Chapter 786

Eugenia:

As the day went on, I began to realize that everything I thought I knew about my daughter barely scratched the surface.

Rosetta was a book I had never truly been able to read.

I mean, what hadn’t I done for that child?

She had to survive because I wanted to save my son.

For her sake, I had turned an innocent man into a monster.

Then I took his child away from him.

I don’t even know what happened to his other children. They all disappeared.

I only got my hands on one of them, and even that child ended up giving her body to my daughter.

And what did my daughter do afterward?

She started keeping secrets from me.

Everything I did for Rosetta was for nothing.

My son died anyway.

Even so, I told myself that Rosetta would repay that debt by doing right by me.

I only wanted her to punish the people I disliked.

Instead, it was as if everything she did was for Madeline.

Every person she punished today had no personal conflict with Rosetta.

I knew all of it was my daughter’s doing.

What happened to Elgin, Graham, Silver—all of it.

But none of those matters were directly connected to Rosetta.

Then, when I saw Madeline running toward the tower from the house window, I

realized this story went far deeper than I’d thought.

I walked to the back window and saw Madeline picking up Elara.

That alone was enough for me.

With everyone running around in different directions, the mansion was no longer safe for me.

So I did the only thing I could.

I picked up Bodhi and got out.

With such a large crowd around, it was incredibly easy to sneak out of the mansion unnoticed.

One advantage of being married to an Alpha from an old Alpha bloodline was that I knew places most people didn’t.

I also knew our old mansion had been sealed shut.

It had been built like a fortress, designed to keep out intruders, thieves, and anyone

who might come after us because of the prophecy.

My husband and I had lived with that fear our entire lives.

What he didn’t know was that I had already taken care of the curse.

Even so, I went along with his precautions.

So he built the mansion like a castle to keep our children safe and to keep any monsters from getting inside.

Sadly, my daughter had to leave a night so the monster would attack her outside instead.

That part had been beyond our control.

I slipped into the mansion and was immediately overwhelmed by despair and painful memories.

Now everything was gone.

My son was dead.

My husband was gone.

My daughter could no longer be trusted.

And here I was with a toddler, a baby I hated with every fiber of my being.

“Why are we here?” he asked as I set him down.

I had to learn to like him.

He was the closest thing I had left to my son.

Maybe, in time, I would.

Once I could completely push aside the fact that he was Madeline’s son as well.

I looked around the big hall in tears.

Dust blanketed every surface.

Faded sheets draped the forgotten furniture, and the stale air carried the silence of a

place abandoned for years.

Tears welled in my eyes as memories resurfaced.

This place had once been filled with

.n

laughter, tiny footsteps racing through the halls, and the constant chaos of two children who had filled every corner with life

Now there was nothing.

My jaw tightened, and a faint sting burned behind my eyes. I blinked away the tears before they could fall.

Turning toward Bodhi, I softened just enough to gesture around the vast hall.

“This,” I murmured, “is where your father grew up. This was our home. Our family lived here I spoke in soft, gentle voice, pressing a hand against my chest.

Bodhi looked around with curious eyes before glancing back at me.

“But Daddy is dead now,” he reminded me quietly. “Is Mommy going to come here

too?”

The moment he mentioned Madeline, the warmth vanished from my face.

My expression hardened, and my fingers curled tightly at my sides.

“Don’t ever mention her to me,” I snapped. “And yes, my son is dead.” My voice trembled for the briefest moment before turning cold again. “But you’re staying here with me. from now on. You will fill the void

your father left behind.”

As I reached over to hug him, he stepped away from me, causing my mood to sour

even further.

I clasped my hands together and grumbled under my breath.

“You need to behave, Bodhi.”

I crouched in front of him until we were at eye level.

“If you do as I say, there might be a chance you’ll see your mother again.”

His eyes lit up with hope.

“But if you don’t listen to me,” I continued, clicking my tongue as my voice turned firm, “then you’ll never see her.”

It was cruel, but children needed something to hold on to. Hope was far more effective than fear alone.