Alpha's Rejected becomes the Lycan's Obsession

Chapter 150: Replaced

Ruby was led outside to the living room where Roman, Williams, Tessy, and Dera stood waiting. The moment her feet touched the living room tiles, her body almost caved in from the weight of fear and uncertainty.

Every breath she took felt like inhaling fire, and the sheer tension in the room was so heavy it pressed against her chest like an anvil. Her pleading eyes, desperate for some kind of mercy, landed first on Tessy’s confused ones.

But the look on Tessy’s face, which was softened with worry but clouded with confusion, didn’t calm Ruby one bit. In fact, it reminded her of just how serious the situation was. That look wasn’t comforting; it was evidence that Tessy herself didn’t know what to believe.

The tense atmosphere forced Ruby to lower her eyes, and once she did, she kept them glued to her toes like they held the answers she couldn’t find. Her fingers twitched at her sides, wringing the hem of her apron as her pulse pounded violently in her ears.

As soon as she appeared before Roman, the one whose very presence could crack bones with silence, she dropped to her knees. Her head remained lowered, dread swirling in her gut like a storm. Her body trembled, and though she tried to tame it, it was no use. The fear clawed at her bones, too loud to silence, too deep to ignore.

Roman regarded her like a devil sizing up his next target. His cold, piercing eyes could cut deeper than any blade, and in that moment, Ruby felt like prey, exposed and cornered.

His presence radiated raw fury, and every second he looked at her without speaking made her soul shrivel a little more. Beside him, Williams looked calm on the outside, still, unmoving, like an undisturbed lake, but Ruby wasn’t foolish. She knew him. Calm on the outside often meant calculating on the inside, and Williams was the kind of man whose calm concealed storms.

"I will give you only one chance to tell me the truth: why did you try to poison my wife?" Roman asked, and though his voice wasn’t loud, it echoed like thunder in Ruby’s head. It wasn’t just a question, it was a death sentence waiting for the wrong answer. The sound of his voice to Ruby’s ears was not human. It was an enraged growl, and at the sound of it, her tears, which had been building up in her lashes, spilled uncontrollably.

She shook her head in denial immediately, her whole body now quivering under the weight of Roman’s gaze. "I didn’t do it, Boss Roman. I did not try to poison her," she said quickly, her voice trembling like glass ready to shatter. "Ma’am Tessy has been only kind to me and I like her very much. I have no reason to do such a thing to her. Even if she hadn’t been kind to me it still wouldn’t be enough reason to want to harm her in any way." Her voice cracked at the end, the tears making it hard to breathe, but she pushed through. Her words weren’t a defense. They were a cry. A desperate plea to be believed. But even as they escaped her lips, she felt the disbelief radiating off the room like heat.

"If you didn’t do it, then who did? How did the poison get into the food?" Roman asked, his tone sharper this time, dragging the truth out like a blade. His stare bored through her like he could see through every lie she might dare to utter. Ruby shook her head again, this time more frantically, her sobs now fully formed and loud.

"I don’t know how it got into the food. I didn’t even know there was anything like poison in the food until Madam Dera pointed it out," Ruby explained, her words tumbling out one after the other like someone running from a fire.

"Who was in the kitchen with you while you were preparing the salad?" This time the question came from Williams, and his tone was calm, but something about that calm sent chills racing down Ruby’s spine. It was the kind of calm that didn’t offer comfort. It offered a promise, a quiet threat hidden behind collected words.

Ruby blinked, her thoughts racing as she tried to remember. Her lips trembled before they moved. "Nobody was in the kitchen with me; it was just me," she responded, each word more painful to say than the last because she knew what it sounded like.

Roman’s nose flared. His jaw tightened, and the fury he had been holding back finally sparked. "You were alone in the kitchen and you’re claiming you did not poison the food? Did the poison float into the food from the air?" Roman flared up, his voice now a thunderclap that made Ruby flinch like she had been slapped.

At that moment, Ruby broke down completely. The sobs overtook her like a crashing wave, her whole body shaking with anguish. Her hands clutched her apron tightly as she rocked on her knees, trembling even more visibly now. She didn’t know how else to defend herself. She didn’t know what else to say. She didn’t even know if her words were making sense anymore. All she knew was that she hadn’t done it. And yet, everything pointed to her. How could she prove what she didn’t even understand?

"Daniel, tell everyone to exit the kitchen," Williams instructed, his voice smooth but commanding. He didn’t yell, didn’t flare up like Roman, but the weight of his words carried the same level of finality. And somehow, it was even more terrifying. Ruby didn’t dare look up. She just stayed on her knees, praying the earth would open up and swallow her whole before things got worse. noveldrama

Daniel moved without hesitation to carry out the instructions. As soon as he left, Williams turned his eyes back to Ruby. This time his voice dropped lower—so low it almost came like a whisper, but one so sharp it pierced through her better than any scream.

"If I find out you’re lying, you would eventually prefer you had not been born."

Ruby’s heart nearly stopped beating.

That single sentence robbed her of breath, and a cold chill raced down her spine, so powerful it made her legs momentarily go numb. She remained frozen, trembling like a leaf in a storm, the weight of Williams’ promise lingering like a ghost over her shoulder.

When Daniel returned, confirming he had carried out the instructions, Williams turned to Ruby again, this time more practically. "Stand up," he said.

Her knees felt like they had fused to the floor, but somehow she obeyed. Ruby stood up slowly, unsteadily, her legs shaking so much she thought she’d fall. Williams gestured for her to lead the way to the kitchen, and she began walking with stiff limbs, her heart beating like a war drum inside her chest. Each step felt heavier than the last, like her legs were wading through thick mud, her hands cold and clammy despite the heat rising in her body from fear.

Williams followed behind her in silence, but Ruby could feel his eyes on her. He was watching everything, her walking steps, the movements of her body, the way her shoulders twitched with anxiety, the rhythm of her heartbeat thundering in her chest. Nothing escaped him.

When they arrived at the kitchen, she stopped just short of entering and hesitated, but Williams gave a simple nod that said "go on." He didn’t need to speak. Ruby took a breath and stepped inside.

"Calm down," he said gently now, surprising her.

His voice, though still low, held none of the venom from before. "Repeat everything you did while preparing the salad. Leave nothing out. Don’t actually prepare it. Just show me and tell me. Every single step."

Ruby nodded slowly. Her mouth opened, but no words came out at first. He must have noticed the panic still raging inside her because he added, "Calm your heart. Try to remember every step. That is the only way you will gain your freedom if you are innocent."

His words gave her a sliver of hope. A sliver was all she had left to hold on to.

She agreed with a nod, even though her heart was still racing like a wild horse. She stood still for a moment and closed her eyes. Inhaling shakily, she began to recall everything she had done, step by step, right from the moment Daniel came to give her the message that she should prepare the salad.

She repeated all her steps, tracing her movement with her hands as she narrated it out loud, how she washed the fruits, sliced them carefully, reached for the herbs, mixed them in the large bowl, how she arranged the ingredients on the counter.

But then she got to the part where she had needed to get the milk from the fridge. She paused after opening the fridge, her brows furrowing.

Something was wrong.

The very milk she had used was no longer there. A different one sat in its place.

She stood frozen, her thoughts screaming. She was very sure she did not finish the milk. She had returned the remaining back. She remembered it so clearly. She remembered even the exact level the milk had stopped at in the glass bottle. But now it was gone. Replaced.

Williams noticed her pause. "What’s going on?" he asked.

Ruby turned to him slowly, her eyes wide with dawning realization and new panic.

"The milk I used... it’s different," she said, her voice hollow. "It has been replaced with a different one."