Chapter 92

Lisa’s POV

The air in the room was thick, suffocating. It carried the scent of medicine, sweat, and something else—something heavier, like regret lingering in the stale atmosphere. The room was dim, a single lamp casting weak light over the bed where Beta Giovanni Albert lay. The man who once ruled with an iron fist, who had dictated my fate with cold indifference, now looked as fragile as autumn leaves before the wind scattered them.

I swallowed hard, my heart hammering against my ribs. Hunter’s presence beside me was my anchor, grounding me in a reality I wasn’t sure I was ready to face. Mike stood ahead, hesitant but firm, while Luke, my older brother, lingered behind me like a shadow, his emotions swirling in the silence.

Giovanni shifted slightly, his once-imposing frame now a hollow shell. It feels strange thinking about him as dad. His skin, once bronzed and taut, sagged against sharp bones. His eyes—those same piercing eyes that had once glared at me with disdain—now held something else. Something I had never seen before.

Weakness.

Regret.

"Lisa…" His voice was a whisper, rough and cracked, barely able to escape his lips. His fingers trembled as he reached toward me.

I couldn’t move. My body refused. Every fiber in me screamed that this was justice, that this was the moment I had waited for—the mighty Beta, brought to his knees by time, by karma. I had imagined this moment so many times, pictured myself standing before him, unshaken, while he begged for my forgiveness.

But now that it was happening… I felt nothing.

Nothing except an unbearable weight pressing against my chest.

Giovanni’s body convulsed as another violent cough tore through him. Luke immediately rushed forward, adjusting the pillows behind his back, his concern evident. I stared, my hands clenched into fists.

"I… I…" His voice cracked, his breath ragged. He struggled to push out the words, his chest rising and falling unevenly.

I should leave. I should turn my back and walk away like he had done to me.

But my feet remained rooted to the spot.

His eyes flickered with desperation as they met mine. "I have something to tell you," he rasped. "Even if… it won’t change your heart."

Another coughing fit stole his words, his body shaking with the effort.

I exhaled sharply, crossing my arms over my chest. "Then say it, Giovanni." I refused to call him father. He had never earned that title.

Mike tensed beside the bed, his jaw tight. Luke’s shoulders slumped, as if carrying a weight none of us could see.

Giovanni's gaze darkened for a moment, but the fight left him just as quickly. He nodded weakly. "You always were strong," he murmured. "Stronger than I ever gave you credit for."

A bitter laugh bubbled up inside me. "And yet you spent your life trying to break me."

His expression twisted, something like guilt flashing across his worn features. "I never wanted to break you, Lisa. I wanted to protect you."

I stiffened. Protect me? The audacity of those words sent a rush of anger through my veins. "By treating me like I was nothing? By throwing me away like garbage?" My voice wavered, but I refused to let the emotions choke me.

He sighed, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment. "You don’t understand. You were my weakness, Lisa. Everyone knew it. The enemies I made… they would have used you against me. If they saw how much I loved you—"

My breath caught in my throat. "Loved me?" I took a step closer, my pulse hammering. "You had a strange way of showing it."

His gaze turned pleading. "It was the only way I knew how. If I made them believe you meant nothing to me, they wouldn’t come after you. If I cast you out, you would be safe. I—" His breath hitched, and his body shuddered.

I clenched my fists, my nails biting into my palms. "Safe?" My voice rose, the years of pain unraveling all at once. "You could have trained me. You could have prepared me. But instead, you made me an outcast. You left me to suffer alone. That wasn’t love. That was cowardice."

Giovanni winced, his hands trembling as he clutched at the blankets. "I know," he admitted, his voice barely audible. "I know I failed you."

Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. The room suddenly felt too small, too confining. I couldn’t breathe.

Hunter reached for my hand, his touch steady, unwavering. I held on, grounding myself in the warmth of his skin.

Giovanni inhaled shakily, his lips parting as if he wanted to say more, but the words wouldn’t come. His time was slipping away.

Luke finally broke the silence. "Father, save your strength."

Giovanni shook his head. "No. She needs to hear this." His gaze found mine again, more desperate this time. "I never stopped loving you, Lisa. I just… I made the wrong choices."

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. "And now? Now, when you're dying, you suddenly want to make amends?"

A single tear rolled down his cheek. "I would rather die knowing you hate me and are alive than risk you loving me and being taken from this world too soon."

Something inside me cracked. I had spent years holding onto the anger, the pain, the belief that he had abandoned me out of hatred. But now, I didn’t know what to feel.

I turned to Luke. "Did you know?"

Luke hesitated before nodding slowly. "I suspected. But I was young too, Lisa. I didn’t understand until it was too late."

Mike wiped a hand down his face, his expression torn. "I just wanted you to know the truth before… before he’s gone."

My throat tightened.

Was this the truth?

Or was it just another excuse?

I looked at Giovanni again, at the man who had shaped my childhood into a nightmare. He had stripped me of love, of family, of safety. And yet…

He had feared losing me.

I wasn’t sure if that was enough.

The silence stretched again, the weight of the moment pressing down on my chest.

Finally, I whispered, "I don’t know if I can forgive you."

A weak, broken smile touched his lips. "I don’t deserve it."

Giovanni’s breath grew shallow, his chest rising and falling in uneven gasps. His once-powerful form, the very presence that had once instilled fear and respect, was now sinking further into the bed, swallowed by weakness.

“I have… something else to say,” he rasped, his voice brittle, like it could snap at any moment.

A shiver ran down my spine.

For the first time in my life, I saw him not as the monster who had cast me aside, not as the ruthless Beta of the Red Moon Pack, but as something far simpler—just a man. A man drowning in his own regrets.

His fingers twitched against the sheets, his dull eyes locking onto mine with desperation.

“I was wrong,” he admitted, his voice barely audible. “But… I did it to protect you.”

I swallowed hard, emotions warring inside me. “Protect me? By making me suffer?”

A shadow flickered across his face. “You… you don’t understand.” He struggled to push himself up, the urgency in his expression clawing at my insides.

I stepped closer despite myself. “Then make me understand.”

His breath hitched. I have atruth to reveal." He whispered.