Chapter 316

Chapter 316
Paxton

The drive to Sterling ancestral grounds passed in a blur of rage and grief. Uncle Kai—the man who'd comforted me after every engineered failure, who'd helped me through my first transformation, who'd been my anchor after my parents died. All of it built on lies and revenge.

I found Kai in his usual place—the study, surrounded by financial reports and family ledgers.

"Paxton." He looked up and asked, "Everything alright?"

I closed the doors behind me, letting my Alpha presence fill the room. "We need to talk about Flynn Welch."

The shift in Kai's expression was subtle but unmistakable. "Flynn's accident? Terrible tragedy, but—"

"Stop." I moved closer, my voice dropping to the dangerous quiet that preceded storms. "I know you orchestrated Flynn's accident. I know you've been using Lyra against Freya's family."

For a moment, Kai's mask slipped completely. I saw panic flicker across his features before his Alpha instincts responded to my challenge.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, but his voice lacked conviction.

I pulled out the photographs and documents, placing them on the desk between us.

"Your communications with Lyra. Your sabotage of my business deals." I watched his face as recognition dawned. "But it goes deeper than that, doesn't it? This is about Vivian."

I spread out the faded photographs—images of my parents, Vivian, and Kai. I continued, "She never loved you back, did she? All those years of pursuit, of believing you could make her choose you over my father."

Kai stared at the photos, his breathing becoming labored. "You don't understand—"

"I understand perfectly." I placed the DNA results in front of him. "Zoe isn't even your biological daughter, yet you raised her while systematically destroying me out of spite. Every failure I blamed on myself was your handiwork."

The silence stretched between us. Finally, Kai's shoulders sagged, but when he looked up, his eyes blazed with unrepentant fury.

"Yes," he said quietly. "Every word of it is true."

The admission hit me like a physical blow. "So you admit it."

"Your father stole everything from me!" Kai's composure shattered completely. "Vivian's love, your grandfather's approval, the family legacy that should have been mine! I spent years loving a woman who could only see Henry Sterling, years watching him live the life I deserved!"

I stared at this Alpha who'd helped raise me, seeing a stranger consumed by decades of festering resentment. "So you decided to make his son pay for it."

Kai shouted, "I decided to prove that Henry Sterling's son wasn't worthy of what was handed to him! Every doubt, every failure, every moment you wondered if you were good enough—that was justice!"

The betrayal cut deeper than any physical wound. "I trusted you. When I was terrified of my first transformation, you held my hand. When I doubted myself as a leader, you guided me. And you repaid that by making my entire life a lie."

"Everything I did was to secure Zoe's rightful place!" Kai snarled. "She deserves what you inherited!"

I felt something breaking inside my chest—not just trust, but the very foundation of who I thought Kai was. "Even after everything I've learned, a part of me still wanted to shield you from Freya's wrath. I wanted to believe there was something left to save. But you never saw me as family, did you? You just hated me."

"Stop this madness. Let go of your hatred." I stepped closer, my voice carrying the full weight of Alpha authority. "Don't you care what this will do to Zoe? How much pain you'll cause her? Are you going to destroy all of us with your own hands?"

At the mention of Zoe's name, something flickered in Kai's eyes—a moment of uncertainty that gave me hope.

"Father, is this true?" The soft voice from the doorway made both of us freeze. Zoe stood there in her golden dress, her face pale with shock and growing horror.

"Zoe." Kai's voice cracked, all his Alpha bravado crumbling at the sight of his daughter.

She stepped into the room, her eyes moving between us and the scattered evidence. "I heard my name..." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I'm not your biological daughter, am I?"

The silence that followed was deafening. I watched Kai's face cycle through panic, desperation, and fierce protective love.

"You are my daughter," he said fiercely. "You will always be my daughter. I love you, and I will take everything Sterling has and give it to you."

"No!" Zoe's voice cracked with anguish. "No, I'm not! I heard everything. And I don't want Sterling's inheritance—I've told you that before! Why don't you understand? I also said I would never hurt Paxton!"

She turned and fled from the room, her sobs echoing through the room.

"Zoe!" Kai called after her, his voice breaking.

I watched my uncle—this Alpha who'd shaped so much of my life—completely shatter at the sight of his daughter's pain. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him.

"You've hurt all of us," I said quietly. "It's time for this to end."

But as Kai turned back to me, the heartbreak in his eyes was already hardening back into the familiar hatred.

"The one who hurt Zoe is you," he snarled. "If it weren't for you, she would never have known, never have been hurt. You're just like your father—a selfish bastard who destroys everything he touches!"

The accusation left me speechless for a moment. I asked, "You're still going to continue your so-called revenge?"

"Why should I give up?" Kai's voice was deadly quiet now. "Why should I abandon everything I've worked for?"

I stared at him—this man who'd been like a second father to me—and realized there was no reaching him. The love I'd thought we shared had been poisoned by decades of resentment so deep it had consumed his soul.

"Fine," I said, my voice carrying the finality of Alpha judgment. "If that's how you want it. I'll call a board meeting. We'll settle this at the board meeting. But you need to know—you hurt Flynn, and Freya won't let that go. And I no longer have any reason to shield you from the consequences."

I turned and walked toward the door, each step feeling like a small death. Years of trust, guidance, and what I'd thought was love—all of it built on lies and manipulation.