. "Can you see and hear me?"
I blinked slowly before turning my head toward him. Only then did I realize he had been calling my name repeatedly.
I must have drifted off into my thoughts without realizing it.
"Talk to us, Theresa." Leonard said, as panic was evident in his voice, his brows remaining tightly knitted together as he leaned closer to me. "Are you okay?"
I slowly drew in a deep breath before letting it out just as quietly.
My gaze moved from one face to another—Lawrence. Leonard. Lurgard.
I looked at each of them carefully, taking in every little expression they wore. None of them tried to hide the worry written across their faces.
Their eyes remained fixed on me, searching my expression for the slightest sign that something was still wrong.
The concern in their voices...It wasn’t forced, nor was it out of obligation but It was genuine.
The realization made something warm bloom inside my chest.
For a brief moment, my heart actually ached from happiness. It had been so long since someone looked at me with such undisguised concern.
They were truly worried about me.
The thought alone made my heart soften.
Where...where had these three been all my life?
Why had fate kept us apart for so many years?
If they had always existed...then why hadn’t the Moon Goddess simply given them to me from the very beginning?
Why...why did she place Alex in my path instead?
The mere thought of him instantly soured my mood.
That thick-headed fool. Even now, remembering everything he had done only reignited the anger buried inside me.
No. I wasn’t done with him, not even close. What happened at the ceremony was only the beginning.
He still had a long way to go before I considered us even. I would make him experience every ounce of the pain he had forced me to endure.
I would make him crawl before me and I would make him beg and only then...Would I decide whether he deserved mercy.
Pushing those thoughts aside, I looked back at the three men surrounding my bed.
A small smile slowly appeared on my face.
"I’m fine, all of you." My voice came out calm and reassuring. "I was only trying to calm myself."
The effect of my words was immediate, and almost as though they had all been holding their breath this entire time.
The three of them released quiet sighs of relief at exactly the same moment.
Seeing them react in perfect unison almost made me smile wider.
"You really scared me, Theresa." Lawrence reached over and gently patted the back of my hand, as his expression remained soft. "Please..." He gave me a pleading look. "Don’t do that again."
I couldn’t help smiling. "I’m sorry." I said, as my voice carried quiet sincerity and then I looked at all three of them once more. "Thank you."
The words came naturally and straight from my heart.
Leonard tilted his head slightly. "For what?"
His question made me smile even more.
"For allowing me to handle Alex myself." I held his gaze as I spoke. "I feel... relieved."
Those words alone couldn’t fully describe the weight that had finally lifted from my shoulders.
Still, they understood.
"Well..." Lurgard folded his arms confidently. "That’s exactly what we should do." A grin spread across his face. "So you’d better recover quickly..." His eyes gleamed with determination. "...and finish him off."
A soft chuckle escaped my lips.
The three of them really were adorable.
Each of them had such different personalities yet somehow, they fit together perfectly.
Watching them like this made another thought quietly surface inside my mind.
Why...why had I only chosen one of them back then?
Or...perhaps they had not been telling the truth.
Maybe I had never truly been meant to choose only one.
After all...why choose one...when I could have all three?
The thought lingered quietly in my heart.
I really needed to regain my memories as soon as possible.
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