Chapter 13: The Mother Who Signed My Death Warrant

I couldn't stop thinking about the prisoner's final words.

Your mother knew exactly what she was doing.

She signed the order.

Even after all the things Diana had done to me, part of me had still believed there was a line she would never cross.

Now I wasn't sure anymore.

Emmett noticed my silence as we left the archive.

“You don't have to face this tonight.”

I looked at him.

“I need to know.”

He didn't argue.

Instead, he led me to a private room where Victor was already waiting.

The moment I entered, I looked directly at him.

“Tell me everything you know about my birth.”

Victor remained silent for a long moment.

Then he sighed.

“Twenty-four years ago, Diana gave birth to twins.”

My hands tightened around the pendant.

“The first child was Chloe?”

“No.”

Victor shook his head.

“Chloe was born several years later.”

I felt a strange chill.

“Then who was the second twin?”

Victor's gaze dropped.

“A boy.”

I froze.

“A boy?”

Emmett's expression changed.

Victor nodded.

“Your twin brother.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

All my life, I had thought I was an only child before Chloe.

Now I was learning there had been another baby.

“Where is he?”

“We don't know.”

Victor's voice was heavy.

“The night you disappeared, your brother disappeared too.”

I swallowed hard.

“So someone took both of us?”

“Yes.”

“And my parents knew?”

Victor looked at me.

“Your father knew you were missing. Your mother knew more than that.”

My chest tightened.

“What does that mean?”

Victor reached for another document.

It was an old council report.

The seal had been partially damaged, but the handwriting was still readable.

“After the twins were born, the Riverbend elders discovered something unusual.”

He pointed toward a line in the report.

“Both children carried the same royal marker.”

I stared at the words.

“Both of us?”

“Yes.”

Victor's expression became grim.

“That frightened the elders.”

I understood.

Two children carrying a rare royal bloodline could become powerful figures in the future.

Especially if one of them became Alpha.

“So they decided to get rid of us.”

“Some of them did.”

Victor corrected me.

“But someone changed the plan.”

I frowned.

“Who?”

“Diana.”

The name hit me like a blow.

Victor continued.

“She refused to let the elders kill you. Instead, she agreed to have you taken away.”

I couldn't breathe.

“She saved me?”

“At first.”

Victor's voice was quiet.

“But years later, when the marriage alliance with Ironwood became necessary, Diana helped bring you back.”

I stared at him.

“Why?”

“Because she believed the alliance could solve Riverbend's problems.”

I laughed bitterly.

So that was the truth.

She hadn't brought me home because she missed me.

She had brought me back because she needed something from me.

“And Chloe?” I asked.

“She was born after you disappeared.”

Victor paused.

“By the time you returned, Diana had spent your entire childhood raising Chloe.”

Everything suddenly made sense.

The difference between us.

The way Diana looked at Chloe with affection and at me with obligation.

Chloe had been the daughter she chose.

I had been the daughter she needed.

I lowered my eyes.

“What happened to my brother?”

Victor shook his head.

“That is the one question we still can't answer.”

Emmett stepped forward.

“We'll find him.”

I looked at him.

His voice was firm.

“If he's alive, we'll find him.”

Those words gave me something I hadn't realized I needed.

Hope.

A sudden knock interrupted us.

One of Emmett's guards entered.

“Alpha, there's another message from Riverbend.”

Emmett took it.

His expression changed as he read.

“What is it?” I asked.

He handed me the message.

My eyes widened.

It was from Diana.

She wanted to speak with me privately.

And she had included one sentence that made my blood run cold.

“If you want to know where your brother is, come back to the Jennings villa alone.”

I looked up at Emmett.

He immediately shook his head.

“You're not going alone.”

“She might not tell us anything if you come.”

“Then she can keep her secrets.”

His voice was cold.

I stared at the message again.

For twenty-four years, I had wondered whether I had ever mattered to my mother.

Now she was finally offering me an answer.

But I knew better than anyone that the Jennings family never gave anything without demanding something in return.

I folded the message carefully.

“I'll go.”

Emmett looked at me.

“Then I'll be there too.”

This time, I didn't argue.

Because whatever waited for me at the Jennings villa, I knew one thing for certain.

I wasn't the powerless daughter they had abandoned anymore.