Chapter 9: The Vow That Wouldn't Break

By the time Lucien returned to the Ironwood estate, the eastern sky was already beginning to pale.

He had spent the entire night at the warehouse.

He had searched every corner.

He had questioned every surviving rogue.

And with every answer, another piece of the life he had believed in collapsed.

Evelyn had not disappeared because she wanted attention.

She had been trapped.

She had called for help.

And everyone she trusted had chosen not to believe her.

Lucien entered the estate with blood still staining his sleeves.

My mother was waiting in the foyer.

The moment she saw his expression, she knew.

“You found something.”

Lucien didn't answer immediately.

He placed the evidence from the warehouse on the table.

The ransom demand.

The photographs.

The witness records.

And the ten small bones recovered beside the silver crusher.

My mother's hand flew to her mouth.

“No…”

My father came downstairs moments later.

His face hardened when he saw the evidence.

“Where did you get these?”

“From the warehouse where Evelyn was held.”

My father stared at him.

Lucien's voice became dangerously quiet.

“She was there for ten days.”

“She called us three times.”

“And we ignored every call.”

My mother began to cry.

“We didn't know.”

Lucien looked at her.

“She told you.”

“She told all of us.”

No one could answer that.

Then Vivian appeared at the top of the stairs.

She had changed into a pale silk robe, her ankle wrapped neatly in healing cloth.

“Lucien…”

He turned toward her.

For the first time, there was no warmth in his eyes when he looked at her.

Vivian slowly descended the stairs.

“I heard voices.”

Her gaze fell on the evidence scattered across the table.

Her face immediately lost its color.

Lucien noticed.

He noticed everything now.

“You knew.”

Vivian froze.

“What?”

“You knew Evelyn had been kidnapped.”

“No.”

“You knew.”

His voice was low, but the Alpha pressure behind it filled the entire room.

Vivian's eyes filled with tears.

“I didn't.”

“Then explain why your private account transferred money to a rogue intermediary ten days ago.”

Her expression changed.

My father stared at her.

“Vivian?”

She stepped backward.

“That wasn't for Evelyn.”

Lucien's jaw tightened.

“Then who was it for?”

Vivian couldn't answer.

Lucien took another step forward.

“Who told the rogues not to release her?”

“Who told them that no one from Ironwood would pay?”

Vivian's tears finally spilled.

“I never wanted her dead.”

The room went completely silent.

Lucien stared at her.

“What did you just say?”

Vivian covered her mouth.

She had realized her mistake too late.

My father looked at her in disbelief.

“Vivian, what have you done?”

She immediately shook her head.

“I only wanted her gone.”

“I wanted the Luna position.”

“I didn't think they would hurt her.”

Lucien's wolf roared.

The windows rattled from the force of his anger.

“You knew.”

Vivian collapsed onto the stairs.

“Lucien, please.”

“She had everything!”

“My parents loved her.”

“The elders supported her.”

“You were always going to choose her!”

Lucien's face turned cold.

“So you arranged her kidnapping?”

Vivian sobbed.

“I only paid them to frighten her.”

“I wanted her to leave Gray Harbor.”

“I never expected her to die.”

Lucien looked at the evidence on the table.

Then he remembered Evelyn standing beneath the moonlight.

Her transparent fingers.

Her empty eyes.

Her quiet voice.

Don't look for me anymore.

His heart felt as though someone had torn it apart.

“You didn't kill her alone,” he said.

Everyone looked at him.

“We all did.”

My mother began shaking her head.

“Lucien…”

“We ignored her calls.”

“We believed Vivian without asking questions.”

“I told Evelyn that if she wanted to die, she should do it.”

His voice broke.

“And she did.”

The room became unbearably quiet.

Far away, I stood beneath a moonlit bridge overlooking Gray Harbor.

My third night had begun.

The Moon Goddess’s messenger appeared beside me.

“You have one final attachment.”

I already knew what it was.

Lucien.

The vow between us still remained.

I closed my eyes.

For ten years, I had believed that love meant holding on no matter how badly I was hurt.

Now I finally understood.

Sometimes love ended long before the people involved admitted it.

I whispered the final words of release.

“Lucien Ashford, I release you from every promise I ever made.”

“You owe me nothing.”

“And I no longer owe you my heart.”

The invisible bond inside my soul trembled violently.

Then it shattered.

A warm light surrounded me.

For the first time since my death, I felt completely free.

The messenger smiled sadly.

“Your final vow has been severed.”

“At sunrise, you will return to the Moon Goddess.”

I looked toward the distant lights of Ironwood.

I felt no anger.

No longing.

No desire to return.

Only peace.

Behind me, the world I had once fought so hard to belong to was disappearing.

And for the first time, I was ready to disappear with it.