Alpha's Abandoned Daughter is the Secret Heiress novel Chapter 409

Chapter 409: Victor’s Scheme

Chapter 409: Victor’s Scheme

(Victor’s POV)

The phone was still pressed to his ear.

Victor kept his voice steady, kept the wounded tone in place.

But his eyes drifted sideways.

There–in the shadow near the garden wall–a shape shifted.

Then disappeared.

Mason was gone.

+25 Points

Victor’s expression didn’t change for another three full seconds. Then, slowly, the corner of his mouth curved upward.

He lowered his voice into the receiver. “I’ll tell you more when I’m back inside.”

He hung up.

Vivian was waiting the moment he stepped through the door.

“What did you say to her?” she demanded, falling into step beside him. “And what happened with the seized shipment? Grandfather didn’t say a single word about holding Theodore responsible-*

“Sit down,” Victor said.

She did, but barely. Her hands twisted together in her lap, her expression tight with frustration.

“Gideon let Theodore walk away clean,” she said. “He let Amelia’s entire mess go without comment. Do you understand what that means for us? The family meeting is coming. If the shipment loss gets pinned

on our side-”

“It will,” Victor said flatly.

Vivian went pale. “Then we’re losing ground. Every day, we’re losing more-”

“I know.” Victor lowered himself onto the sofa. His voice was calm now. Almost detached. “Think about it.

That three–month deadline Grandfather set–who do you think it was actually for?”

Vivian blinked. “For the inheritance competition. For all of us-”

“No.” Victor shook his head slowly. “It was for Theodore and Amelia,”

Vivian’s mouth closed.

< Chapter 403 Victor’s Scheme

+25 Poets

“If Amelia manages to heal Theodore’s leg within those three months, Victor said, “Theodore’s position as heir becomes untouchable. Completely locked in. Grandfather will have his proof. His justification. His

clean conclusion.”

The color drained further from Vivian’s face.

“Then the family meeting-”

“Will be a formality.” Victor’s jaw tightened. “Our window is closing. Every day that passes, it gets smaller.”

Vivian shot to her feet. “Then we have to do something. We can’t just sit here and watch him-*

“I already did something,” Victor said.

His tone was quiet. Satisfied.

Vivian stopped. She stared at him.

—

(Victor’s POV)

Victor leaned back against the sofa cushions, his posture relaxed now, the tension from the great hall finally bleeding out of his shoulders.

“Mason,” he said, “lives inside the Crimson Moon Pack House.”

Vivian’s brow furrowed. “What does that have to do with-”

“Everything I said on that phone call just now,” Victor said, “I said it for him.”

A beat of silence.

Then Vivian’s eyes went wide.

“You knew he was listening.”

“I suspected.” Victor’s mouth curved again. “And I confirmed it when I saw him leave.”

Vivian pressed a hand over her mouth, then let out a short, disbelieving laugh.

“The story about Theodore’s mother,” she said slowly. “You planted it.”

“Every word.” Victor tilted his head. “Theodore’s mother was driven to her death. Indirectly, by

Grandfather’s choices. Mason knows that history. Everyone who was in this house during that time knows

it.”

He spread his hands.

“All I did was remind him. Out loud. With feeling.”

Vivian sank back into her chair, her expression shifting from anxiety into something brighter.

“You didn’t have to lift a finger,” she said. “You just talked.”

< Chapter 409 Victor’s Scheme

“The best moves never require your hands,” Victor said.

Vivian exhaled. “And if Mason actually acts on it? If he goes after Grandfather-”

+25 Points

“Then one of two things happens.” Victor’s voice was even. Clinical. “Either Grandfather survives, and Theodore is implicated in the chaos surrounding the attack. Or Grandfather doesn’t survive.”

He paused.

“Either way, Theodore is finished.”

Vivian was quiet for a moment.

“He’s been so confident,” she muttered. “Sitting there in that chair, talking about taking down the Drake family and whoever backs them. Like it’s already done.”

“Let him talk,” Victor said. “All that confidence, all those grand plans–none of it means anything if the foundation collapses underneath him.”

He picked up his glass from the side table and took a slow sip.

“Theodore thinks he’s the one playing chess,” he said. “He hasn’t noticed that someone else already moved a piece.”

—

(Amelia’s POV)

The video call connected on the third ring.

Theodore’s face appeared on the screen, and Amelia immediately noticed that he looked–comfortable. Relaxed in a way he rarely was after family meetings.

“You seem like you’re in a good mood,” she said.

“Relatively,” he said.

“So?” She pulled her knees up onto the bed, settling in. “What did Gideon say about the Africa situation?”

“Not much,” Theodore said. “He didn’t need to. Victor said enough for everyone.”

“Victor.”

“He was furious.” There was a faint, dry amusement in Theodore’s voice. “He tried to make it your fault,

naturally. Argued that you’ve been too reckless, that you’ve stirred up enemies, that the seized shipment is blowback from your actions against the Drake family.”

Amelia raised an eyebrow. “And?”

“And it didn’t work.” Theodore’s expression was composed, almost serene. “I told him plainly–before he points fingers at anyone else, he should examine his own negligence. He and Magnus abandoned the southern operations for months. They handed the enemy an opening.”

< Chapter 409 Victor’s Scheme

“How did he take that?”

“Poorly.”

Amelia pressed her lips together to keep from smiling.

+25 Points

“I also told him,” Theodore continued, his tone perfectly even, “that if the Crimson family’s future were placed in his hands, he’d be bowing his head to the Drake family’s backers within a year. Maybe less.”

Amelia lost the battle with her smile. A laugh escaped before she could stop it.

“Theodore,” she said, “that’s genuinely vicious.”

“It’s accurate,” he said simply.

“It’s both,” she said. “That’s what makes it so good.”

(Amelia’s POV)

Theodore’s expression shifted slightly. “What about your side? The Drake family.”

“Griffin was detained tonight,” Amelia said. “The interrogation is ongoing. They’re still tracking Lance.”

“Lance.” Theodore said the name with a particular flatness.

“I know,” Amelia said. “The audacity of it. He actually thought a charm attempt would work on me.”

“The man has never encountered a real obstacle in his life,” Theodore said. “He assumed the same tactics

that worked on frightened girls would work on you.”

“He didn’t account for the fact that I have you,” Amelia said.

Theodore looked at her through the screen.

“No,” he said. “He didn’t.”

The air between them shifted–not dramatically, just a degree or two warmer.

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