Free Web NovelChapter 276: Chapter 278 Difficult Decisions
Hudson’s POV
I stood up immediately, my body tensing. "Brief me on the way. Dom, call the pilot. Get the plane ready and file the flight plan. Let me know the second it’s approved."
Dominic was already on his phone, fingers flying across the screen. "On it, Alpha. Where are we headed?"
"Paris."
"You’re flying to Paris?" Lea asked, her eyebrows shooting up.
I nodded, already gathering essential items from my desk. "Franklin was Christina’s father. His suicide will hit her hard, regardless of their relationship. I need to be there with her."
"I’ll walk you down," Lea said, matching my rapid pace as I headed for the executive elevator. "What exactly landed him in prison?"
"Everything you can imagine. Embezzlement, fraud, forgery, tax evasion. When I asked him to create a will leaving his assets to Christina, he tried to forge documents to hide money offshore instead."
"So you’re the one who put him behind bars," she stated bluntly.
"He put himself there. I just accelerated the inevitable."
"Interesting," she murmured.
"What?" I glanced at her as the elevator descended toward the parking garage.
"Does your Luna know your role in this?"
"Of course. I never kept it from her."
"So she knows you’re directly responsible for her father’s imprisonment." ƒгeewёbnovel.com
"There was no love between them," I replied firmly. "Far from it."
"Like our parents and us. I get it." Lea nodded knowingly. "Still, I wonder..."
"What exactly are you getting at?"
"How she’ll react when she hears he’s dead. What happened again?"
Dominic, standing with us in the elevator, answered. "Suicide. My sources say he couldn’t handle prison life. The Crescent pack’s Alpha was used to luxury and privilege. When he refused to pay protection money, the other inmates targeted him relentlessly."
"So if he hadn’t gone to prison, he probably wouldn’t have killed himself," Lea pointed out. "He wasn’t typically suicidal, was he?"
"No, he wasn’t," I admitted. freewēbnoveℓ.com
Franklin was greedy and manipulative, the type who’d sacrifice anyone, including his own daughter, for personal gain. I had blocked his parole attempts at every turn, which might have contributed to his desperation. But I didn’t force him to commit those crimes in the first place.
Lycaon growled within me. "His choices led him there. Not yours."
Lea studied my face intently.
The elevator doors slid open into the underground garage. I stepped out briskly.
"What now?" I asked, noticing her continued scrutiny.
"Are you certain seeing Christina right now is the best move?"
"Why wouldn’t it be?"
"She might blame you for her father’s death."
I stopped abruptly and turned to face her. "Explain."
"Look, he wouldn’t have killed himself if he wasn’t in prison. And he wouldn’t be in prison if you hadn’t pushed for it," she said bluntly. "You can’t ignore that connection."
"The pack legal system put him there," I countered.
"Come on, Hudson. We both know how things really work." She glanced toward Beta Dominic, who had moved ahead to bring the car around. "Regardless of their relationship, he was still her father. It would be natural for her to feel something and possibly lash out. You’ll be standing there, tied to this whole situation, making yourself an easy target."
I frowned. "Christina despised her father. She cut ties with most of her family. She won’t see it that way."
"Are you absolutely certain? We came from similar backgrounds. You, me, Kylian, and the rest. Parents who couldn’t be bothered with us, shipping us off when we were inconvenient. We hate our parents. Hell, I celebrated when you sent your father to that remote outpost in Africa. Personally, I thought that was too merciful by your old standards. But you didn’t feel even a hint of guilt, did you?"
"Not for a second." If I never saw their faces again, it would be too soon.
"But Christina isn’t like us. You’ve said so yourself. She’s more... normal. And normal people react differently to loss. Even if she hated him, learning about his suicide will trigger something. And that something might get directed at you."
Dominic pulled up in the black SUV, engine purring softly. He waited for me to get in.
I remained rooted in place, weighing Lea’s words. "So you think my delivering this news personally is a mistake."
"Honestly? Yes. If you weren’t so blinded by..." She stopped herself. "Look, what’s your endgame here? If she truly doesn’t care about Franklin anymore, your presence won’t matter. If she does care and blames you, you’ll only make things worse. Either way, I don’t see the benefit."
Lycaon snarled within me. "She’s your mate. You should be there."
"Alpha?" Dominic called through the open window. "The pilot just confirmed. Flight plan to Paris is approved. We can take off in an hour."
I looked between Dominic behind the wheel and Lea’s concerned expression.
The Crescent pack would be in chaos with their Alpha dead. Christina’s mother Caroline was too weak to lead. The pack members would be scrambling for position, fighting over assets and territory rights. Without Franklin’s iron grip, everything would fall apart.
Christina might not mourn her father, but she’d have to deal with the fallout. Her pack responsibilities, her family company, everything would be affected. I had been handling many of the pack’s affairs while Franklin was imprisoned, but this death changed everything.
I had a decision to make, and I needed to make it now.
