Chapter 175 The Plan

Chapter 175 The Plan
Pete's POV

“What plan was that, Richard?”

The question came out quieter than I intended.

Richard stared at me from across the table, his breathing uneven and his face swollen from the blows I had given him. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, but for once, he didn't seem concerned about the pain.

He looked afraid.

Not of the cuffs around his wrists, not of the police outside the room, but of what he was about to tell me.

I leaned forward, my forearms resting against my thighs.

“Talk.”

Richard swallowed hard.

“After you secured your position as Alpha…”

He paused, glancing at me as though he was trying to decide how much truth I could take.

“Your mother and I began seeing each other.”

For a second, I simply stared at him.

My mind went completely blank.

Then a strange, bitter feeling settled in my stomach.

“You and my mother?”

He nodded slowly.

“How long?”

“A while.”

I laughed once, but there was nothing amusing about it.

“So all those times you came to see her…”

Richard lowered his eyes.

“Yes.”

My jaw tightened.

“And you expect me to believe that was all?”

“No.”

His voice was barely audible.

“I don't.”

I leaned back in my chair, studying him. The pieces were beginning to rearrange themselves again.

Richard had been visiting my mother. My mother knew Richard. They were lovers.
And somehow, both of them had been involved in everything that had happened to my family.

But there was still something I couldn't understand.

“Why?”

Richard looked at me.

“Because I loved her.”

I stared at him for several seconds.

“You knew how she felt about Diya?”

His eyes dropped.

“Yes.”

“You knew she hated her?”

“Yes.”

“You knew what she was capable of?”

He didn't answer.

That was enough answer.

I slowly shook my head.

“You knew?”

“I did.”

“And you still helped her?”

Richard's face twisted.

“I loved her.”

Something inside me snapped.

“Don't use love as an excuse for this.”

My voice was low, but every word carried the weight of everything I had lost.

“Love doesn't make you help someone destroy innocent people.”

Richard closed his eyes briefly.

“I know.”

“Then explain it.”

He took a shaky breath.

“When your mother was arrested, she was furious.”

My fingers tightened around my knees.

“She was angry with you.”

“I'm aware.”

“No.”

Richard shook his head.

“You don't understand, Pete. She wasn't simply angry. She felt betrayed by you.”

I said nothing.

“She believed you had chosen Diya over her. She believed you had humiliated her, abandoned her and then locked her away as though she meant nothing to you.”

A humorless smile touched my lips.

“And apparently, kidnapping my family was her solution.”

Richard flinched.

“She wanted to pay you back.”

My eyes hardened.

“How?”

Richard hesitated.

“By taking away the one thing she knew you couldn't live without.”

My heart sank.

“Diya?”

He nodded.

“And Matt.”

My throat tightened.

“What was the plan?”

Richard looked down at his cuffed hands.

“The plan was simple.”

I waited.

“We were going to take them somewhere safe.”

My eyes narrowed.

“Safe?”

“Yes.”

He rushed to explain.

“Your mother never intended for them to be killed. She wanted them kept hidden until you agreed to release her.”

I stared at him.

“You're telling me this was supposed to be a ransom?”

“Yes.”

My chair creaked beneath me as I shifted forward.

“Go on.”

“We were going to send you proof that they were alive. Then we would give you instructions.”

“And if I refused?”

Richard hesitated.

“You wouldn't.”

I scoffed.

“You were that confident?”

“You would have done anything to get them back.”

He wasn't wrong. That was what made the plan so terrifying. They had understood exactly where to hurt me.

Richard continued.

“The idea was to frighten you. To make you understand what it felt like to have someone you loved taken away from you.”

My chest tightened.

“And then?”

“You would release your mother.”

Silence filled the room.

I stared at him. For a moment, I could barely process what I was hearing.

All of this. The surveillance, the missing phone, the hospital and the kidnapping. It had all been designed to force my hand?

And then Richard said the words that made something inside me break.

“Nobody was supposed to get hurt.”

I slowly lifted my head.

“What?”

Richard looked at me.

“Nobody was supposed to get hurt.”

For several seconds, I couldn't speak.

I thought about Mike. His lifeless body and his cold hand in mine.

The blood.

The silence.

The way I had begged him to come back even though some part of me already knew he never would.

My chair scraped violently against the floor as I stood.

“Nobody?”

Richard's eyes widened.

“Pete…”

“My friend is dead.”

My voice shook. Not from fear, but from rage.

“My best friend is dead.”

Richard's face crumpled.

“I know.”

“Your men stabbed my Beta.”

“I didn't order.. ”

“You don't get to say that!”

My fist slammed against the table.

Richard flinched.

“You don't get to stand there and tell me nobody was supposed to get hurt when Mike is lying in a morgue because of your fucking plan!”

Tears burned behind my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Not again. Not in front of him.

“My friend died protecting my family.”

Richard lowered his head.

“I'm sorry.”

“Sorry?”

My voice cracked.

“You're sorry?”

“Yes.”

“I don't give a damn about your apology.”

I stepped closer.

“You should have thought about that before you helped her.”

“I didn't know what would happen.”

