Betrayed by My Ex, Marked by His Alpha Emperor Brother novel Chapter 290

Chapter 290: Epilogue 3

Seraphine’s POV

The rope held.

I tested it twice more, wrapping the coarse fibers around my fist and yanking with all the strength left in my wasted arms. The beam above creaked but didn’t give. Good. It needed to hold only once.

Rain dripped through the gap in the roof where the thatch had rotted away seasons ago. It landed in a steady rhythm against the stone floor. A steady drumbeat counting down what remained of my life.

I smiled.

The monastery had been my prison for eighteen years. Not the grand dungeon I’d imagined when they’d dragged me north in chains. No iron bars. No guards posted at the door. Just this—a crumbling cottage at the edge of a forgotten village, surrounded by nothing but frost and silence and the slow erosion of time.

That was Elara’s genius. Her particular cruelty.

She hadn’t killed me. Hadn’t even locked me away properly. She’d simply... removed me. Cut me out of the world like a surgeon excising a tumor and tossing it into the waste bin. No resources. No royal support. No way back. Just me and an infant Ethan in the dead of winter, with nothing but the clothes on my back.

Merciful. That’s what they called it at court, I’m sure.

I called it torture.

The letter sat on the table. I’d written it this morning. The ink was dry now. The words precise. Every sentence calculated to maximum effect.

My dearest Ethan,

If you are reading this, then I am gone. Know that I chose this—not because I wished to leave you, but because they left me no other choice.

Kaelen Nightfire’s spies found us a few weeks ago. I did not tell you. I could not bear to see the fear in your eyes. They delivered their ultimatum recently: my quiet suicide, in exchange for your life. Or they would come to execute you.

I chose you. I will always choose you.

Everything I told you is true. Your father was pure Alpha blood—royal blood, cast aside. You are the rightful heir. Valerius Nightfire is a fake, born to a low-born bitch. He sits on YOUR throne. He wears YOUR crown.

Do not mourn me, my son. Avenge me.

Your loving mother

Lies. Every word. Beautiful, poisonous lies.

No spies had found us. No ultimatum had been delivered. Kaelen Nightfire probably hadn’t thought of me in years. Why would he? He had his perfect empress. His perfect children. His perfect empire.

They’d forgotten me entirely.

And that—that was what I could not forgive.

I picked up the letter and placed it where Ethan would find it immediately. On the floor, just inside the door. He would see it before he saw me. Would read it with shaking hands. Would look up—

And there I would be. Swinging.

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