Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 250

250 A Mother’s Fury

Mara

The office was silent. Stunned.

Lacy sat on the floor, slumped, hollow. Defeated. But I couldn’t find sympathy-not for someone who had actively worked to bring down the Nighthorns. Wanting a family back is one thing. Betraying your own to make it happen is another. She made her choices.

Her story held together, yes-but it was still just that. Her version. We had no way of knowing how much of

it was true.

I could feel Alpha Vander’s anger simmering like an open flame. When Lacy mentioned Natasha, it nearly boiled over. Whatever connection Alaric had to Vander’s late wife, it was cutting too close.

I was a bit hungry, so I linked Jason and asked him to have Austin bring me the usual. No one else

touched my food-Austin had standing orders. I trusted him. No one else.

“Are we not going to continue this interrogation?” Alpha Vander barked, barely keeping himself in check.

I glanced at Lucian. He sat behind the desk in his swivel chair, stone-faced. The rest of us were seated

around the office, waiting-watching.

I answered calmly. “I asked for a sandwich and orange juice. I don’t want anyone else hearing what she says. Once the food’s delivered, we’ll continue.”

Vander wasn’t satisfied, but he kept quiet. For now.

Then Martha’s voice cracked through the silence. Soft, trembling.

“Why did you do it, Lacy?” she asked, eyes wet, voice fraying.

“Why would you betray me-for a man who wanted you dead before you even took your first breath? I fought to keep you. He called you a liability. Alaric swore he’d never claim you. Do you know what I went

through for you?”

Lacy didn’t respond.

“I did everything I could,” Martha continued. “He used me-to make alliances, to make money. I wasn’t allowed to keep any of it. I sold myself more times than I can count, just to scrape together enough to send home to you and my parents.”

She shook her head, tears falling freely now.

“I never stopped thinking of you, Lacy. Not one day. If I had told Vander you were mine, he wouldn’t have

married me. And you wouldn’t have had the life you did-the comfort, the protection, the name.”

Then she turned, looked at Vander.

And for a second, no one moved.

< 250 A Mother’s Fury

The past had finally caught up with all of us-and now it sat in the room, staring back, waiting for what

came next.

Claim

“I’m not saying this to fix anything between us,” Martha said, her voice steadying as she wiped her tears. I’ve made peace with the separation. This isn’t about me and Vander. It’s about giving you the truth, Lacy- as plainly and honestly as I can.”

She paused, as if weighing how much more her daughter could take.

“I didn’t need to marry Vander to take care of you. I was already earning well as Lucian’s caregiver. Vander

appreciated me, paid me fairly. But he was the first man to treat me with dignity.”

Her eyes darkened.

“Alaric ruined the idea of love for me. We dated, yes-but things went bad fast. He started pimping me.

Nothing in that so-called marriage was real. The claiming? Forced. Everything was about control. I knew

too much. I was useful, so he caged me the only way he could.”

Her voice trembled, but she pressed on.

“I met Vander in Neev. I was doing small jobs to send money home for my father. He helped me-without expecting anything in return. That kind of kindness… it caught me off guard. I respected him. And without even realizing it, I fell in love. He was married then, always talking about his wife-but I loved him anyway.”

Her lips quivered.

“When Alaric finally let me go, I was relieved. I thought being with Vander would be the start of something good. I hoped to matter to him. But he never gave me the chance. Even after I got pregnant-by mistake- he only ever tolerated me. I felt invisible.”

She looked Lacy square in the eyes.

“I love Vander, Lacy. I have never-and will never-love your father.”

Her tone hardened.

“If he really told you to drug me so you could deliver me to him like a package, thinking we’d live happily ever after-what were you expecting? That I’d fall into his arms and thank you? That I’d forget everything

he did to me?”

She shook her head, eyes narrowing.

“Even if Alaric stole all the wealth on Mooncrest Island and crowned himself Alpha of the world, I still wouldn’t love him. Because love, Lacy, is not about power or money.”

She leaned forward, voice quiet but deadly clear.

“And if you’d managed to deliver me to him… I’d have killed myself.”

Lacy flinched.

< 250 A Mother’s Fury

Claim

“I know what he is. Do you? You think he’d treat you like a daughter? Look at you. You think he sees family,

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