All Chapters of MARKED BY DECEPTION : Chapter 81 - Chapter 89

89 Chapters

Chapter 81: More Secrets

Lila’s POVRowan was hiding something from me.It wasn't obvious at first. He still worked in the living room sometimes, still answered calls while I was around, still left his coffee on the kitchen counter and forgot about it until it went cold. But whenever I walked into his office, the screen was suddenly locked, and if someone called him, he usually stepped away before answering his call I noticed because I had started noticing things about him, which was probably a terrible habit but that's besides the point. Three days after the patrol incident, I found Reid in the study with two files spread across the desk. He looked up when I walked in, then immediately started gathering them.I stopped.“What?”“Nothing.”“then why are you rushing out? you are doing that thing.”“What thing?”“Acting like I'm going to explode if I see a piece of paper.”He gave me a look that made me want to laugh, but i didn't.“It's about your father.”That wiped the amusement from my face.“What about hi

Chapter 82: Argument

Lila’s POVI found out two days later what he was hiding and no, not because Rowan told me. It was because I overheard a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear.I was coming back from the training room when I heard Reid talking to Rowan in the study. The door wasn't fully closed, and I wasn't trying to listen until I heard my father's name.“He was investigating her bloodline before he died,” Reid said.I stopped.Rowan didn't answer.“There are references going back years,” Reid continued. “Leo wasn't just looking into the company accounts. He was looking into her.”My stomach dropped.I pushed the door open.“Looking into me for what?”Both of them turned.Rowan's face changed immediately.“Lila.”“No.” I stepped inside. “Don't do that.”“Do what?”“Don't say my name like that's going to make this disappear.”Reid looked between us.“I'll give you two some privacy.”He left.I waited until the door shut behind him.“You knew.”Rowan didn't answer.“You knew my father had been invest

Chapter 83: The Truth Getting Closer

Lila’s POVBy the time we found the old storage room, I had already decided we weren't going to find anything. Not because Rowan had said so, or because the investigation had hit another dead end, but because we'd spent the better part of the afternoon going through old records, locked cabinets and boxes that looked like they'd been sitting untouched since before I was born, and my patience had officially run out.“This is pointless,” I muttered, crouching beside another box.Rowan glanced at me from across the room. “You said that twenty minutes ago.”“And I was right twenty minutes ago.”“Probably.”I smiled despite myself and went back to the box. There was something different about working with him lately. Things weren't completely normal after our argument, but we'd stopped walking around each other like we were about to explode, and sometimes that was enough.I pulled out a stack of old papers and flipped through them without much interest. Then I stopped, there was something in

Chapter 84: The truth

Lila's POVBy the time I made it back upstairs, the building had gone quiet. Everyone else had already moved downstairs after the investigation, and judging by the voices drifting faintly through the stairwell, they were getting ready to leave. I stood in the doorway of the storage room for a moment, looking at the mess we'd spent the afternoon sorting through.there was nothing, no hidden documents, no obvious connection to my father's death. Nothing that explained why Moretti Industries had kept records in a place that had supposedly been abandoned years ago.I should have been relieved.Instead, I felt irritated that I'd wasted half a day chasing dust.I turned to leave, caught my shoe against a box, and sent it scraping across the floor."Great."A few loose papers slid out.I crouched with a sigh and began gathering them, more out of habit than interest. Most were invoices, old employee records, things that probably hadn't mattered to anyone in years. I shoved them back into the

Chapter 85: Telling her the truth

Rowan's POVThere are some conversations a man can spend years avoiding, convincing himself that silence is better than the truth, that keeping certain things buried will protect everyone involved. I have always been good at that. I learned young that there were things better left unsaid, especially when saying them could put a target on someone's back.Lila is standing across from me now, watching me with an expression I have seen too many times since she came into my life.She wants answers and I definitely owe her some."Your father and mine were never friends," I begin, and even saying it feels strange because Leo Moretti was many things to me, but friend was never one of them. "They were rivals."Her eyebrows draw together."Everyone knows that and I know it was not just because of the business, it was because of the packs, some rivalry or something"I nod."Partly. Their businesses were connected to things humans knew nothing about, and both of them wanted control over the same

Chapter 86: Staying back

Rowan's POV"Then there was the market," she says.I look at her.She remembers.Of course she does."That was the first time I actually knew it was you.""And you hated me.""I thought you were responsible for my father's death.""I know.""You didn't even try to explain yourself.""I couldn't."Her eyebrows pull together."Why?"Because you would not have believed me. Because you were grieving. Because every answer I could have given you would have sounded like an excuse. Because I had been trying to keep you alive while you looked at me like I was the monster who had taken your father from you.Instead, I say, "You weren't in a place where you would have listened."She looks away.I remember that market clearly.The anger in her voice.The way she looked at me.The way every instinct in me wanted to step closer even while everything sensible told me to stay away.I had already known she was mine by then and I had known she wanted nothing to do with me.My wolf however did not care

CHAPTER 87: A Vacation

☆☆LILA’S POV☆☆The first thing I notice when Rowan tells me we’re going to Italy is that he says it like he’s telling me the weather. Well, he was going to Italy I just decide to tag along “I have a meeting in Milan tomorrow.” I look up from my phone. “Can I come..” He keeps reading whatever is on the tablet in front of him. I wait. He doesn’t look up. “Are you going to answer me?” His eyes finally lift. “Fine, you’re coming with me.” I stare at him. “yesss wait but why?” “Because you’ll be more safe and would stop complainin,so you can come,” he says. “If you want.” Of course I want. Twenty minutes later, I’m throwing clothes into a suitcase. The private jet is probably the nicest thing I’ve ever been on, which feels ridiculous considering the circumstances that brought me into Rowan’s life. I’m still trying to decide whether I should be impressed or offended by how normal he seems about the whole thing. He sits across from me with his laptop open, completely focused.

Chapter 88: Spending More Time Together

LILA'S POVThe first thing I realize when I wake up is that I have absolutely no idea where I am.For one terrifying second, I stare at the unfamiliar ceiling above me, my brain still somewhere between sleep and consciousness, trying to remember how I got here. Then I feel the soft mattress beneath me, hear the faint hum of the air-conditioning, and catch the smell of coffee drifting through the room.Right, I was in Italy.I turn my head toward the window and immediately sit up. The view outside is ridiculous. It looked so beautiful.I reach for my phone on the bedside table and check the time. Late enough that I should probably be embarrassed, but not late enough for me to care. There are a few notifications waiting for me, but none of them look important, so I toss the phone back onto the bed.I climb out of bed and walk toward the window, pulling the curtains open properly. The sunlight hits my face, and I close my eyes for a second, letting the warmth settle over my skin.After t

Chapter 89: The Party

The moment we entered the party everywhere was already bubbling with life.People were scattered across the room with drinks in their hands, laughing in little groups and talking like they had known each other for years. Everyone seemed completely settled into their own conversations, and honestly, standing there beside Rowan made me realize just how much respect, and importance he commanded in a room like this.We couldn't take more than a few steps without someone calling his name."Rowan.""Mr. Blackwood.""Good to see you."And every single time, there was another conversation waiting for him. Meanwhile, I was just there.standing there awkwardly, one thing I made sure of, though, was that I followed him everywhere.I wasn't about to stand around by myself and accidentally get adopted into a conversation about stocks or something and Rowan seemed to understand that without me having to say anything because, at almost every point, his arm would find its way around my waist, pulling

...

4 5 6 7 8 9

SCAN CODE TO READ ON APP