Chapter 18: Betrayal’s Echo

Chapter 18: Betrayal’s Echo


The letter in my shaking hands seemed to weigh more than it ought to, as if the significance of its contents was pressing on me. My gaze shifted over the worn words written in rapid, nearly frantic script. The deeper I read, the tighter the walls appeared to constrict, the space becoming smaller and stifling. 

know this and know I never left you. Your father's foolish game will end soon . He planned to sell you to a ruthless man for his own selfish reasons, I made a very dangerous decision but reminding the Levi’s about your father’s dept and told him to take you in exchange of your father‘s dept, knowing how desperate your father is he will also do the same without thinking to save himself, that way you’ll be protected from your father plans to happen. but also be aware of Alexander Levi cause I have no other choice.

My heart pounded in my chest while my thoughts raced to understand what I was witnessing. My mother's signature was evident at the bottom of the page; the ink was slightly smudged but still legible enough to verify the reality. My stomach twisted with a blend of betrayal, anger, and something much more perilous, fear. My mother was involved in this as well, and she initiated the protection. After she vanished from my life many years ago, and now this. 

I looked up at Alexander, who stood silently across the room, his piercing blue eyes fixed on me. His face was unreadable, but there was a tension in his jaw, a flicker of something dangerous in his gaze that made my breath catch. 

“You knew,” I whispered, my voice breaking under the weight of my realization. “You knew my mother and father sold me to you like… like a piece of property.”

Alexander’s expression didn’t falter, but he didn’t deny it either. He crossed his arms over his broad chest, his silence louder than any confession could have been.

“Say something!” I demanded, my voice rising as anger surged through me. I clenched the letter tightly in my hands, the paper crumpling under my grip. “You’ve been keeping this from me! You knew what he did, and you…”

“Yes, I knew,” he interrupted, his voice low but sharp, cutting through the air like a blade. “I knew exactly what kind of man your father was when I made the deal with your mother… I didn’t share it with you because I didn’t believe you could manage it.” 

His words hit me like a blow, and I took a step back. "You thought I couldn't manage it?" I repeated, my voice filled with skepticism. "You didn't have the authority to make that choice for me!" You..” I halted myself, my rage erupting into something fierce and uncontrollable. "Who is this ruthless man from whom you are meant to shield me?" 

"You’re as bad as he is." 

For a brief moment, something flickered in his gaze, maybe pain, or regret, but it vanished so fast that I questioned whether I had really seen it. He moved in nearer, his imposing figure creating a shadow on me, yet I would not yield. 

"You have no idea what you're saying," he remarked, his tone unsettlingly serene. "Your father didn't merely sell you to me." "He intended to sell you to Max Carter first." 

At the mention of Max’s name, my blood ran cold. The image of Max’s smug grin and calculating eyes surfaced in my mind, and I felt the room tilt slightly beneath me.

“But I stopped that from happening,” Alexander continued, his tone hardening. “Because if Max had gotten to you, He would’ve destroyed you, Dysis. Do you understand that? I didn’t take you out of some twisted kindness. I took you because I had no choice.”

The confession hit me like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, all I could do was stare at him, the weight of his words sinking in. 

“You… you made a deal to protect me,” I said slowly, trying to piece it all together. “Why? What could you possibly gain from any of this?”

I ignored the mention of my mother entirely, my focus narrowing on the dangerous undertone in his voice. My pulse quickened, a thousand possibilities racing through my mind. “What kind of history?” I pressed, stepping closer, my heart pounding as I searched his expression for answers.

He paused, his cold stare warming just a bit as though he were contemplating whether to allow me in or repel me even more. When he eventually spoke, his voice was deep, nearly a growl. 

“Long ago, your father was among us,” he started, his tone strained. “He was employed by my family… My dad had faith in him, assigning duties that not many others could manage. At first glance, Thomas Salmon seemed devoted, a person who grasped the rules, the dangers, and the benefits of being connected to the Levis. 

I detected the resentment in his voice, how the name "Thomas Salmon" slipped from his lips as if it were a curse. 

"But everything was untrue," Alexander went on, his hands clenching at his sides. "Your dad was a serpent. He acted for both parties, striking agreements with our foes while feigning loyalty to us. He took from us, cash, arms, and information. And he didn’t only sell it to just anyone. He sold it to Max Carter. 

Hearing Max's name made my stomach churn. Just hearing the name was sufficient to give me chills, especially knowing my father had collaborated with him... I experienced a feeling of nausea. 

“You're claiming my father was a traitor,” I stated, my voice scarcely above a whisper. 

Alexander's eyes grew somber, his demeanor stiffening as he agreed. “A betrayer and a coward. He threatened everything my family worked for, endangered lives, and almost caused my father's death. Upon uncovering his treachery, we allowed him the opportunity to confess. To reverse the harm he had inflicted. However, rather…”

He hesitated, his jaw clenching even more. I could sense the anger bubbling just below the surface, hardly held back. 

“Instead,” he went on, his tone frigid and calculated, “he took off. Vanishes completely, causing turmoil behind him. He was indifferent to the lives he shattered, the foes he strengthened, or that he abandoned his own family to survive on their own. And now, years later, he’s attempting to find his way back into this world. Attempting to correct his errors by using you as leverage." 

His words struck me like a blow to the stomach, with each revelation dismantling the delicate illusion of the father I believed I understood. I stumbled backward, my thoughts swirling. 

“Why didn’t you simply end his life?” I inquired, the question escaping my lips before I could hold it back. 

Alexander's gaze fixed on me, his face offering no clues. "Trust me, I wished to. However, by the moment we learned all the details, he had already left. And now… he has come back, pulling you into the chaos he made.” 

I moved my head side to side, doubt filling my mind. "Why is that? What could have led him to treat me this way? To his very own daughter?” 

Alexander’s tone became gentler, yet it retained its sharpness. "Since your father is only concerned with himself. He hasn't at any time. To him, Dysis, you were merely a tool. A method to eliminate his debts and protect himself.” 

My chest constricted, my breath becoming shallow as his words registered. All memories of my father now felt corrupted, distorted by the awareness of his treachery. And still, a part of me desired to defend him, to hold onto the slim hope that there was a reason, a trace of humanity within him. 

However, Alexander's demeanor suggested a different story. He wasn’t merely sharing the truth with me, he was cautioning me. This was a tale of treachery, threats, and endurance. And I found myself right in the center of it. 

For a brief moment, we simply stood in place, the tension surrounding us heavy and overwhelming. My thoughts were whirling, attempting to comprehend all he had shared with me, all I had just discovered. The treachery, the peril, the reality that Alexander had orchestrated everything from the start, it was overwhelming. 

But then something else occurred to me, something that sent a fresh wave of unease coursing through me.

“If my father sold me to you to settle his debts,” I said slowly. “What deal did he make with Max Carter?”

Alexander’s expression shifted, a flicker of something like unease crossing his face before he masked it again. He hesitated, and at that moment, I knew he was hiding something.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I pressed, my voice rising again. “What else is going on?”

"You'll be fine for now. I don’t think Max knows you're Thomas’s daughter yet. But if he finds out, he’ll escalate everything, triple the attacks, if not worse."

“What does Max want from a nobody like me?”