Free Web NovelChapter 269: Chapter 269
Nathan’s POV
I stared at Aria, my heart beating fast, yearning for answers.
“A year has passed since that incident, Alpha Nathan. Why bring it up again?” Her tone sent a sharp pain through my chest. She was cold and too formal.
“Leave,” she growled, her eyes flashing amber.
“My pup needs to sleep.”
My mouth opened, words clawing at the back of my throat, ready to spill, but the moment Aria mentioned Lana, everything in me froze.
My gaze snapped to the pup in her arms.
Lana blinked up at me even though she looked a bit drowsy. Her sleep must have been chased away by my presence. Her innocent eyes gleaming like liquid amber beneath the dim lights.
A growl stirred in my chest. Not at her, but at the truth that suddenly lunged at me like a wolf in the dark.
Moon above...Lana looked a bit like me. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
My wolf shoved forward, claws raking at the inside of my skin, instincts roaring to confirm if the baby was ours..
Aria must have felt it or maybe she saw it in me. She shifted Lana in her arms, her body coiled, protective as any mother wolf. Then, she stepped back.
“Leave.”
Her voice was colder than winter steel.
The command sliced through the air. It should’ve made me retreat but it didn’t.
My eyes trembled, vision blurring around thier edges. She stood there, like a fortress I had never learned how to keep, only how to break.
“Are you... sure about the divorce?”
The words tasted like blood on my tongue.
My hands clenched at my sides. I hated how desperate I sounded. I hated that I cared so much. I hated that she didn’t.
She stared at me, unflinching. “Is my stance not firm enough?” That mocking curl of her lips gutted me.
I’d shredded every divorce paper she’d sent in the past. Thought it meant something. Thought it meant she would stay.
My fingers twitched, muscles locking and unlocking as my wolf paced in frantic circles.
I forced the words out.
“I’ll give you time to think it over. If you still want the divorce... I won’t refuse this time.”
My voice was barely there, fading like smoke.
Her silence was the worst answer of all.
I turned away before my wolf could make a fool of me. Before I fell to my knees and begged.
The door clicked shut behind me.
I stayed outside for a while.
My car idled beneath her window, smoke curling around me like ghosts. From here, I could see the faint glow of her room. See the shadow of her holding Lana.
A year ago, she’d been arrested, jailed on vague charges, accused of stealing from my company. But the records in the archives...
They were wrong, incomplete and to an extent seemed manipulated.
And what had I done? I had thrown her into prison without getting all the facts right. I had not acted as a mate, a husband or a protector.
I breathed in smoke, let it burn my lungs like penance.
If Aria was innocent...If she had suffered because of me...If that pup was mine... freewebnovёl.ƈom
My wolf pressed against my ribs, a low, wounded howl rumbling through me.
I ground the cigarette out between my fingertips, welcoming the sting. It was nothing compared to the ache inside my chest.
With a heavy breath, I started the car and drove, not home but back to the office.
I went to dig, to hunt and to find the truth I should’ve known about a couple of years ago.
The lights in my office stayed on until dawn.
My wolf never slept.
And neither did I.
Aria’s POV
Chaos reigned at the Darvin estate like a wildfire left unchecked, but I sat in the calm eye of the storm.
I had made a revelation about my family, a hidden secret uncovered by Amelia and I. What was once a hunch finally turned into truth.
My social media post was prominently displayed on several news network.
"Patrick married my biological mother Margaret for years, yet was secretly involved with her best friend Clarence, and used fake death as an excuse to raise Sophia in the Darvin family for over a decade," it read.
"During those years, not only was I, their biological daughter neglected, but Sophia was favored. After my hospitalization for serious injuries, I was threatened by my father to donate blood to Sophia using my grandmother’s inheritance as leverage. I personally retrieved my grandmother’s belongings from the Darvin family. They were rightfully mine," the post continued.
"I am Selina and none of my works were a product of plagarism All liable for defamation will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
Online discussions regarding my post were relentless. The Darvin Group stock plummeted heavily.
Feeling a little bit relieved that tides had turned, I lounged in a cozy café, surrounded by the warm scent of roasted coffee beans and chatter from people.
Amelia and I huddled over her laptop, our shoulders nearly touching. My wolf prowled just beneath my skin, restless but focused.
“The power of investigation is really impressive,” I murmured, genuinely in awe of the documents she’d dug up. Amelia only smiled, a small, confident curve of her lips.
“If Clarence doesn’t issue a statement in two hours, what will you do next?” Amelia asked, her eyes never leaving the screen.
I smirked, baring the faintest hint of fang. “She won’t. This is just to push them. I want to see what desperate moves they’ll make when cornered.” My voice dropped, low and edged like a blade. My eyes narrowed on the glowing laptop screen.
Every thread I pulled unraveled more shocking secrets, vile truths that made my skin prickle. No wonder my instincts had screamed when they’d asked me to donate blood to Sophia. The Darvin family had been hiding monumental secrets that stank of betrayal and politics.
“Oh, there’s something else I need your help with,” I said, looking directly at Amelia, my gaze sharpening.
What is it? She asked, her tone serious.
