113 Unbelievable
Mara
I sat in silence, replaying the chaos of the breakfast table in my mind. That room had seen its share of ugly moments–but today? Today was something else. I never thought Lucian would go toe–to–toe with his father
like that.
When I first told him what Alpha Vander had said to me in the office, he seemned calm. Unbothered. I didn’t expect him to erupt like that, not in front of the whole family.
The truth is, I’d grown used to the insults. I’ve been called everything–gold digger, social climber, bought bride. It never hit too deep because I knew who I was, and more importantly, I knew who I was to Lucian. But Vander’s words… they stung. Not because they were new, but because he knew better. He wasn’t some outsider whispering gossip.
He was the man who forced my parents to hand me over, and yet he stood there in my office and spun it like they sold me off willingly. And he said it in front of Lacy, no less. That was the part that scraped deepest.
I’ve never liked him, and the feeling is mutual. To me, he’s always been a coward, too weak to stand up to his mate, too proud to own his mistakes.
A disgrace to the name he bears. But even I had to admit–when he looked Lucian in the eye and apologized… that meant something.
He didn’t have to. He holds the power in this family. There’s nothing Lucian could have done to force that from him. But he did it anyway. Maybe because, deep down, he knew how far he’d gone. Maybe because, somewhere under all that pride, he still loved his son.
But Lucian’s love? His loyalty? That breakfast proved it was deeper than I ever imagined.
He didn’t just defend me. He fought for me. He called out every lie, tore down every insult, and made it clear to everyone that I wasn’t a possession–I was his equal. His partner. His wife.
Watching him stand like that–fierce, fearless–I realized something simple but seismic: there is nothing this man wouldn’t do for me.
And goddess help anyone who forgets that.
The revelation hit like a rogue wave. Martha–prim, poised, and proudly married to Alpha Vander–had once belonged to another man. Not just a passing fling or a high school crush.
A serious relationship. One that resulted in a child. A child who died. And a man who still had her shackled, twenty–three years later.
It was hard to wrap my head around it. Martha had always worn Vander’s name like a crown and wielded his title like a sword. She acted like the Alpha was her first love, her only love, the center of her world. But that was clearly a lie. The truth, sharp and unrelenting, had torn through her perfect mask.
But even as she cried and trembled, I didn’t buy the whole story. Not fully.
She said she left the man because he was violent. But something in her tone–some bitterness buried under the fear–sounded more like resentment than trauma. Like she hated him not just for the pain he caused, but
113 Unbelievable
for being poor. For being powerless. And when I looked at her, really looked, I saw not just a scared woman. I saw a gold–digger whose shovel had finally hit bedrock.
Martha had entered the Nighthorn family with ambition, and Vander–blinded by the bond–had been her
ticket. It just took her twenty–three years to run him dry. Had he handed Steel Corp to Lucian a few years earlier, while she was still younger and radiant, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she’d started sniffing around for a fresh mine to plunder. She was still beautiful–cold, regal, intimidating–but the Alpha’s mark on her
neck was like barbed wire: no one else would dare touch her.
The room was stiff with silence. Everyone was reeling from the truth. And suddenly, I understood why Tiffany hadn’t been invited to the table. That poor girl was pregnant and fragile–there was no way she could have handled the avalanche that had just dropped.
“Where is Tiffany?” I asked, trying to steer the conversation to safer shores.
Lucian placed his hand gently on my thigh. His face was unreadable, but the touch spoke volumes–comfort, restraint, maybe even a silent thank you for shifting the spotlight. Still, I could feel the tension humming
under his skin.
“She went for her antenatal appointment,” Martha replied flatly.
I turned to Darian. “You let her go alone?”
He looked away, shame flickering across his features. There was still unspoken strain between us–too much history, too many jagged edges–but this wasn’t about me. This was about her. And someone had to say it.
“Whether that baby is yours or not, it doesn’t matter right now. What matters is she’s alone. You were close to her once, Darian. You cared. Maybe not enough to marry her, maybe not enough to fight for her, but enough to be there.” I paused, letting the weight of my words settle. “And now? You’re letting her walk through one of the hardest times in her life without a hand to hold?”
His jaw clenched, and he refused to meet my eyes.
“I get it. You’re busy. Training. Dealing with all this,” I gestured vaguely around the room. “But she didn’t get pregnant by herself. You were there. Now be there again. Even if you doubt the child is yours, there’s a chance it is–and if it is, and you miss this? You’ll never get those moments back. You’ll never be able to undo that
absence.”
“You don’t know the full story,” he said tightly. “She brought this on herself. It’s her fault that-”
He stopped abruptly, casting a sideways glance at Lucian, who was still as stone beside me. Whatever Darian was about to say, he swallowed it. The tension crackled like a live wire.
I let the silence speak for itself.
Alpha Vander cleared his throat. “I’m sure they’ll work through it, Mara.”
I didn’t respond. Just nodded stiffly.
“Maybe I should help, then,” I said. Not out of pity. Not because I liked Tiffany. But because no woman deserved to face motherhood in isolation.
Darian stood without a word and left the table. No one stopped him.
Lucian leaned closer. “Why?” he asked me quietly.
< 113 Unbelievable
I looked at him and gave the only answer that mattered. “Because someone has to care when no one else will.”
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