Scarlett (Second Edition) by Karima Saad Usman novel Chapter 212

hapter 212

“Anastasia told me you only cared slut holding the South,” Garland continued, his voice bitter yet resigned.

“She said that with Scarlett gone, the agreements with the Southerners would collapse. No kuna, no stability, no alliances. So when I heard Scarlett had returned from the West, I decided it was time to come straight to RedCape and finish the job. The South couldn’t help you, and I knew Keith wouldn’t intervene. You had no magic, no warriors, no weapons strong enough to face me. It seemed like the perfect opportunity-a win-win scenario.

But I was wrong,” he admitted, his tone hollow.

“I didn’t account for Keith stepping in. I underestimated Scarlett’s ruthlessness and strength. My arrogance, paired with the limited information Anastasia provided, was my downfall. That’s what cost me this fight. I accept my defeat.”

The weight of his words hung in the air, suffocating us in a silence none of us knew how to break. Neither Clay, Maxwell, nor I could bring ourselves to speak. The things we had just learned struck too deep, cutting through years of assumptions and old wounds.

I thought about it-about everything Garland had just revealed. My brother-in-law, Maxwell, and Clay’s cousins, those we had called family, had played a part in the chaos. Nikolay had removed them, not for power or control, but for the peace we had all enjoyed, the peace we had taken for granted. All the raids, the attacks on innocent people, even the destruction in parts of Red Cape-it all made sense now. The criminal groups had thrived in the shadows, taking advantage of the gaps left behind by Nikolay’s death.

And we hated him for it, hated him for what we thought was tyranny, when in truth, he had been the reason for the stability we enjoyed. The man we had despised, painted as a villain, had been the hero we didn’t deserve. I felt a wave of shame so strong that it burned in my chest. I couldn’t speak. Neither could Clay or Maxwell.

Garland broke the silence.

“So… what do you intend to do with me?” he asked, his voice subdued. I glanced at Clay and Maxwell, linking them with my thoughts.

“What should we do with him?” I asked, the uncertainty in my voice mirroring the turmoil in my mind. They didn’t answer right away. None of us had a

solution.

Garland spoke again, his tone tinged with a strange mix of defiance and desperation.

“I would like to call for a truce,” he said slowly. “If you allow it, I will withdraw my forces and will not bring war to your regions. But you must commit to

maintaining the peace that Nikolay fought to establish. Without it, we’ll return to an era of conquest-an era where every Alpha or Valkin-born will seek to

claim power, dragging us all back into chaos.”

I listened, and though my instincts screamed at me to reject him outright, I knew he wasn’t wrong. He had a point, one that was hard to ignore. If we let this spiral further, the balance would shatter, and everything Nikolay sacrificed would be in vain.

I gathered my thoughts and asked him, “Do you even know why these criminal groups have risen so quickly in the South?” My voice was cold, but the

question was sincere.

Garland winced slightly, the pain from his injuries betraying his stoic expression. “It’s your region,” he replied, shrugging weakly. “You should take that up with the people you left to manage it. Between us…” He paused, hesitating, but then spoke with surprising venom. “I don’t trust David Moreski. Nikolay trusted that twerp, and it was one of his biggest mistakes. But who could have known?”

I frowned, the name striking a chord of unease within me. David Moreski. The man Nikolay had once relied on, someone we had all assumed was competent enough to hold things together. Could he be the weak link? Or worse, the instigator of the chaos festering in the South?

10:26 am

pppp

Chapter 212.

Se mere a long while, I didn’t an answer I looked a Garland, at his battered body and weary expression. He wasn’t fully teabed, not even

d there was something raw and truthful in his weds. And that truth left ire with a decision none of us were ready to make.

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