Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 168

168 Inheritance Of Vengeance

Lucian

“How come my grandmother didn’t have a Neevian name?” I asked, still turning pages in the photo album,

absorbing pieces of a history I never knew I had.

Lydia smiled faintly. “She did. Her name was Miriam. But your grandfather thought it was a handful and

started calling her Maria. Eventually, the name just stuck.”

I shook my head, stunned. The way pieces of my lineage had been repackaged-softened, diluted-

without anyone ever telling me.

Lydia’s gaze shifted, and her tone changed. “Your father has… cared for us over the years. Quietly. He begged us to come live with him at the Nighthorn mansion after the war. But by then, he’d already married

that woman.”

Her words dripped with disdain.

“We decided to stay away,” she said. “That woman… she wasn’t kind. We knew she’d make our lives unbearable under your father’s roof. We preferred our peace.”

I said nothing. There was too much to process. My father had offered them a place in his home-and yet

never introduced them to me. Why?

“Three years later,” Lydia went on, “Vander met with us again. He told us he didn’t want you to know how your mother died. He made us promise not to seek you out. Said he would tell you everything when you were older. When you came of age. And he said he’d introduce us to you-properly.”

Her voice hardened.

“When you turned twenty-one, we waited. We hoped. But he broke that promise too.”

A shadow crossed her face, and her lips pressed into a bitter line.

“We soon figured out why. He was preparing to pass Driftwake and Steel Corp to her son. Not you. Not

Lucian Redlock’s grandson-but Martha’s.”

The bitterness in her voice was unfiltered now.

“I sent him a letter last year. A warning. I reminded him of Natasha’s will-your mother’s wishes. I told him I

didn’t care who led the Nighthorn family. But Driftwake and Steel Corp? Those were yours. And I swore

that if he handed them over to anyone else, the truth would come out. I would tell the world how your

mother died. I threatened to sue him over Steel Corp.”

She exhaled sharply. “He never replied. But… I see now that he did the needful.”

Then she turned to Darian, who had stood quietly through the entire storm of revelations.

“No offence, Beta Darian,” she said. “We know you’re innocent in all this. But this is our truth.”

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168 Inheritance Of Vengeance

Darian nodded respectfully. “None taken. You’ve every right to tell it.”

Clairn

I was quiet for a long time. My hands trembled slightly as I closed the album. I wasn’t angry. Not yet. I was

hollow. Like something had been ripped from my core and replaced with the truth-raw, weighty,

undeniable.

There was no way I was going to Goldenpeak to pick up Martha’s family.

They could find their own way to Mooncrest.

I turned to look at Katya-my grandaunt. My eyes burned with guilt and disbelief.

“I want you to be part of my life,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “My wife is pregnant… and you’re my family.”

Katya’s eyes welled with tears. She raised her trembling arms and motioned for me to come closer.

I leaned in and wrapped my arms around her carefully, gently. She was frail-but the strength of her

embrace still reached my soul.

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