Chapter 131

Chapter 131

Adrian Valehart.
I didn’t know what she wanted.
But I knew it wasn’t anything good.
When I saw her name flashing on the screen, that familiar heaviness settled on my chest again—
like a cold, strong hand pressing down slowly.
This wasn’t the moment for this.
Not now, not with Sofia barely holding herself together, trying to breathe, trying to understand what she had done, and attempting to rebuild herself after everything that had happened.
I got up from the table and walked as far away as I could.
I didn’t want Sofia hearing—
or knowing yet—
that it was my mother calling.
I would tell her later, of course.
But not now.
Not when a single wrong word could start a fight.
Everything was too fragile to risk it.
I went down to the garage and only then answered.
“What do you want?” I went straight to the point.
On the other end, there was a strange silence.
And when she finally spoke… something was different.
“Adrian… are you… are you okay?”
I frowned.
That wasn’t normal.
My mother didn’t ask if I was okay.
Not with that tone—
a tone that sounded almost… worried.
I assumed the Council had already informed her.
That she already knew Andrew was dead.
That Sofia was the one who had done it.
“What do you gain from knowing if I’m okay or not?” I shot back.
She inhaled, trying to keep calm, as if there was too much she needed to say.
“I need to talk to you. And it has to be quick. It’s important… very important. But it needs to be in person.”
“No.” I didn’t even think. “I don’t have time for your things right now. We’ll talk later.”
“No, Adrian, you don’t understand…” she insisted, her voice sharper. “It has to be now.”
I rolled my eyes.
I was already ready to hang up, convinced it was another one of her absurd ideas—
until I heard the thing that made me freeze.
“The oracle contacted me again.”
The oracle?
What now?
I stayed silent, waiting for her to say something that actually justified her bothering me.
“He said that…” she hesitated.
“That something would happen to one of the contenders for Alpha Supreme.”
Ah.
So it was that?
I let out a dry, humorless laugh.
“Well, that really happened.”
“What?” she asked, startled, disbelieving.
“Andrew is dead,” I said bluntly. “Didn’t your ‘contacts’ tell you?”
She fell silent, absorbing it.
“Andrew… dead?” she repeated, as if it made no sense. “No… that hasn’t reached me.”
Right.
So the Council was still deciding when—and to whom—to break the news.
“Maybe that oracle of yours should speed up with these visions, don’t you think?” I mocked.
“Do his job properly instead of playing prophet.”
“Adrian… the oracle never gets it wrong,” she replied, distressed and clearly bothered by my sarcasm. “If he said that, then—”
“Enough,” I cut in. “I have things to do.”
She fell quiet again.
I could tell she was still thinking hard on the other end.
“There’s one more thing,” I said, preparing to end the call.
“That deal we made at the council meeting… it’s over.”
“What?! What do you mean?!”
“Stop calling me to pass along outdated information. I’m not marrying Francesca.”
I heard her inhale sharply, ready to explode.
“YOU—”
I hung up.

Elenna Valehart
“IDIOT! UNGRATEFUL BASTARD!”
The phone flew from my hand and shattered on the floor, pieces scattering as if that could ease the rage burning in my chest.
“That boy… how dare he?! Even after I worried, after calling thinking something terrible had happened… And he didn’t even tell me about Andrew first…”
I pressed a hand to my mouth, trying to organize my thoughts.
Was what he said really true?
Had Andrew Hoffman truly died?
Why did something feel wrong?
Why hadn’t that information reached me?
The oracle would never contact me without reason.
If he warned me—
If he felt something—
Then it wasn’t a coincidence.
Francesca, as always, was sitting beside me on the couch, stiff, watching every move.
“Aunt… are you okay?” she asked, hesitant.
I ignored her.
“I am not like those lunatics on the Council,” I muttered to myself, pacing.
“I can feel it… something is off…”
I was a D’arven.
My senses were sharper, more attuned.
If something was disturbing me this much…
I walked without direction until I found myself in front of my ‘beloved’ husband’s door.
I pushed it open slowly.
And the first thing I heard were the machines—
endless beeping, never stopping.
He was there.
Lying motionless, pale, tangled in wires and tubes.
The mighty Valehart, reduced to this.
A cruel illness had stolen almost everything from him—
speech, movement, presence.
The presence that once could make anyone tremble just by being near.
It wouldn’t be long until Adrian took his place as heir of the family.
And even then, he refused his duty.
Adrian refused every obligation—
all because of a filthy half-breed.
The mere thought of her made my stomach twist in disgust.
“Elenna…”
A weak, raspy, almost nonexistent voice.
I almost jumped back.
It had been far too long since he had spoken.
“Valehart?” I moved closer quickly. “Do you… need something?”
Our marriage had never been good, more political than affectionate—
But still, I had done my part.
I had given my life to this family, fulfilling every duty perfectly.
And there he lay.
He lifted a trembling hand.
A silent request.
I leaned closer, confused.
He grabbed my arm with surprising strength for someone in his condition and pulled me toward his mouth.
What he whispered—
Made me stumble backward.
I stared at him as if he were a stranger.
But he wasn’t.
I had forgotten, after all these years of him being sick, that he was still lucid.
Even mute and unmoving like a plant, he still heard everything.
He still thought.
Still noticed things others couldn’t.
And maybe… after hearing my countless conversations about everything happening, he had realized something I hadn’t.
I rushed to the couch, grabbed my purse with trembling hands—
I needed to move quickly.
“Let’s go, Francesca!” I ordered sharply.
“What? Where?” she asked, startled.
“To the Council,” I answered, already heading to the door. “Now.”
“But what happened, Aunt?”
I yanked the door open.
“If we don’t get there in time…”
My voice cracked—
for the first time in years.
“If Valehart is right… the worst is about to happen.”