I studied his face carefully, noting the forced casualness in his tone.
“Darrell, I need to clarify something.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Caelan and I haven’t broken up. Those rumors are completely false-they’re part of a strategy we designed to deal with Lucian. We’re getting married very soon.”
“What… what?” The word came out strangled.
I stepped closer, watching his reaction intently. “So you don’t need to worry about me at all. I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my life.”
Darrell’s grip on the rose stems tightened visibly, as if he were trying to crush the life out of the flowers. His attempt at a smile looked painful.
“Is… is that so? Then… congratulations to both of you.”
His voice carried a note of forced cheer that didn’t match the tightness around his eyes.
“Thank you. My tone remained coolly polite. “You can leave now.”
Darrell thrust the roses toward me with sudden desperation. “Here, take these. Think of them as… as a blessing for your upcoming marriage.”
I hesitated for a moment, then accepted the bouquet. The roses were beautiful, their petals soft and fragrant.
“Thank you for your concern, Darrell. But in the future… maybe we shouldn’t have these kinds of private meetings anymore.”
He nodded quickly, but something flickered in his eyes-disappointment, frustration, maybe even anger.
“I understand. I hope you and Caelan will be happy, Sable.”
Darrell hurried to his car with almost unseemly haste, as if fleeing the scene of a crime. The Maserati’s engine roared to life, and he was gone within moments, taillights disappearing around the corner.
I stood under the streetlight, holding the roses and staring after him. Something about his reaction had seemed off-too accepting, too gracious.
Darrell was never that good at hiding his emotions. Tonight he seemed… different. More controlled.
I shook my head, attributing my suspicions to exhaustion, and headed for the apartment building. In the elevator, I looked down at the roses in my arms. They really were beautiful.
The elevator doors opened on my floor. Without hesitation, I walked to the trash chute and dropped the entire bouquet inside.
Darrell’s POV
I gunned the Maserati’s engine, tires squealing against asphalt as I peeled away from Sable’s building. The speedometer climbed rapidly as I tore through the empty streets.
Streetlights flashed past the windows in rapid succession, creating a strobe effect that matched the chaos in my head.
At a red light, I slammed on the brakes so hard the car lurched forward violently. My body jerked against the seatbelt before 1 collapsed back against the leather seat.
Rage exploded out of me, I hammered my fists against the steering wheel, the impacts reverberating through the car. The horn blared with each strike, sending harsh noise into the quiet night.
My breathing came in ragged gasps, like a wounded animal’s.
Damn it all… so everything was just their game plan! I actually thought Caelan had thrown Sable away, so I contacted him and gave him
Lucian’s location.
I thought I was being clever-using Caelan to eliminate the Lucian threat while positioning myself to comfort a heartbroken Sable.
All this time, I thought I was playing chess while everyone else played checkers. Turns out I was the biggest fool on the board! I helped them clear their biggest obstacle! I did their dirty work for them!
Every risk I took, every compromise I made with Lucian… all of it served to pave their path to happiness!
The irony was suffocating. I remembered Sable’s glowing expression when she’d mentioned their upcoming marriage. The pure joy in her voice when she said she was happier than ever.
That happiness I’d never been able to give her. That warmth I’d never earned.
I thought about Sable’s amber eyes tonight-how they’d lit up talking about Caelan, carrying a tenderness she’d never shown me.
My fist connected with the steering wheel again. The horn’s angry blare echoed off empty buildings.
The light turned green, but I couldn’t make myself drive. I sat there in the intersection, engine idling, while my world rearranged itself around this new reality.
Back at my hotel suite, I stripped off my jacket and threw it across a chair. My tie followed, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor.
I poured three fingers of whiskey into a crystal tumbler and drained it in one burning swallow.
Maybe… maybe this is fate telling me to stop.
I stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the city lights below. Sable had never belonged to me. I’d always known that, deep down.
Look what I have now. The pack is thriving. We’re financially stable for the first time in years. I’m finally independent from Caelan’s shadow.
And there’s Camila. A woman who actually loves me, who’s supported me through everything without complaint.
I thought about Camila’s patient devotion, how she’d stood by me even when I was obviously obsessed with another woman. How unfair I’d been to her, treating her like a consolation prize when she deserved so much more.
Why am I still chasing someone who was never mine? Why am I throwing away what I actually have for a fantasy?
I moved to the window, pressing my palm against the cool glass. The city sparkled below like scattered diamonds.
Camila has been beside me this whole time, and I keep treating her like she’s second-best. That’s not fair to her. It’s not fair to me, either.
For the first time in months, I felt something like clarity. Sable was Caelan’s now-had always been his, really. Fighting that truth was only destroying my own chances at happiness.
I picked up my phone, scrolling to Camila’s contact. Tomorrow, I would call her. We’d meet for dinner, and I’d finally give our relationship the attention it deserved. Maybe even discuss marriage.
Before I could second-guess myself, my phone buzzed with an email notification.
The sender showed as “Anonymous.”
I almost deleted it without reading-who sends emails at this hour?-but curiosity got the better of me.
The subject line made my blood run cold: “A Final Gift from Beyond the Grave.”
I clicked it open immediately.
When you receive this email, I will already be dead.
My heart began hammering against my ribs.
I walked back to the desk and sank into the chair, eyes fixed on the screen.
Dear Darrell,
If you are reading this, it means my life has come to an end. This is a pre-scheduled email.
I know you’ve always wanted Sable, and I know you harbor deep resentment toward Caelan. Before I die, I want to give you one final “gift-a secret that could destroy Caelan and Sable’s relationship forever.
Do you know how Sable’s mother Isabella really died?
My breathing became shallow and rapid. Sweat broke out across my forehead.
Isabella Crawford’s death was not simply the result of enemy wolf poison. The real killer was Caelan Blackwood.
I stared at the screen, reading the sentence over and over.
The truth about that war is more complex than you imagine. That battle was originally launched by my mother Melissa to expand territory -a direct attack on Caelan’s power base. The battlefield happened to be near Rodrigo’s territory, so Rodrigo brought pack members including Isabella to join the fight, helping to resist our Rogue attacks.
Everyone believed Caelan wasn’t involved in that battle, including Rodrigo and Isabella. But the truth is, Caelan was operating alone in the border area at the time, secretly participating in the fight without anyone’s knowledge.
During the most intense fighting, an injured Rogue warrior managed to escape back to our camp. He personally told me and my mother a shocking scene: he saw Caclan lying at the battlefield’s edge, holding a blood-stained dagger, with wounded Isabella collapsed beside him.
The Rogue warrior said Isabella was still alive then, but she’d clearly been poisoned-and from her wounds, she’d been stabbed by the very dagger in Caelan’s hand.
By the time Rodrigo found them, Caelan had already fled. So Rodrigo and Isabella always believed she’d been wounded by Rogues.
Isabella was hospitalized for a long time before dying from her injuries, never knowing that her future son-in-law was the one who killed her.
My hands shook as I scrolled down.
Now this secret belongs to you, Darrell. Use it to reclaim the woman who should be yours. If you want my advice, I’d suggest telling Sable this truth when she and Caelan are at their happiest. That’s how you maximize the destruction of their happiness.
-Your eternal partner, Lucian Ross
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