Bound To The Broken Alpha (Amy and Daniel) novel Chapter 360

Chapter 360 Holding Back

SELENE

I had learned to measure silence long before I learned to break it.

+5 Pearls

That morning, the Southern estate was too quiet in the wrong places and too busy where I was not allowed to be.

Doors opened and closed down the east wing. Guards shifted positions without acknowledging me.

Elias walked the halls like he belonged there, his presence accepted, his steps unchallenged.

I stood by the upper balcony and watched it happen.

My father had not called for me. Not once.

Instead, he had summoned Elias and Clara.

That alone should have told me everything.

I followed at a distance, not hiding, not announcing myself either. I knew every corridor in that estate. I knew which marble floors carried sound and which rugs swallowed it whole.

They stopped outside the meeting room.

The guards at the door straightened when my father arrived. They opened the door without question.

Elias went in first. Clara followed, her head held high, her lips pressed into something close to a smile.

The door closed behind them.

I remained where I was.

I should have turned away. That would have been the smart thing to do. The obedient thing.

I didn’t.

I moved closer, stopping just short of the door. The walls there were thick, but not soundproof. They never had been. My father liked knowing who listened. He liked knowing who knew better than to repeat what they heard.

Voices carried through the seam.

“Daniel is holding back,” my father said. His voice was calm. Measured. “That makes him predictable.”

Elias spoke next. “It makes him cautious. He won’t strike unless forced.”

“And we will force him,” Clara said.

Her tone made my jaw tighten.

2:19 pm

Chapter 360 Holding Back,

She didn’t sound uncertain. She didn’t sound manipulated. She sounded pleased.

My father replied, “You will do exactly as instructed. Nothing more.”

“I know my role,” Clara said. “And I’m playing it well.”

There was a pause.

Elias spoke again. “Her proximity to Mark is useful. He’s desperate to fix things with Amy.”

I felt something sharp move through my chest at that.

So it was true.

Clara wasn’t stumbling through this. She wasn’t being dragged along.

She was enjoying it.

“You’re certain Daniel suspects nothing?” my father asked.

“He suspects something,” Elias said. “But not her. Not yet.”

“And Selene?” Clara asked, casually.

My breath stilled.

My father didn’t answer right away.

“She doesn’t need to be involved,” he finally said. “She complicates things.”

That was it.

That was the moment something broke cleanly instead of slowly.

+5 Pearls

I stepped back before the door opened. I returned to the balcony and stared out at the southern fields, my hands braced against the stone.

Complicates things.

That was how he saw me now.

Not as his daughter. Not as his strategist. Just an inconvenience,

I stayed there until the meeting ended. Elias left first. Clara followed, her expression light, her steps unburdened. When she saw me, her eyes flicked briefly in my direction.

She smiled.

Not openly. Not kindly.

Just enough.

I turned away before she could say anything.

2/5

12:19 pm

Chapter 360 Holding Back,

+5 Pearls

I thought of Amy. Of how Clara spoke about her when she thought no one was listening.

And I thought of my father, choosing Elias and Clara over his own daughter because they were easier to control.

By dawn, I had made my choice.

I encrypted copies of the patrol discrepancies and sent them to a private drive only I could access. I flagged the next Southern redeployment order for review, inserting a delay that would force confirmation.

It wasn’t much.

But it was a start.

When my father summoned me later that day, I went.

I stood across from him in his study, my posture respectful, my voice even.

“You wanted to see me,” I said.

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