CHAPTER 121 — Did You Stop Loving Father Already?

VIOLET'S POV"Will you hurt Mama too?"The small voice drifted across the garden."Or... will you make me disappear like Father?"The words hit me like a blade to the chest. For a heartbeat, the world stopped, the breeze, the fountain, my breath. Everything.Then I saw them.Marrek stood beside the fountain, clutching his stuffed wolf so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.Merrin stood a few feet away, utterly still.Neither of them had noticed me.Marrek's eyes were glassy with unshed tears. Waiting for an answer no child should ever have to ask.A violent protective instinct tore through me."MARREK!"Both of them turned.I crossed the distance in seconds and pulled my son into my arms.His little body trembled against mine."Mama!"I held him tighter. Then I looked up, straight at Merrin."What did you say to him?" My voice shook with fury. "What stories have you been filling his head with?"A shadow crossed Merrin's face—concern, pain, and something unreadable—as he reached

CHAPTER 122 — Dead Heroes Never Lose

MERRIN'S POV"Mama..."The broken sound of Marrek's voice stopped me cold.His small chest rose and fell unevenly as tears streamed down his face. Every breath seemed to hurt him."You held Father's bracelet and cried," he whispered. "You said you missed him."Silence swallowed the room.I couldn't move. Neither could Violet.Marrek looked directly at her, and the question in his eyes was far more devastating than the tears."Why are you standing with the man who killed him?"Violet crossed the room so quickly the chair beside the bed nearly toppled."No." Her voice cracked. "No, sweetheart. That's not—""Did you stop loving Father already?"The question shattered whatever composure she had left."Never." She dropped to her knees beside the bed and took his trembling hands in hers. "Never, Marrek.""You said he loved us.""He did.""You said we'd never forget him.""We won't."His face turned toward me."Then why were you smiling at him?"Violet flinched. "I wasn't smiling."His voice

CHAPTER 123 — A Perfect Family Without Me

MERRIN'S POV"Impossible."The word left my mouth again and again.By now, I'd lost count.Across my chamber, Nolan stood in silence, his expression unreadable. Hours had passed since he'd delivered the news.“Silvan might not be dead.”The thought refused to leave.It burrowed deeper into my mind with every passing hour.I slammed both hands against my desk. The impact echoed through the room."He died. I watched you carry his body. I saw him take his last breath.”Nolan didn't move.For a long moment, only the crackling fireplace answered.Then Nolan finally spoke."You saw what you believed was his last breath."A cold sensation slid down my spine.For the first time, I allowed myself to consider it.What if Silvan was alive?What if he returned?What if one day those palace gates opened…and he walked inside?The image came too easily.Violet running toward him.Marrek throwing himself into his arms.The boy's face lighting up with the happiness I'd spent weeks trying—and failing—t

CHAPTER 124 – One Cookie Away From Death

LADY SARAPHINA'S POVNo.No!The word slammed through my mind like a curse.I jerked upright in bed, a sharp breath tearing from my lungs.The room felt unnaturally still, the cold pressing against my skin like a warning.I hadn't truly slept.Every time I closed my eyes, the same images returned to torment me.Zoey's face.The shattered poison vial.Helena's smile.I pressed trembling fingers against my temples.I was trapped.If I refused Helena, everything would come out.The gold.The bribes.The years I had looked away while Violet suffered.The entire kingdom would finally see the truth I'd spent years burying.A sick knot tightened in my stomach.But if I obeyed Helena… I squeezed my eyes shut. Then I would become something even worse.A murderer.A child killer.The thought made bile rise in my throat.I threw back the blankets and crossed the room, stopping at the window. Golden morning light spilled across the palace grounds below. Servants rushed across the courtyards carryi

CHAPTER 125 – She Was Supposed to Die Too

VIOLET'S POV"STOP!"The scream ripped through the grand dining hall like a blade.Everything froze.The music died mid-note.Servants stopped moving.Even the air seemed to lock inside my lungs.I stared at the woman racing toward us, my heart suddenly pounding so hard it hurt. For a moment, my mind refused to believe what my eyes were seeing.Mother.Five years.Five years since I had last seen her.Five years since I had walked away from everything connected to her.And now she was here inside Wolves-Heaven.Nausea rolled through me.Before I could move, the guards surged forward."Stop her!"I shot to my feet. "Let her through!"Every guard immediately halted.Seraphina stumbled past them. But instead of running to me… Instead of embracing me after all these years...She lunged straight toward Marrek.Smack!The cookie flew from his tiny hand.Gasps erupted across the hall.Marrek startled, his wide eyes filling with confusion.Then Seraphina slammed both palms into the servant's

CHAPTER 126 – If I'm Dead, Read This

QUEEN HELENA’S POVThe vase exploded against the stone wall. Shards of glass scattered across the floor like ice.I stood in the center of my chamber, chest rising and falling with fury. My fingers trembled around the stem of a silver goblet."The fool."The goblet flew.It struck the fireplace and shattered with a deafening crack.My rage wasn't because Marrek had survived. It wasn't even because the assassination had failed.No.It was because Saraphina had betrayed me.Just yesterday, Saraphina came crawling back to me, bitter, broken, and consumed by jealousy. She blamed Violet for everything—her failures, her pain, and the life she believed had been stolen from her.I welcomed that hatred. I nurtured it, fed it, and used it to my advantage. So why now? Why had Saraphina suddenly found a conscience? Why choose this moment to ruin everything when we were so close to getting what we wanted?My jaw tightened as a far more dangerous thought crept into my mind.Saraphina knew too much.