Chapter 317
Chapter 317:
“He is destroying a legacy that has stood for three hundred years!” Marcus shouted, his voice cracking with desperation. “He says he is doing it for you. He says you are the only one who can judge him p>
Dallas snarled — a low, guttural sound that made the windows rattle. “Your son’s antics are irrelevant right now. Katherine Parrish just tried to have my mate killed. She used her own hidden funds to hire an assassin p>
“No — Adella, please.” Victoria reached for my hand, stopping short as Dallas’s hand flew to his concealed holster. “He has one final file encrypted. A list of Council members he bribed. If he releases it, they won’t just kill him. They will torture him. They will skin him alive. You are the only one he will listen to p>
I looked at the weeping woman. I felt no pity — only a heavy, suffocating exhaustion. Braydon had turned his self-destruction into a spectacle, forcing me to play the audience. If I didn’t go, his death would haunt my conscience. He knew that. He was counting on my humanity to trap me.
“I have to go,” I said quietly.
Dallas spun around, his eyes blazing. “Absolutely not. He is unstable. I will not let you near him p>
𝖲а𝘷𝖾 у𝗼𝘂𝘳 𝖿аvоr𝗶𝘵𝗲 𝘯o𝘃𝗲l𝘴 о𝗇
“If I don’t go, he wins,” I said, meeting his furious gaze. “He wants me to live with the guilt of his destruction. He wants to be the martyr in my story. I need to cut this chain, Dallas. For good p>
Dallas stared at me, his jaw working. He saw the resolve in my eyes — the steel that had been forged in the fires of my own suffering. He didn’t like it, but he respected it.
“One hour,” Dallas said, his voice clipped. “You have one hour. Then I will tear his world apart to find you p>
I nodded and swung my legs off the bed. “One hour is all I need p>
I followed the weeping Hyde parents out of the room. As the door clicked shut behind me, I didn’t hear Dallas roar or break furniture. Instead, I heard his voice, cold and predatory, speaking not to me but to his Beta.
“Prepare the annexation protocols, Duncan. The Hyde lands and any assets Parrish loses in the chaos — they become ours by sunrise p>
A chill ran down my spine. I was walking toward an ending, intent on cutting free from a toxic past. But the man I was building a future with was playing a game of chess I was only just beginning to understand.
Adella
The drive to the Hyde Estate was a blur of shadowed trees and suffocating silence. Sitting in the back of the sedan between Marcus and Victoria, I could smell the sour tang of their fear. It was a scent I used to wear daily in this house, but now it only made my nose wrinkle in distaste.
When we arrived, the manor loomed against the night sky like a dying beast. The hallways, usually echoing with the footsteps of servants and the laughter of the elite, were silent as a tomb. The thick carpets seemed to absorb the very life from the air.