And some secrets were long overdue for exposure.
Chapter 9%
It didn’t take long for the people I sent out to return with information.
The video footage was damning–Maya and Damian entangled together, her breathy moans laced with forced pleasure. Her youthful, supple body contrasted sharply with Damian’s aging frame, but it was clear she was doing everything she could to please him.!!
She bent her body into angles no human should manage, her seductive posture a far cry from the innocent image she usually portrayed. “Let your hair down, show your side profile. Yes, like that… Ah, Vera, do you like that?”
Ver?
Seemingly accustomed to being mistaken for her mother, Maya obediently tilted her head, revealing her profile without flinching as she cooed. “Mmm. Damian, you’re amazing.”
Disgust chumed in my stomach, but I forced myself to keep watching.
The footage shifted. Now Maya nestled in Damian’s arms, voice sickeningly sweet. “Darling, when will all of the Silver Moon Consortium be ours? That old hag and Amalia–ugh–they’re such eyesores.”
Damian stroked her hair, clearly pleased by her submissiveness. “Be patient. I’m the only son–in–law those two old corpses have. That brat Amalia might be my daughter, but with me around, she’ll never inherit a thing. Besides, she’s just used goods now–abandoned and unmarried. Not even a real Alpha.“”
So that was it. They had their eyes on my grandparents‘ empire all along.!
I had underestimated how greedy and revolting Damian really was.
But his next words made my blood nun cold.
“When the time comes, I’ll arrange for her to disappear. You’re the daughter I truly love. Anything you want, I’ll make sure you have it.” So this was my biological father’s plan. He had been plotting my death all along.
I closed my eyes as memones from over the years came rushing back
In the beginning, when Weston leamed he was my fated mate, he didn’t reject me outright. He even sought me out occasionally. But Damian had this talent for twisting every situation–painting Maya as pitiful, always making it seem like I was the one bullying her.!! Eventually, Weston’s gaze toward me changed–from warm curiosity to bitter resentment. Meanwhile, his bond with Maya deepened.
He had never loved me.
He was willing to strip me of everything–even my life just for her
I drew a deep breath and calmed the rage rising from my wolf.
Soon, another report arrived from the people trailing Maya.X
*Young Miss, Maya slipped away from Damian’s house in the middle of the night. She went to meet a strange man. She promised him that he would become an Alpha.”
My brows furrowed.
Maya? A low–ranking Omega herself–how could she possibly make someone an Alpha?
“From what we gathered,” the report continued, “The might be her fated mate.“”
Her fated mate?!
Something clicked in my mind. I ordered a full investigation into every location Maya had recently visited.
Then I drove myself to the site of her late–night meeting.
It was an abandoned warehouse, overrun with weeds, eerily silent.
I pushed open the rusted iron doors. A strange scent hit me–earthy, metallic and something else.
Following the trail, I found a man standing with his back to me. He wore the same clothes as the man from the surveillance footage.
I began to summon my Alpha power silently, just in case–but the man turned around on his own. His voice trembled. “Y–Young Miss? Is that… is that really you?“!
I studied the thin man’s face carefully. A once–familiar young face overlapped with the man standing before me.&
“You’re… Sebastian?“%
His face lit up, and he nodded excitedly.
Sebastian had once been a servant’s son in our household. We were close as children, often playing together until I left for the Alpha academy. I hadn’t seen him since. Now here he was–Maya’s fated mate?
His eyes were still as clear as I remembered. But I had to ask.
“Are you really her mate?”
He nodded slowly, hesitating. “Young Miss… Maya… she’s not a bad person, just=”
I let out a cold laugh
To many, Maya appeared innocent and delicate. But I knew betterä
Sebastian seemed to sense my disbelief and said no more, remaining humble.
I cut straight to the point. “Are you two plotting something?“%
Sebastian shook his head. “I no longer serve the Schultz family, I can’t tell you more. But I swear–I would never hurt you.”
It was clear I wouldn’t get anything else out of him, so I turned to leave.
0:44 AM
But then I caught a strange scent–sweet, almost pleasant, but laced with blood.
My wolf growled low inside me
I followed the trail to a dark corner–and froze.
A man lay unconscious, covered in blood. His clothes were tattered, his face smeared with dirt and wounds. I couldn’t see his features. clearly in the shadows, but his Alpha presence pulsed unmistakably.
I turned to glance back at Sebastian, then down at the bloodied man at my feet.
It seemed something dark and dangerous was unfolding here.
