Chapter Five: Crumbled Plans

THIRD PERSON POV

That evening, Clarence returned to the club. Lilith's clubhouse was one of his numerous properties, but he rarely visited the place to observe because he had a diligent and trustworthy manager.

He only visited when the chaos at home became unbearable for him.

"His father, the Lord of a massive vampire dynasty, constantly nagged him to marry an influential woman to prove to his future subjects that he was a capable heir.

As vampires, living among humans wasn't safe. Due to this fact, his father wanted Clarence to marry the daughter of the vampire king from a large coven in Serbia.

This was to strengthen their alliance in case of a war outbreak between vampires and humans.

Clarence didn't like the lady. According to him, she was bossy and he suspected that she was secretly involved romantically with a man whom she loved but couldn't marry because he was a commoner.

He knew he had promised his father to bring a woman home. He wondered what his reaction would be when he learned Alina had no status and was from a lowly background.

The old man valued lineage and social standing above all else, and Clarence couldn't help but anticipate the disapproval that would surely follow. The thought of disappointing his father, and shattering his plans for the future, bothered him. But, giving up Alina was even more unbearable.

He'd fallen hard, and he knew he would do anything to keep her safe from his father's court. He knew the ruin it would bring if they ever found out about their affair. He was planning to stop anyway.

All that mattered to Clarence was to get Alina pregnant. That way, he would have a solid reason to reject his father's request during the next council meeting where he was expecting to announce their engagement.

Meanwhile, upon Alina's arrival at home, she met a line of cars outside their home.

Her stepmom surprisingly welcomed her home the moment she stepped her feet in the house.

"My darling, welcome. Please meet Hector. Hector," she pointed at Alina. "My stepdaughter, Alina."

Alina was surprised. Cleopatra had never been this nice to her before. Something was definitely wrong with her manner of reception, and she was about to figure it out.

Hector smiled satisfactorily and nodded. "You weren't lying after all, she's a complete package."

Cleopatra reciprocated the smile before turning to Alina, "Hector is one of the highest‑ranking officers in the police force. He heads the special unit that tracks down vampire covens in the country. He’s been active in exposing and arresting dozens of them, putting them behind bars before they can hurt anyone else."

"That’s right. I’ve spent three years building this reputation." Hector concurred proudly.

Cleopatra nodded and continued, "Due to this fact, he’s a respected figure in the government. They rely on his intel for the national security briefings. He’s not just a cop; he’s a consultant for the ministry on supernatural threats.

"What's going on here, Cleopatra?" Alina was calling her name for the first time. Even Cleopatra felt offended but decided to let it slide because of Hector's presence.

"What I'm trying to say is that Hector has paid your dowry. You are to be married!"

Cleopatra's last word echoed in Alina's ears and her eyes, though blurry, darted to the elderly man in fury.

Hector was in his early fifties. He lost his wife and daughter to a vampire attack four years ago. That tragedy is what propelled him every night since he’s determined to make sure no other family suffers the same fate.

"I don't want to marry him." Alina spat in the heat of the moment. "Growing up, I've always wished for the opportunity to choose a man for myself. Besides, I'm still schooling. I'm not ready to get myself entangled in marriage."

That said, she excused herself by taking a few steps further but she was obstructed by Cleopatra.

"How dare you defy my order? I never asked for your opinion. It doesn't matter. You have no say in this. Get married to Hector, otherwise, you won't return from school tomorrow to meet your blind, good-for-nothing sister. Hector will keep her for his sexual gratification. I promise you that.

"What? I thought he was saving the human race."

"He's saving humans from vampires not from fellow humans. Keep your philosophy, little girl, and go with Hector for peace to reign."

Her mind flashed to Clarence and the unforgettable things he did to her. She had thought that they'd just begun their affair. She didn't expect it to be their first and the last time.

"Fine! But can I use three more days to prepare?

Cleopatra turned to look at Hector. He shrugged before nodding reluctantly.

She made straight way to see her blind sister.

"Who's there?" Asked Derby, reaching out to grab her stick.

"It's Alina. I'm back from school."

"Welcome back. I'm starving. I haven't had anything for luch yet."

That evil woman didn't feed Derby, but then she claimed she needed money to take care of her.

Alina brought her a plate of rice and some fruit. When she told her about Cleopatra's plans, she cried.

After Alina shared a few moments with Derby, a strange force propelled her to her parents room.

She spent several minutes in the attic, sifting through the old chest that once belonged to Mother.

She gathered a basket of things she would be needing in her new home.

To her surprise, she found a sealed envelope among the yellowed letters and cracked photographs addressed to "My dearest child, Alina." Her hands trembled as she broke the wax seal. Her heart palpitated uncontrollably.

The letter was from the woman she had always called Mother. She wrote that she never gave birth to her. When she was pregnant, a sudden fever forced her to the hospital. The doctors told her the child would not survive, and she was terrified of the shame that would follow.

Her husband would nag and blamed her for the loss. In her desperation she begged the nurses to find a newborn for her to take home, promising to raise the child as her own.

The nurses, moved by pity, placed a baby in her arms that night.

That baby was Alina.

They never told her the truth, and she kept the secret to protect both of them from the anger of her husband and the fear of the neighborhood.

Further down the page, the handwriting grew shakier. She confessed that the child she adopted was not a normal infant. The father was a vampire from one of the ancient bloodlines that once ruled the night.

A hybrid child, a bridge between human and vampire, born with a rare gift: the ability to seal the veil between two worlds.

She wrote that the gift would awaken when Alina turned twenty‑two, the age at which the veil is thinnest. She pleaded that if she ever discovered the truth, to use the gift not for revenge but to protect the world from the looming war between hunters and vampires.

Alina is twenty‑one now, but in four months, she will be twenty-two. Her adoptive mother finished by writing that a man would try to come between her plans but would first act as a lover, sweet and alluring.

If this is true, then everything she had known was a lie. Her adoptive mother's love wasn't real, but it was built on a secret. Her father’s cruelty may have been a shield for a truth he could never accept.

And the man she has fallen for, Clarence, may be more than a poor professor. Perhaps, he could be a part of this hidden lineage, or perhaps, the very danger her adoptive mother warned her about.

Alina planned to find a diviner and tell him what she had learned. Perhaps together, they can uncover the full extent of her gift and decide how to use it to save the world before the veil tears forever.

Alina froze at the doorway, pressing the letter against her chest.

"Alina, where are you?" her stepmother’s voice cracked through the hallway. "We’re not giving you two or three days. Your husband says you both have to leave today."

The impact of her words threatened to tear through Alina's throat. She could hear the faint shuffle of the woman's shoes on the worn floorboards and knew that she was looking for her.

"Come out now," Cleopatra called, forcefully trying to sound calm to mask her desperation. "He’s waiting. We can’t wait any longer."

Alina’s fingers tightened around the letter, the secret she'd just discovered pulsing like a second heartbeat. She took a breath, steadied herself, and stepped toward the door.

Then and there, a thought to escape crossed her mind. But how? Everywhere was locked and the only exit was surrounded by Hector's guards.