CHAPTER 145

Alex's POV

I stood there, frozen, staring at Scarlet's parents. Their eyes were steady, calm, like they had nothing to hide. But I felt like I was being dragged into a storm I wasn't ready for. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt a strange sense of unease.

Scarlet's mother, Stella spoke first, her voice quiet but firm. "We need to tell you the truth, Alex. All of it."

I didn't say anything. I wasn't sure if I was ready for whatever they were about to say, but there was a part of me that needed to hear it. A part that couldn't ignore the rising doubts in my mind.

She took a deep breath before continuing. "Your father, Alex... He wasn't who you think he was."

I swallowed hard, trying to prepare myself for what was coming. My father had always been everything to me. A figure of strength and power. The one who shaped me into the person I was. But now, Scarlet's mother was telling me something I wasn't sure I wanted to hear.

"Your mother," she said slowly, "wasn't just some weak woman who couldn't stand up for herself." She paused, her eyes locking with mine. "She was a princess, from another pack. She came from strength. But your father..."

Her voice broke, and I saw a flicker of pain cross her face. "Your father treated her like a slave. He abused her, Alex. She wasn't allowed to be herself. He controlled every part of her life. He broke her spirit, piece by piece."

My breath hitched.

I felt the ground shift beneath me.

No. This couldn't be true. It couldn't.

"Are you telling me my father abused my mother? That's... That's impossible!"

I shouted, the words feeling wrong on my tongue. I wanted to deny it so badly, but there was something inside me-something deep down-that couldn't shake off the doubt.

Stella didn't flinch. She just nodded, the pain in her eyes deepening. "Yes, Alex. He treated her terribly. But when she tried to fight back, when she tried to leave him, your father made sure she couldn't. He controlled her every move."

The anger inside me was rising. I didn't want to hear this. I couldn't. It didn't make sense.

"Why are you telling me this?" I demanded, my voice shaking with a mix of confusion and rage. "What does this have to do with me?"

Her voice was soft, but there was no hesitation. "It has everything to do with you. Your mother didn't die just because of some accident. Your father killed her, Alex. He made it look like an accident, but we know the truth."

I stumbled back, my chest tightening. The words didn't make sense, but they were starting to fall into place. I tried to push them out of my mind, but the pieces were there, swirling in front of me.

"No. This is all a lie," I shouted, shaking my head. I wanted to block it all out, to refuse to believe what I was hearing. But the memories-the flashes of things I'd forgotten-started to come back. The moments when my father's temper would flare, the strange looks between my parents. The fear in my mother's eyes when she tried to hide it.

It was like a shadow lifting, and I was starting to see the truth.

But I didn't want to.

"How do I know you're not lying?" I asked, my voice breaking. "Why should I believe you?"

Scarlet's father stepped forward, his expression hard but filled with sadness. "We tried to save her, Alex. We tried to protect your mother from your father. But by the time we found out what was really happening, it was too late."

He paused, looking at me as though waiting for me to understand. "When your mother died, your father didn't just kill her. He made sure no one would ever question it. He turned it into a story. And when we reported it, he made sure to cover his tracks."

I couldn't breathe.

This was too much. I felt like I was suffocating under the weight of their words.

Stella continued. "I reported your father to the police. I had to, Alex. I couldn't let him get away with it."

My mind was spinning, the anger and disbelief mixing together. "And you think I'm supposed to believe this? You expect me to accept that my father killed my mother?"

Scarlet's mother nodded, her eyes never leaving mine. "Yes. It was him. He killed her because she wanted to leave. He couldn't let her go, not when she was the only person who knew everything about him."

I felt sick.

All my life, I had believed my father was a hero. The man who raised me, who taught me everything I knew. The man I'd always looked up to.

And now, the truth was staring me in the face, but I didn't want to accept it.

I wanted to fight it.

I wanted to tell them they were wrong.

But my heart was telling me something different. Something I couldn't ignore.

"You said you tried to save her," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "How? What did you do?"

Scarlet's mother took a deep breath. "We did everything we could, Alex. But your father had too much power. We couldn't stop him. We couldn't save her from him."

I felt like the ground was slipping away beneath me.

Everything I thought I knew was crumbling.

I could see the pain in Scarlet's parents' eyes, the regret, the sadness. They weren't lying to me. They were telling me the truth.

But I wasn't ready for this truth.

I wasn't ready to face it.

Everything I thought was real was falling apart.

I wanted to scream, to tear everything down. But instead, I stood there, numb, as the weight of it all crashed over me.

Scarlet's mother reached out, touching my arm gently. "You need to understand, Alex. Your father wasn't the man you think he is. He was a monster. And now you have to decide what you're going to do about it."

I didn't answer.

I couldn't.

My mind was a storm, swirling with doubt and confusion.

"Why are you telling me this now?" I asked, my voice hoarse. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Scarlet's father stepped forward again, his gaze steady. "Because we were waiting for you to see the truth. We were waiting for you to understand what kind of man your father really is."

I could feel the rage building inside me, but there was something else too-something that hurt more than the anger. It was betrayal. It was the feeling of everything I knew being a lie.

For the first time in my life, I didn't know who to trust.

I didn't know who to believe. So I decided to go check my father again. It's as if he was expecting me again.

"Sit down, Alex," he said, his voice low and calm. It was the same voice he always used when he was trying to control the situation. But today, I wasn't going to let him control me. Not this time.

I sat down across from him, not saying a word at first. I just stared at him, studying his face, trying to find some sign of guilt, some hint of honesty. But all I saw was the same man I had always known-cold, distant, and so wrapped up in his own lies that he couldn't even see the truth anymore.

"You know why I'm here," I said, finally breaking the silence. "I need answers, Father. I need to know the truth about everything. About what really happened to Mom. About everything you've been hiding."

He leaned back in his chair, a slow, almost mocking smile spreading across his face. It was the kind of smile that made my blood boil. He was so sure of himself. So sure that he could control everything.

"I've told you all you need to know, Alex," he said, his voice smooth, like he was trying to soothe me. "You don't need to keep digging into the past. It's over. You need to stop. The truth won't do you any good."

I could feel my anger rising. "You think I don't need the truth?" I snapped. "You think I should just forget everything? Forget that Mom is gone? Forget everything you've done? How could you say that?"

He didn't flinch at my words. Instead, he just looked at me, his eyes cold and calculating. "I'm trying to protect you, Alex," he said. "The truth isn't always something you want to hear. It's not something you can handle."

He always told me the truth was that Scarlet's mother was definitely involved in my mother's death and now what I'm hearing from him is different. He didn't even flinch when I blamed him for this and he's trying to stop me from finding out the truth. Could it be that I've been blaming the wrong person all along?

If this is the truth, what have I done?