Lethal Temptation (by Michelle Ray) novel Chapter 292

292 The Goodbye That Broke an Alpha

Lucian

Two Days Later

Claims

Darian called me back to the right wing not long after breakfast. His voice had that edge, tight, urgent, and

I knew something was wrong.

Mara and I hurried, not even stopping to ask questions.

When we entered, I froze.

My father was on his knees.

Martha stood in front of him, eyes red, a small bag clutched in her hand.

She was leaving him.

Tears streamed down her face, and I realized then, this wasn’t anger. This was hurt. Deep, layered, and

old.

“What’s happening?” Mara asked quietly.

My father stood, struggling to compose himself. “She’s leaving me,” he said, almost choking on the words.

We all looked to Martha.

She took a trembling breath, then spoke, her voice soft but steady, each word soaked in thirty years of

pain.

“I just need time, Vander,” she said. “This is the first time in my entire life I’ve truly been free. I need space,

to breathe, to think.”

She paused, wiping at her tears, but they kept falling.

“A lot has happened between us. Too much. And I haven’t had the chance to heal. I live every day scared… that you’ll kick me out of your room. Or worse, out of this house. It’s not love when you walk on eggshells every day.”

No one moved. No one breathed.

“You’ve embarrassed me over and over. You shouted at me like I was beneath you. You made me hard just so I could survive living next to you. And I see Lucian with Mara, and I wonder… why can’t I have that, too?”

Her voice cracked, but she didn’t stop.

“I know you’ve done so much for me, and I’m grateful, I am. And I still love you, Vander… I really do. But I need time. Time to heal from Alaric, from the trauma, from you.”

She let out a shaky laugh through her tears. “I became bitter. I lashed out. I hurt people who didn’t deserve it. That wasn’t me. That was the broken woman you and Alaric helped create.”

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292 The Goodbye That Broke an Alpha

She looked down at her bag, then back up at him.

“I want to find the girl I used to be. Please… just let me go. Understand why I have to do this.”

She broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Claim

My father stepped forward, desperate now. His pride was gone, stripped clean. His voice cracked when he

spoke.

“Please, Martha. Don’t go. I’ll change. I swear I’ll change. I’ll love you the way you’ve always wanted.”

She looked at him through tear-filled eyes, and even through her pain, she smiled, soft and sad.

It wasn’t rejection. It was goodbye… for now.

“Twenty years, Vander,” Martha said, her voice trembling but unwavering. “And you never let me claim you.”

Her words hung heavy in the air.

“For twenty years, you never took a single photo with me. You never hung my picture on your wall. For twenty years, I lived in quiet competition with the ghost of your late wife. I was always second best, an option, not a choice.”

My father stood frozen, guilt pouring from every line on his face.

you. And I

“I felt like a convenience,” she continued. “A pleasure tool to be discarded whenever it suited stayed. I stayed through the yelling, the silences, the shame, because I kept hoping you’d see me.”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but her voice never wavered.

“You’ve apologized. And I accept it. I do. But I can’t heal under the same roof where I learned to shrink.”

She wiped her tears with a trembling hand.

“I need time, Vander. Please… let me have this. I don’t want your money. I still have the money from what I

sold before. That’s enough.”

Her eyes softened, filled with purpose. “I want to go to Emberridge. Back to Goldenpeak. I want to start a foundation for girls and women like me, ones who never got the chance I did. Not everyone meets an Alpha who lifts them out of darkness. Not everyone finds love like I eventually did.”

She stepped closer, her voice dropping to a near whisper.

“Someone has to go back. Someone has to make sure others don’t end up like I did. Just… let me be that

person. Please.”

My father looked broken. Shaken. His hands trembled slightly as he reached out.

“You can set that up from here,” he pleaded. “You can still do all of it from Mooncrest. Please, Martha, don’t leave me. Not now.”

But her eyes had already said it. She wasn’t asking permission. She was asking for understanding.

< 292 The Goodbye That Broke an Alpha

I stepped forward quietly.

“She’ll come back, Father,” I said gently.

Claim

He turned to me, eyes red, panic just beneath the surface. “She might leave the island… and never come back. What will I do while she’s gone?”

He turned back to Martha, desperation plain on his face.

But she didn’t flinch.

She just held his gaze with the calm certainty of someone who finally knew what she needed, and was

brave enough to take it.

“Let me come with you,” my father said suddenly, desperation in his voice. “To Emberridge. I’m no longer

in charge, we can,

“Please, Vander,” Martha interrupted gently, but firmly. “Just… be quiet.”

He froze.

“I promise I’ll return when I’m ready,” she said, voice soft and full of emotion.

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