252 No Redemption
252 No Redemption
Lucian
I sat there, numb.
Lacy’s words kept echoing in my head, each one hitting harder than the last. I couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe the stupidity, the depth of her betrayal, or the sheer cruelty that tied it all together.
Was she telling the truth?
I wanted to scream. To tear something apart. For years, I’d believed my mother’s death was fate-or at worst, politics. But no. Her killer had been circling us all along. Feeding off our lives like a parasite.
Alaric. Chase. That bastard.
I felt my pulse pounding, my hands trembling. Sweat was breaking across my brow. I could barely think. Barely breathe.
I loved Darian, and he only existed because of that night-because of what happened between Martha and my father. But that didn’t erase what Alaric had done. He’d murdered my mother because she rejected
him. Because she chose love over control. And then he tormented her until the end.
He didn’t just kill her. He made sure she suffered.
A quick death? No. That would be mercy. And mercy isn’t for men like him.
I was still boiling when I saw Mara double over and vomit.
I shot out of my seat and ran to her.
“Are you alright?” I asked, kneeling beside her, panic overriding my rage.
She shook her head, weak but focused. “No, Lucian. I need you and your father to calm down. The
pressure is too much.”
And then it clicked. The energy in the room, the storm of emotions-it was crushing her. It was crushing ou
r child.
I turned to my father, silently begging him to pull back.
But instead, he stormed out of the office like a man possessed.
Darian was pale, speechless. Martha-shaking, broken. Crying for the daughter who betrayed her.
And Lacy?
I couldn’t even look at her. Not now.
She’d committed treason. Aligned herself with the enemy. Lied. Stolen. Sabotaged.
The punishment should be death. If this had been any other traitor, they’d already be dead. But I knew
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to judge it accordingly.
But still, the facts didn’t change.
Killing Lacy wouldn’t bring justice. It would just deepen Martha’s pain.
What a waste. What a goddamn shame.
I turned and looked at Lacy.
She sat on the floor, eyes swollen, her spirit cracked wide open. But I didn’t care. Not now.
I forced myself to calm down-just enough to speak. Then I walked back to my desk, sat down, and stared
at her like she was a stain I wanted erased.
“It’s a shame, Lacy,” I said coldly. “You betrayed the only parent who ever truly loved you. And you did it hand-in-hand with the same man she fought her whole life to protect you from.”
I leaned forward, voice low and sharp.
“That deadbeat-that monster-used your mother, sold her, broke her, and she still gave everything she had to make sure you never had to live that life. She sold herself to send money home. She swallowed her pride so you could grow up safe. She could’ve aborted you. Given you away. Let him destroy you. But she
didn’t.”
stood, the pressure building in my chest.
“Because of her, you didn’t grow up like the rest of Goldenpeak. You never had to beg or bleed to survive. You had good food, warm clothes, and decent education. All because she endured things you’ll never
understand.”
I paused, eyes locked on her.
“So what did you do with all that privilege? You lied to her. Drugged her. You planned to drag her back to the very hell she escaped-into the arms of the man who raped and trafficked her. You knew what he was.
You knew what he did. But you did it anyway.”
I shook my head.
“This wasn’t about some fantasy of a happy family. You didn’t want your parents back together. You wanted revenge. You resented her-for calling you her niece. For not staying with your father. For daring to give a better life to Darian, to me, to anyone but you.”
I stepped closer, each word like a blow.
“You knew your father tried to use her to kill my father and me-for money. And you still trusted him. You still helped him. That makes you no better than him. You’d have handed her over willingly. Let him break
her again-just to prove a point.”
My voice dropped, deadly calm.
< 252 No Redemption
“And what? You thought he’d love you for it? That he’d pat your head and say ‘good girl’ because you betrayed the only family that cared about you? You thought you were different?”
I sneered.
“You weren’t special. You were next.”
I turned away, disgusted.
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“You didn’t just help him steal from Steel Corp. You sold military secrets, too-I know you did. You left us vulnerable, stripped us of leverage, and for what? Some pathetic need for validation?”
I looked back once more, final and cold.
“You’re not a victim, Lacy. Not anymore. You’re a traitor. And you’re a wicked person.”
She didn’t say a word.
She didn’t need to.
Everything she was had already been laid bare.
“Your mother will argue that what happened to you in Rockville was punishment enough,” I said, voice cold
and controlled, “but the rest of us feel differently.”
I looked down at Lacy, still crumpled on the floor, her sobs quiet now but present-like she knew what was
coming.
“The truth is, you would’ve gone to any length for your father. And the worst part? You didn’t just fall for
him. You choseto lie. To hide.”
My words sharpened.
“You met him in secret. All while watching your mother wither under his blackmail. You watched her beg
for money, watched her pride fall apart-and you still kept going.”
I stepped closer, unforgiving.
“Martha would’ve sold herself again if it came to that-you know that-and you let it happen. You watched her sell her possessions, sell her dignity, lose favor with my father-just to pay your father off.”
I didn’t hold back.
“She wouldn’t have helped Daniel Northwood get those contracts. Wouldn’t have made my father fund a corrupt deal without inspections-if not for your father’s threats. That’s why her marriage ended. That’s why she lost everything.”
I let it sink in.
“And still, you sided with the man who destroyed her.”
I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t need to.
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< 252 No Redemption
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“If you were truly naïve, truly innocent, you would’ve told her. You would’ve said, ‘My father contacted me, and here’s what he wants.’ And Martha? She wouldn’t have gone to my father. She would’ve protected you. She always protected you. Because she knows the kind of monster he is.”
I straightened, my tone final.
“But instead, you became his accomplice. And for that-you will be punished.”
Her crying deepened, shaking her body, but I didn’t flinch.
“I won’t have you killed,” I said. “Because you’re Darian’s sister. And Martha loves you. And I love my
brother.”
I looked her in the eye.
“Darian might not care what happens to you. But he cares about Martha. And if she’s heartbroken, it’ll affect him. And it’ll affect my father. And I won’t destroy them to make an example of you.”
I paused, then turned to Mara.
“I’m handing this over to my mate. Let her pass judgment. She’s the only one here still capable of mercy.”
Lacy broke down completely, and Darian instinctively pulled Martha into his arms as she wept. She must’ve thought I would sentence her daughter to death-and frankly, she wouldn’t have been wrong to
think so.
“Thank you, Lucian,” Martha linked to me privately.
I didn’t respond.
Lacy was wicked. Deliberate. And she didn’t deserve mercy.
But no one had died-except William. And he was working for Alaric, a pawn like the rest.
Then Mara stepped forward, her voice calm but resolute.
“Before I pronounce your punishment,” she said to Lacy, “is there anything else we need to know?”
Lacy nodded slowly. And then she looked at her mother.
The room went still.
