Chapter 177
177
Riley’s POV
The second page shattered something inside me.
Finished
Every paragraph I read was like a hammer, breaking through the last bits of denial I didn’t even realize I was still clinging to.
Until that moment, I had thought Alaric’s evil had a limit–that at the very least , his depravity had been born out of desperation, of a twisted sense of love or loyalty to that woman, Elira Blackthorn, and her daughter Scarlett.
But I had been so, so wrong.
The document didn’t just tell a story–it exposed a monster.
Alaric hadn’t just manipulated Zara, betrayed her, or used her.
He had destroyed her.
He orchestrated the death of her father–the former ruler of Ebonclaw–by pushing him from a construction tower and staging it as an accident.
He watched as Zara , the proud and beloved daughter of the most powerful bloodline in the territory, collapsed under the weight of her father’s death and the loss of her newborn daughter–me.
He stole her kidney under the guise of a medical emergency and had it secretly transplanted into Elira’s body, all to save a woman who was never supposed to exist in her world.
He allowed Kael–my brother–to be set up as the legal face of the Ebonclaw Holdings, only to later make him the fall guy when the company faced legal scrutiny.
He ensured Kael would rot in prison, accused of crimes that were never his .
And as for me?
I was the mistake Alaric buried.
The girl he discarded like a piece of trash at the borders of Rogue territory.
The daughter whose name he never wanted spoken again , whose very existence was erased, so his lie of a legacy could shine brighter.
My hands were shaking violently as I gripped the documents tighter, fingernails digging into my palms until I felt the warm sting of blood.
How could someone do this–get away with this–and still sleep soundly at night?
How could he, after ruining so many lives , after killing , lying , framing, stealing– how could he plan to escape to another country with his little counterfeit family and live in peace while we were all left in ruins?
No
No, I couldn’t let that happen.
I drew in a slow, ragged breath, trying to steady the storm building inside my chest.
But the moment I turned to the next page, my breath caught–frozen mid–thought– as a single sentence exploded like thunder across my mind
“In the first month of Zara’s second pregnancy , her father administered a permanent sterilization compound to Alaric without his knowledge.
For a moment. I stared blankly at the words.
351PM P P
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Finished
I blinked.
Read them again.
And again
Then it hit me.
He was sterile .
He had been sterile before I was even born.
Which meant
Scarlett wasn’t his.
Neither was the boy Elira gave birth to years later.
His entire “family,” the legacy he had built his empire around, the children he treated as his pride and joy–none of them were his blood.
None of them.
The laughter that burst from my chest wasn’t human–it was feral , sharp–edged, cracked with years of rage and pain and, finally, justice.
He had spent decades building a throne of bones, a kingdom of lies, only to find out he had crowned another man’s children.
I leaned closer, eyes wild , as I read the next name that appeared in the document–and I froze again.
Caden Blackthorn.
Scarlett’s driver.
Elira claimed that he was her cousin and begged Alabic to find a decent job for her cousin, so Caden became Scarlett’s driver, how ridiculous.
The one who had always treated me like I was a parasite.
The one who looked at me with disdain, who never missed an opportunity to remind me I didn’t belong.
And now I knew why.
He wasn’t just a driver.
He was her father.
Not just by blood–but by intention.
The rest of the report unfolded like a tragedy written by the Moon Goddess herself.
Caden, whose real name was once Caden Wilson, had married Elira long before she stepped into Mooncrest’s elite circles.
They were nobodies– an orphan girl with medical dreams , and a Omega–ranked young man with nothing but a loyal heart.
They loved each other fiercely, lived simply , and might have lived happily– until Elira’s body began to fail her
Renal failure
No donor
No funds.
No hope.
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Finished
Until fate or perhaps something far darker–led Zara into her hospital ward , heavily pregnant with me, accompanied by her mate. Alaric
Elira had access to Zara’s medical profile.
She knew the match was perfect.
But it was Caden who proposed the solution.
Let Alaric think he was seducing her.
Let him believe he was the one in control.
Let her become his mistress, worm her way into his life, and buy herself more time.
Time to live.
Time to carry the child she was already secretly bearing–Caden’s child.
Scarlett.
The girl the Moon Goddess said would one day break Zara’s heart.
The girl Elira delivered , wrapped in lies, and handed over to a grieving Luna as a “miracle.”
Every line of the document burned into my memory like fire etched into bone.
Send Gifts