Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 208

208 The Coup in the Silence-1

Lucian

We sped toward headquarters, Mara’s worried face still etched in my mind. I knew she deserved answers -I owed her clarity-but time wasn’t a luxury I had anymore. The day had already gone to hell. First Martha’s suicide attempt. Now this betrayal from within.

I gripped the wheel tighter.

Military support pulling out overnight? That wasn’t a mistake. That was strategy. And someone was

orchestrating it with precision.

“We know Chase is behind this,” Darian said, his tone flat, like the truth was already carved in stone. He stared out the window, jaw clenched. “But how the hell did he pull it off?”

“Denis is still working through it,” I said, swerving hard into a left turn. “He’s going line by line through the

access logs.”

Darian turned to me. “Do you think Father might be right? That Chase and Alaric are the same person?”

I exhaled sharply. “I’ve had the same thought. This guy said our father stole something from him. What’s more valuable than a wife and child?”

Darian’s laugh was cold. “No. That’s not it.”

I glanced at him.

“He didn’t lose her, Lucian. He sold her, For years, he pimped my mother out. Then he married her to trap her-to keep control. Probably claimed her by force. And when she finally got away, when she landed in Kentville, he dumped Lacy in Goldenpeak and vanished.”

He paused. His voice cracked, just for a second.

“He didn’t care about either of them. Not until he found out our father was rich and vulnerable. Then suddenly, he comes crawling back, pretending like he was robbed. Like someone took what belonged to

him.”

Darian turned fully toward me now.

“Let’s be real: our father wasn’t a thief. He was a lifeline. My mother found safety for the first time in her life. She had a home, stability, dignity. And she never had to sell herself again. That’s not stealing. That’s escaping.”

I nodded slowly. I understood what Darian was saying-and more importantly, I believed him. But in Alaric’s twisted worldview, the narrative would be different. To a man like him, loss was always someone

else’s crime.

“That bastard bled her dry,” Darian muttered. “Turned her into a desperate woman chasing scraps. That’s

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why she made those deals with Daniel. She needed the money. She was cornered.”

We pulled up to headquarters, the building looming ahead of us like a fortress under siege.

And then it hit me-hard.

What if that was the point?

If Chase was Alaric, then all this-every bit of pressure-was deliberate. The financial deals, the shady

contracts, the military defections. It wasn’t just sabotage.

It was blackmail.

Claim

He knew she’d fold under pressure. That she’d approve Daniel’s contracts. That she’d siphon funds. That

she’d compromise herself just to buy a little peace for her kids-and for Darian.

It was sick. It was calculated. And it fit.

Because this wasn’t just about revenge anymore.

It was personal. And it had been for years.

Denis was already waiting by the entrance when we arrived. I handed the car keys to a kappa without a word and strode toward him, Darian close behind.

“How far along are we in the investigation?” I asked as we walked in.

“We’ve just started,” Denis said, his voice low and strained. He didn’t wait for me to push further-he kept talking, like the weight of the truth couldn’t stay bottled up any longer.

“Someone used your terminal to send an official request… to reduce military support allowances.”

I stopped in my tracks.

“What?”

He nodded grimly.

“It was sent in the early hours of the morning. The digital signature matches your credentials, Lucian. Whoever did this, they knew you wouldn’t be in the office. They also wiped the security footage clean. Everything. We’ve got no visual record.”

My mind raced. This wasn’t a random breach. This was inside work-precision sabotage. Chase’s influence had tunneled deeper than we thought. How many of our people had he already turned?

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Denis looked like he had more to say, so I gave him a nod to go on.

He cleared his throat.

“Mary called from Luna Mara’s office this morning. She requested immediate military assistance.”

I turned toward him sharply.

“For what?”

“Something happened at Steel Corp. She wouldn’t say much. Just that no one could leave until she spoke

to the Luna.”

Before I could respond, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw Mara’s name on the screen.

I answered immediately.

“Mara.”

Her voice was tight, controlled-but I could hear the weight behind it.

“Lucian, I need you to stay calm, okay? What I’m about to tell you… it’s serious.”

Nothing good ever followed that sentence, but I kept my voice steady.

“I’m listening.”

“They cleaned us out,” she said.

My heart skipped. “Who did? What do you mean?”

“Our liquid assets. All of them. Gone, Lucian. As of this morning-we’re broke.”

For a moment, my breath caught in my chest. My vision tunneled. This was it. This was the collapse Alice McBride had warned us about. Everything depended on liquidity-power, leverage, survival.

Sweat beaded along my forehead.

But then Mara’s voice softened.

“Don’t panic. Rowan and I anticipated something like this. We’ve been saving money. Rainy day funds-

spread across multiple accounts. Quiet. Untraceable.”

Relief flooded me, leaving me momentarily speechless.

“Mara…” was all I could manage.

“But listen,” she said, her tone shifting into strategy. “We can’t let them know. Not Chase. Not anyone. As far as the world knows, we’re bankrupt. That illusion gives us the upper hand-keeps them overconfident

and reckless.”

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I nodded slowly, even though she couldn’t see me.

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