The MC President's Forsaken Wife (Zara and Knox) novel Chapter 410

<Chapter 201-2

Chapter 201-2

+25 Points

“Yep,” Mayhem continues. “He saw the cuts, cleaned ’em out, bandaged her up tight, made her eat half a bowl of broth, and sat himself right down in the armchair by her door like a guard dog on duty.”

“Holy Lord,” I say. “That’s not like the man.”

“Right? I told him to go grab a cup of coffee, that I’d sit with Willow, but he practically growled at me and told me to get out of his way. I think Stitch might have a bit of a soft spot for our feather-loving big sis.”

“Really?” I say, oddly delighted. “Stitch and Willow?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“She deserves someone looking out for her,” I muse. “I mean, she was incredible tonight.”

I shift slightly on the bed, looking between my father’s heavy posture and Mayhem’s tense jawline. The question had been pressing against the back of my skull since the warehouse, burning beneath the fog of pain relief.

“Do you guys… does the club know how Willow ended up in Knox’s orbit in the first place?” I ask. “Did she tell you?”

Locke frowns. “Yeah, I actually never thought about that in all the chaos. How the hell did Willow end up in that warehouse with Knox? She didn’t even know he existed, I’m sure.”

“She didn’t,” I say, shaking my head. “Knox played her. He played her like a master class in psychological manipulation.”

Mayhem crosses his arms over his broad chest. “We got the gist of it from her when she was sobbing and apologizing into her whiskey at the clubhouse, but she wasn’t making a whole lot of sense. So what happened?”

“It started the night Dad turned her away,” I explain. “She was wandering around in the freezing rain near the penthouse, completely broken, crying her eyes out. Knox was out on the street watching Locke and me. He saw her – didn’t even know who she was at first – but he recognized easy prey when he saw it.”

Locke’s mouth tightens. “That sick bastard.”

“He bought her a coffee,” I continue. “Gave her a shoulder to cry on and let her spill everything. She poured her heart out about being Cobra’s long-lost daughter, about feeling rejected, and about my cancer.”

1/3

Chapter 201-2 Locke sighs.

+25 Points

“Once Knox realized who she was and how she connected back to me, he used her. He nudged her to contact me again, knowing she’d eventually ask to meet in person.”

“And she guided Knox’s asshole thugs straight to you,” Dad says. “Without ever knowing she was doing it.”

“Exactly,” I say. “When Knox confronted her in the warehouse, she had no idea who he was until he laughed in her face and told her he was my husband. The look on her face… she completely froze. The blood drained out of her so fast she looked like a corpse.”

I look at my father, wanting him to understand the absolute truth of it.

“When she realized Knox had used her to set a trap for me, she collapsed on her knees in the dirt. She was screaming, crying, begging me to believe that she didn’t know. Knox laughed at her, and bragged about how easy she was to manipulate because she was so desperate for family.”

Dad exhales a slow, heavy breath, his massive chest rising and falling. “Knox was a predator. He feeds on blood in the water. I don’t blame Willow for getting bit.”

“I don’t either,” I say. “I told her that.”

“And anyway,” Dad says. “If anyone’s to blame for how she landed in his lap, it’s me. By turning her away that night, by cold-shouldering her when she was broken and looking for family… I practically handed that woman to Knox on a silver platter. I pushed her right into the dark where he was waiting.”

It’s rare to hear my father take the weight of a mistake like that, but the honesty of it settles something deep inside me.

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