“You knew enough.”

“I swear to you, Pete, I never intended for anyone to die.”

I stared at him.

“And yet someone did.”

Richard's lips trembled.

“I know.”

The room fell silent.

I took a slow breath, forcing myself to regain control.

There was no point standing here screaming at him. Not when Diya and Matt were still missing.nNot when every second mattered.

I looked directly into Richard's eyes.

“Where are they?”

Richard swallowed.

“I'll tell you.”

“Now.”

“They're in my territory.”

My pulse quickened.

“Where?”

“There is an old underground facility beneath the eastern side of the territory.”

“An underground facility?”

“It was built years ago. Before my father's time. It's no longer officially used, but there are rooms beneath the old administrative grounds.”

“Are they there?”

“Yes.”

I stared at him.

“Are they alive?”

Richard hesitated.

My heart stopped.

“Answer me.”

“The last report I received said they were.”

The words sent a chill through me.

“The last report?”

“I haven't spoken to the men there since earlier.”

“Earlier when?”

“This morning.”

I stepped toward him.

“What exactly did you order them to do?”

“Keep them alive.”

My jaw clenched.

“Then they better still be alive.”

“They should be.”

I turned toward the door and for the first time since entering the room, I could see a path forward.

Diya.

Matt.

They were alive. At least, they had been the last time Richard received a report.

That was enough.

I reached for the door.

“Pete….”

I stopped.

Richard's voice had changed. There was something in it that made the back of my neck prickle.

I slowly turned.

“What?”

He stared at me.

“There is more.”

My stomach tightened.

“What now?”

Richard looked away.

“Your mother wasn't finished.”

I turned fully toward him.

“What did she do?”

Richard swallowed.

“She wanted to make sure Lisa never got out of prison.”

I frowned.

“What does Lisa have to do with any of this?”

“She was another problem your mother wanted removed.”

My blood ran cold.

“Removed?”

Richard nodded.

“She was afraid Lisa would eventually expose everything.”

I stared at him.

“What did she do?”

Richard's expression became grim.

“We sent men after Alpha Dimon.”

For a second, I didn't understand.

“Dimon?”

“Yes.”

“Lisa's brother?”

He nodded.

My eyes narrowed.

“Why?”

“To make sure Lisa had no one outside the prison who could help her.”

A cold sensation spread through my chest.

“What did you do to him?”

Richard looked down.

“We were ordered to kill him.”

The room seemed to tilt.

“What?”

“We sent men after him.”

I stared at Richard.

“Is he dead?”

“We don't know.”

My jaw tightened.

“You don't know?”

“He was attacked. We haven't received confirmation yet.”

My mind raced.

Another person. Another life. Another piece of my mother's revenge.

This wasn't about Diya anymore. It wasn't even about me. My mother had been systematically removing anyone she believed stood between her and what she wanted.

I took a step backward.

“What else?”

Richard didn't answer.

My eyes narrowed.

“What else, Richard?”

He swallowed.

“Lisa….”

I froze.

“What about her?”

Richard looked at me.

“Your mother also made arrangements with the cook who brings her meals.”

Something inside me tightened.

“What arrangements?”

“She wanted to make sure Lisa couldn't leave that prison.”

I stared at him.

“How?”

Richard's eyes dropped.

“Her food.”

My stomach turned.

“What did she do to her food?”

He didn't answer immediately.

“Richard.”

His lips parted.

“We put something in it.”

My blood went cold.

“What?”

“It was meant to cause her to lose the baby.”

For several seconds, I couldn't move. The room became completely silent and I could hear my own breathing. It was slow, heavy and unsteady.

Lisa was pregnant. I still hadn't come to terms with that reality, and now my mother had tried to take that child from her.

My hands curled into fists.

“What the hell?”

Richard looked at me helplessly.

“Pete, I….”

I turned away from him.

My mind was moving faster than I could follow.

Mike was dead, Diya and Matt were trapped somewhere beneath Richard's territory, Dimon could already be dead, Lisa could be carrying a child my mother had deliberately tried to kill, and all of it had come from one woman.

My mother.

The woman who had once held my hand when I was a child. The woman I had once believed would protect me from the world. Now she had become the person I needed to protect the world from.

I closed my eyes and for one brief moment, I saw Mike again. His face, his smile and his hand in mine. Then I saw Diya. My son. Lisa. Dimon.

Too many lives.

Too many people.

Too much blood.

I opened my eyes and Richard was watching me.

“What are you going to do?”

I looked at him. I could feel the rage building again, but beneath it was something stronger.

Purpose.

“I don't know yet.”

I walked toward the door.

“But I'm going to save whoever I still can.”

My hand closed around the door handle.

Behind me, Richard spoke again.

“Pete.”

I stopped.

His voice trembled.

“I'm sorry.”

I didn't turn around.

“I know.”

A pause.

“But that doesn't change anything.”

I opened the door.

The corridor outside was waiting, so was the chief and my guards.

And somewhere out there were the people my mother had tried to destroy.

I stepped out of the interrogation room.

This time, I wasn't walking toward revenge.

I was walking toward a war.