Chapter 180: Who Are Your Parents?

Lorali

After my big win at the national championship, which was barely even a week ago, my schedule should have been an endless cycle of victory laps. And sure, I’ve done the mandatory ad shoots, the brand campaigns, the press ops. But under normal circumstances, I would still be out there partying, letting loose, drowning out my brain at some high-end club.

I haven’t, though. I haven’t gone out to party anywhere.

And why? Because the girl I used to party with, Astrid, her parents are the traitorous bitches of my life. She’s the daughter of the very people who are actively using me like a tool. It only clicked in my brain a few days ago, that she was their daughter and now everything feels completely tainted. Sitting around her while she casually shows off all the expensive stuff her parents bought her just feels sick. It’s not like it’s my money directly, but knowing her parents are profiting off my back while secretly talking absolute trash behind my shoulders makes my stomach turn. It just feels so weird to be around her now.

I sat back against the leather armchair, staring across the quiet therapy room.

Vanessa, who is still as dumb as ever, tapped her stylus gently against her tablet, watching me with a soft expression.I am forced to have a private one on one session with her every week.

"Okay, Lorali," Vanessa said softly. "I understand. When you heard these people, your friend’s parents, talking about you like that... did you feel hurt?"

Did I feel hurt after hearing Scarlett talk about me like that? my mind echoed, a cold, bitter knot tightening behind my ribs. I mean... yeah. I really did.

I looked up at Vanessa, forcing my voice to stay even, though my chest felt tight. "Yeah. I mean... it did hurt a bit. Like, I actually looked up to this woman. I’m only figure skating at this level because of her now. I saw her as a parent to me. But then... my only other parent figure set me up, too. She was the Headmistress of Alma, and back then, I saw her like a mother. All of us omegas did. And she set me up to be thrown into this pack. And now, again with Scarlett... I saw her as a mother figure, and again, she set me up to be a cash cow. So yeah, I’m hurt. And I’m disappointed."

Vanessa nodded slowly, typing a few quick notes onto her screen. "Okay. From what I understand from our sessions... you feel like you have no one by your side. You are one deeply lonely girl, Lorali."

I blinked, instantly sitting up straighter as a spike of pure annoyance hit me. Excuse me?

"Oh, wait, that’s not the case at all!" I shot back, waving my hand dismissively. "I have four friends, and we are this close. And I have this other friend, his name is Erin, and we are also extremely close. I have five whole friends. I am not alone."

Vanessa set her tablet down on her lap, leaning forward and looking at me through her glasses with unnerving pity. "But you are, Lorali. You really are. You keep absolutely everyone at arm’s length. And anyone who tries to make a genuine effort to get close to you... you find a way to destroy their lives or hate them."

I clenched my jaw, glaring at her. "Let’s try a different angle," Vanessa continued calmly, adjusting her posture. "Tell me something... how was your relationship with your parents like?"

I stared at her like she had just asked me what color the moon was in plain daylight. "I don’t have parents," I said flatly. "I’m an orphan. Did you not read that in my file? And I feel like I’ve explicitly told you this before."

Vanessa offered a tight, sympathetic smile. "Oh, yes. You are an orphan. How was your time at the orphanage you grew up in?"

A cold, dark shiver ran straight down my spine, my blood instantly beginning to boil. Memories I had buried deep beneath years of survival instincts clawed their way back to the surface, the damp, freezing hallways, the stale porridge, the looming shadow of the ogre and witch.

"Well... horrible," I muttered, my fingers digging into the fabric of my skirt. "My entire time at that orphanage was horrible. The man who owned the place was literally going to kill me if I didn’t present as an omega... and if Headmistress Cleovera had never come to buy me out and bring me to Alma he was going to sell me to an auction house."

Remembering my time at that stupid, wretched little orphanage makes my skin crawl,If the me of today were put in any such position that I was put in back then... I would have burnt that entire building to the ground with everyone inside it.

Vanessa leaned her chin on her hand. "Do you ever miss your parents?"

I let out a sudden, loud bark of laughter, tilting my head back against the armchair. "How can I miss someone I’ve never knew? And aren’t you supposed to be helping me with my pack? Why are you bringing up my parents?"

"This is supposed to help you, Lorali," Vanessa reasoned gently. "Over our sessions together, we’ve had three so far, I find you to be a very interesting character. You claim to hate everyone and everything, but yet you are full of so much emotion for these people you hate. When you won the championship, you attacked a reporter simply because he suggested you only won because Zetana wasn’t competing. You attacked me on our very first session because you wanted to and because I said something that upset you. You attacked Walter because he said something that upset you. I know I may be reaching here... but I feel as though you bottle up so much anger inside you that when it finally blows up, it completely devastates everything around you."

I crossed my arms tight over my chest. "Okay. And what does any of that have to do with my parents that you keep diving into?"

"Do you ever think about them?" Vanessa asked softly. "I mean... being abandoned as an infant can scar anyone. Naturally, a part of you would want to know who they are. What type of people they were. Why on earth they left you as a newborn at an orphanage. Whether they regret it or not. Who they are... just something about them."