Page 37 of Ellie 3

“Okay,doctor,” Myung mocked as he stood and pushed his siblings aside.

“You haveno regret!” Ha-joon roared. “You tried to kill your toddler sibling and have no regret about it. You’re annoyed we’re talking about it and disappointed that you failed. Not because I’ve ever wronged you or—”

“Of course you did!” Myung blasted. “You challenged me from birth. You challenged my position and—”

“Do you hear yourself?” Ha-joon whispered. “You are a fucking sociopath, Myung. You are unhinged and erratic without thinking your stupid plans through. You lie like the rest of us drink water and are without remorse, regret, or the normal feelings one should have. And I’m done pretending I don’t notice. Not when you came for Ellie and now her sister.”

“Did you really just order some woman to be yours like she was property?” Byeol demanded, looking disgusted. Truly disgusted.

Myung threw her a bored glance. “She’s a bloodsucker who should be useful—”

Ha-joon moved faster than any of us and then Myung was about twenty feet away bleeding and unconscious. He turned away and threw back his head before howling. His eyes were his wolves when he met my gaze. “I will kill him if he tries to hurt Ellie again. You preach and preach about the importance of family. Act on it for once or lose your son.”

“Both of you because you’d be dead if you went for Myung,” my second eldest son grumbled.

Ha-joon just snorted. “I could kill any of you in a million ways that would never be proven. Have some self-preservation to realize how much knowledge I have as a doctor even if you’re too stupid to see that I’m not as dumb as you.”

I grabbed his arm before he stormed off. “Did you mean what you said?”

“Ya, Da, all of it,” he snapped and yanked away from me.

“No, I meant that you think Myung is clinically a sociopath or something,” I clarified.

He lost some of his anger and sighed. “Most of the warning signs taught are to recognize problems in children. Abusing animals—which is confusing since we’re part animal.However, he checks several boxes, yeah.” He started ticking off fingers.“Chronically lying and thinking you’re better than everyone else can be just a spoiled git.

“Except he shows no remorse. The rest of us look like we’ve been kicked in the teeth when Mum is upset or hurt, but not Myung. He reacts late like he doesn’t feel it but picks up on the social cue and mimics it. He gets his jollies manipulating people. He’s aggressive for reasons he shouldn’t be. Theresa not jumping at his plan and praising him that it was amazing?

“Yeah, huge flag. She’s a pawn on a chessboard to him, and that’s a serious lack of empathy or caring what this could do to her life. He would never have a ‘bloodsucker’ as his mate. So he was just going to use her and wanted her to thank him for that. But I can get him tested for Antisocial Personality Disorder. Quietly.”

“We would just have to be honest for once and that comes with risks,” Ha-yun muttered.

“You’ve thought the same, not just he’s an entitled git?” I checked.

“Yes,” she admitted quietly. “I didn’t know the label or which, but he scared me as children. He only acted remorseful about trying to kill Ha-joon when you were both around.”

“That was my drunken joke that too bad he didn’t go through with it,” Byeol admitted, sighing when Ha-joon reacted like she’d smacked him. “Because it would have outed all of this and not just been a knot in my stomach. It was in bad taste, and I am sorry. I’ve been a right bitch to you, and you’re a little shit more than you ever say, but I never, not ever wanted youdead.”

Ha-joon gave a quick nod to accept that before meeting my gaze. “If it were me, I would lock him up. He’s not going to react well to this, and he needs to see that you’ve hit your limit. Throw him in the old cells under the mansion you still use sometimes for bad shifts. I can talk to Dr. Renee Bass. She’s the head of Psychiatry and Mental Wellness.”

“She’s lovely,” Soo-ah muttered. “She would do something quietly to help us. She’s very close with Ellie and was supportive of her being with Ha-joon after her abusive relationship.”

Ha-joon shot his mum an unfriendly look for oversharing, but she didn’t even notice she was so focused on the problem.

“I will take your advice, thank you,” I accepted.

“I have to get back,” Ha-joon mumbled, shooting me a look like he doubted I would really do anything.

And I couldn’t even blame him for that. I fully deserved it. I did as he suggested though and had my sons help me sneak Myung through a separate portal. I didn’t think many saw us, and if they did, most were too busy with everything else.

“You’re still not forgiven until you handle your jealousy towards your own son,” Soo-ah said quietly after she heard what I’d said to Myung when he woke up.

“I love you, my mate,” I whispered. “I’m doing my best.”

She was quiet a moment. “I believe that, and I should have done better too. You can return to our bed, but all is not forgiven.”

No, it certainly was not. I saw that and accepted it.

But I was probably still a git because I went back to Myung and gave him another earful. It was all I could do in that moment.

---