Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 182

182 Unmasked

Mara

“Stop Looking at Mara. Leave her out of this,” Darian snapped, his voice like steel. “She already knows everything. Everyone at this table knows everything. So drop the act, Mother.”

Martha’s mouth twitched, but she said nothing.

“Where is he?” Darian pressed. “Where was the child buried, if there even was a child? I know you’re hiding

something.”

He leaned forward, fury simmering in his eyes.

“We asked around in Goldenpeak, about you and Alaric. No one had anything good to say. Did you really go stay with your late sister? Or was that another one of your stories?”

Martha flinched.

“I know Grandpa and Grandma are lying for you. Whatever you did, you saved them from poverty. They’ll cover for you till their last breath, but it won’t save you.”

He let out a bitter laugh.

“You should be ashamed. All this damage, all this pain, just because you thought Mara wasn’t good enough for me. You said her family was too poor. But you know what I saw in Goldenpeak?”

He stood now, tall and cold and devastating.

“I saw what real poverty looks like. The Thornridges are ten times wealthier than your folks. Mara is premium, refined, honest, dignified. Everything you’re not. And because of that, I know you’ll do anything for money. Which is why I knowyou know where Alaric Moongrove is.”

Martha’s hands began to tremble. Her lips quivered. She didn’t deny it.

Darian didn’t stop.

“If you don’t start talking, you’re on your own. Father said he was done, and this time, I believe him. Lucian already put the Goldenpeak duplex on auction. Your people are probably packing up right now. When you go back there, it won’t be to that cushy house. It’ll be to the broken-down shack you came from.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t look to me for help. I don’t want your name tied to mine. You’re too wicked.”

He stepped around the table.

“You abused your stepson, the same boy Father married you to protect. You lived in Natasha’s shadow and

took your resentment out on Lucian.”

Then Martha snapped.

She slammed her fists onto the table. The sound echoed like a gunshot.

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<182 Unmasked

Claim

Her claws burst out, and her body trembled with rage. I stood instantly, instinctively moving between her and Tiffany. She wouldn’t touch Darian, but I knew she’d come for me.

“I could never love Lucian!” she screamed, eyes wild. “Vander never gave me the chance!”

Her voice cracked. She was unravelling.

“He compared me to that bitch for twenty-three years! Twenty-three fucking years! I wasn’t smart enough,

not polished enough, no manners, no charm, nothing was ever enough!”

She took a shaky step forward, her breathing ragged.

“He said her name in his sleep. He calls her name when we’re together. Do you know what that feels like?”

Silence. No one answered.

“When I met Vander, I pitied him. I comforted him after Natasha. I offered to take care of Lucian because he said he needed time to plot revenge. I cared for that boy for three years, three years, hoping Vander

would love me for it.”

She paused. The tears that fell now were bitter, not broken.

“But he never saw me. Only her. Always her.”

Her voice dipped to a whisper.

“He didn’t marry me out of love. He married me because I was willing to be a mother to Lucian. That was the price of my place in his life. And that’s why I hated that boy.”

And then, the truth cut through the air like a blade.

“My whole existence in this house depended on a child who would never be mine.”

“After we got married,” Martha began, her voice hollow, “he refused to claim me. Refused to touch me. He told me my only job was to care for Lucian.”

She looked straight at Darian, mascara streaking down her cheeks. “I told him I might as well be Lucian’s nanny, because that’s what I was before he decided to marry me. And you know what he said? Lucian

needs a mother. That’s all I was to him.”

Her voice cracked.

“He’d travel and bring back gifts, for Lucian. Not me. Never me. I was an afterthought. A placeholder. So

yes… I hated Lucian.”

No one moved. No one spoke. Not even Darian.

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