Chapter 190 CHAPTER 190

Chapter 190 CHAPTER 190
CHAPTER 190 - APOLOGIES

Ariel barely noticed the conversation around her anymore.

Her eyes remained fixed on the convoy that had just entered the palace grounds as Victor stepped out.

His wrists were bound in heavy steel shackles, with two guards gripping his arms tightly on either side. His clothes were wrinkled, his shoulders slumped, and the confidence that had once surrounded him had completely vanished.

Ariel felt the air leave her lungs. Her heartbeat became painfully loud inside her ears.

Beside her, Zack frowned as he studied the scene. Andrew exchanged a puzzled look with Jenna while Cassian folded his arms, his sharp eyes narrowing.

"What happened?" Jenna whispered.

No one answered.

Another vehicle came to a stop.

Alpha Daniel climbed out before the driver had even finished opening the door for him. His expression was grim as his eyes searched the palace grounds. The moment he spotted Leonard disappearing toward the training grounds, he immediately started walking after him.

"Dad!" Zack called.

Daniel didn't even slow down.

"Not now son."

His voice carried over his shoulder before he disappeared around the corner, several guards hurrying after him.

The five of them stood rooted to the ground, more confused than before.

Ariel’s attention never left Victor. He no longer looked like the ruthless man she had imagined all these years. There was no arrogance in his posture. No anger in his eyes. He simply looked defeated… broken.

The sight stirred something deep inside her.Memories she had spent years burying came rushing back without mercy. Her mother's gentle smile. Her father's warm laughter filling their home. The safety of being wrapped in their embrace. Then came the emptiness that had followed.

The silent house.

The endless nights she had cried herself to sleep, wondering why they had been taken from her... why she had been left behind to face the world alone.

Her fingers began to tremble. Then the trembling spread to her arms.

Within seconds, her entire body was shaking beneath the crushing weight of emotions she could no longer hold back.

Zack noticed immediately. He turned toward her, concern etched across his face.

"Ariel..."

She didn't answer.

Her eyes remained fixed on Victor as the guards escorted him across the courtyard toward the palace dungeons. His shoulders were slumped. His head was bowed. He looked like a man who had already lost everything. Each step he took felt like another chance slipping through her fingers. Another opportunity disappearing forever.

Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs. Before she even realized what she was doing, the word escaped her lips.

"Wait."

The guards continued walking.

She swallowed hard and drew in a shaky breath.

"Wait!"

This time, her voice rang across the courtyard with unmistakable authority. The command echoed against the palace walls. The guards froze instantly. They turned as one and lowered their heads respectfully.

Ariel swallowed the lump forming in her throat. Her legs suddenly felt impossibly weak, as though they could no longer support her weight. For a brief moment, she wasn't sure she could move at all. Then, gathering what little strength she had left, she forced herself forward. She didn't stop until only a few feet separated her from Victor.

Victor slowly lifted his head, and the moment their eyes met, guilt washed over his face. It wasn't hidden or disguised behind pride. It was raw, heavy, and impossible to miss.

Ariel simply stared at him. Her lips parted, but for several long seconds, no words came. Her body was trembling too violently, and the ache in her chest stole every breath she tried to take. When she finally found her voice, it broke under the weight of years of pain.

"Why?"

Victor lowered his eyes, unable to hold her gaze any longer.

Ariel forced herself to take another shaky step forward. Every instinct told her to turn around, to run, but she couldn't. She had spent years waiting for this moment, years searching for answers that had never come. "What did my father ever do to you?" she asked, her voice trembling. Her breathing hitched as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. "What did my mother ever do to you?"

The rest of the question lodged painfully in her throat. She couldn't finish it. She couldn't bring herself to ask what had haunted her every night since she was a little girl.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zack moved to her side. He slipped an arm protectively around her shoulders while positioning himself between her and Victor. 

Victor closed his eyes for a brief moment before slowly opening them again. His shoulders sagged as though the weight of every choice he had ever made had finally caught up with him.

"I'm sorry."

The words were barely audible.

Ariel took another small step toward him, the distance between them shrinking with each unsteady stride. Tears streamed freely down her face, blurring her vision until she could scarcely make out his features. Her chest tightened painfully, each breath becoming harder than the last, yet she refused to look away.

Zack gently steadied her before turning back to Victor, his expression hard as stone.

"We only have one question."

He stepped closer.

"Who sent you?"

Victor remained silent.

Zack's eyes darkened.

"Who ordered you to find Lucien?"

"Who did you report to?"

Victor slowly lifted his head. His gaze moved from Ariel to Zack then to Cassian, Andrew, and Jenna standing silently a few steps behind them.

Finally, he spoke.

"The best person to answer that question..."

He paused.

"...would be his father."

Confusion swept across every face.

Ariel frowned.

"What?"

Victor looked at her one last time.

"If you want the truth..."

His voice was filled with genuine regret.

"Find out where Leonard went, he'll tell you the whole truth."

He lowered his head.

"For now..." Another painful silence stretched between them. "...I'm truly sorry."

The guards resumed escorting him toward the dungeons.

Ariel stood frozen, staring after him. Then, without another word, she turned toward the path Alpha Daniel had taken. Her heart pounded violently inside her chest.

She broke into a run.

Zack immediately followed.

Cassian, Andrew, and Jenna exchanged uneasy glances before hurrying after them, all of them racing toward the training grounds, unaware that the answers they had been searching for were only moments away.

Ariel's eyes lingered on the path Leonard had disappeared down moments earlier.

A strange feeling settled in the pit of her stomach.

Without saying a word, she started walking in the same direction. The closer they walked toward the gamma’s office, the louder the voices became.

At first, they were nothing more than muffled echoes drifting through the afternoon air.

Then the words became clearer –angrier, more desperate.

Ariel's pace quickened.

By the time they reached the closed office door, they could clearly hear raised voices carrying through the thick wooden panels.

"...Please listen to Alpha Daniel." Evelyn's strained voice carried through the air.

Ariel's brows knitted together as she exchanged a confused glance with Zack. Without hesitating, Zack stepped forward and wrapped his hand around the doorknob.

He pushed the door open. The room fell into view.

Leonard stood facing Evelyn, his shoulders rigid with exhaustion and betrayal. Daniel stood quietly beside him, one hand still resting on the Beta's shoulder. Guards from both Ashwood and Maplewood surrounded the room, while Alaric stood several feet away with steel shackles locked around his wrists.

As the door opened, Leonard's voice cut through the suffocating silence.

"Fine."

His tone was flat, almost lifeless.

"I'll hear you out."

His eyes never left Evelyn.

"But only out of respect for Alpha Daniel."

The words hung heavily in the room as Ariel and the others stepped inside, every pair of eyes immediately turning toward the unexpected newcomers.