Chapter 177 The End of Her Game

Chapter 177 The End of Her Game
Pete's POV

I stood there for several seconds, staring at the message on the phone.

“She will not stay at the prison.”

My mother's escape. Even now, she was still thinking several steps ahead.

But this time, she had miscalculated.

She had underestimated how quickly everything would unravel once Richard started talking.

I slipped the phone into my pocket and turned toward my guards.

“Get Diya and Matt out of here.”

One of them immediately nodded.

“Take them back to the hospital. I want both of them thoroughly examined. Every injury, every sign of dehydration, everything. Don't leave until the doctors are satisfied that they're stable.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

I looked at Diya.

She was still sitting against the wall, one arm wrapped protectively around Matt.

Our eyes met. There was so much I wanted to say to her. I wanted to tell her how terrified I had been. How many times I had imagined finding her too late. How seeing her alive had almost broken whatever remained of the walls I had built around myself.

But there were still too many things happening at once.

Mike was dead, Dimon was dead, and my mother was still somewhere in the middle of all of it.

“I'll see you at the hospital,” I told Diya quietly.

She nodded.

“Be careful.”

I managed a small nod before turning away.

I couldn't afford to stay.

Not yet.

There was one final person I needed to face.

My mother.



By the time I returned to the police station, exhaustion had settled so deeply into my body that even breathing felt like an effort.

I stepped out of the vehicle, and the chief immediately fell into step beside me.

“Alpha.”

I glanced at him.

“We've arrested all the men we found at Richard's facility. They're being interrogated now.”

“Have they said anything?”

“Some of them have started talking. We're trying to establish exactly who gave the orders, how long the facility has been operating, and whether there are any other locations we don't know about.”

“Good.”

I continued walking.

“And my mother?”

The chief hesitated for half a second.

“She is still being held in a secluded cell.”

I stopped.

“Bring her to me.”

The chief looked at me carefully.

“Now?”

“Now.”

He nodded.

“Of course.”

We continued down the corridor.

I had thought I would feel anger or satisfaction. After everything she had done, after everything she had taken from me, perhaps I should have wanted to see fear in her eyes.

Instead, I felt tired.

So fucking tired.

Maybe because there was nothing left to prove.

The truth was finally out.

Richard had confessed, we had found Diya and Matt, the men responsible were in custody and my mother had nowhere left to hide.

“Alpha.”

The chief's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

“There is something else.”

I looked at him.

“Lisa.”

My steps slowed.

“What about her?”

“She survived.”

Relief came first. Small, fleeting.

Then his next words crushed it.

“But the poison severely affected the pregnancy.”

I stopped walking.

The chief's expression was grim.

“She miscarried.”

For a moment, I simply stared at him.

Another loss? Another innocent life caught in the madness my mother had created.

“She's receiving medical attention,” he continued. “But she's not taking the situation well, especially after learning about Alpha Dimon's death.”

I closed my eyes.

Lisa had lost her child and her brother on the same day. I couldn't even begin to imagine what that kind of grief felt like.

I exhaled slowly.

“Keep her under close security.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

“She still has to answer for her crimes.”

The chief nodded.

“Richard's confession and the evidence we've recovered are enough to establish your mother's involvement.”

I looked ahead.

“Good.”

My voice was quieter than before.

“Then let's finish this.”



My mother was sitting on the edge of the narrow bed when I entered the cell.

She looked different.

The woman who had always carried herself with absolute confidence now looked smaller beneath the harsh light of the room.

Her eyes lifted when she heard the door open.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

She studied my face. Perhaps she was looking for anger. Perhaps she was looking for hesitation. Maybe she was hoping that somewhere beneath everything that had happened, I was still her son.

I closed the door behind me.

“It's over.”

Her face changed only slightly.

But I saw it.

Her shoulders stiffened and her eyes flickered.

“Richard talked.”

It wasn't a question.

I nodded.

“He told me everything.”

She looked down at her hands. For the first time, I didn't see the woman who had spent years controlling every room she entered.

I saw someone who had finally realized that she had lost.

Her voice was barely audible when she asked,

“Where is Diya?”

I stared at her.

“She's alive.”

Her head snapped up.

“And Matt?”

“Alive.”

Her lips parted.

For several seconds, she said nothing. Then her eyes closed and a shaky breath escaped her.

The relief on her face lasted only a moment before something else replaced it.

Defeat.

Her entire body seemed to sag.

The plan had failed. Everything she had done had failed. Diya was alive, Matt was alive, I was still standing and Richard had betrayed her.

But there was something she hadn't asked about.

Something she couldn't possibly have forgotten.

“Mike is dead.”

Her eyes opened.

I watched her carefully.

She looked at me.

“I didn't order them to kill him.”

The words came quietly.

I felt something inside me crack.

“No.”

I shook my head.

“You didn't.”

She swallowed.

“I never wanted that.”

“But you created the situation that killed him.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“Pete….”

“You sent those men after my family.”

My voice trembled despite my effort to control it.

“You arranged the kidnapping.”

“I wanted to hurt you.”

She looked away.

“I wanted you to understand what it felt like to lose someone.”

My jaw tightened.

“You wanted me to lose someone?”

Her tears spilled over.

“I was angry.”

“You were angry?”

A bitter laugh escaped me.

“My best friend is dead.”

She flinched.

“Mike spent his entire life protecting me. He stood beside me when I had nothing. He was there when everyone else walked away. And when my family needed protection, he stayed behind because I trusted him to keep them safe.”

I took another step toward her.

“He died because of the situation you created.”

“I never told them to kill him.”

“But you knew what could happen.”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

I nodded slowly.

“That's what you don't understand, Mother.”

My voice became quieter.

“You keep telling yourself that you didn't order every death. That you didn't personally hold the knife. That you didn't personally poison anyone.”

I stared directly into her eyes.

“But you set everything in motion.”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“You created the chaos.”

I swallowed hard.

“And people died inside it.”

She lowered her head and for the first time, she had nothing to say.

I looked at her and felt the strangest emptiness.

I had spent years wanting answers. Wanting her to explain herself. Wanting to understand why my own mother could hate someone I loved enough to destroy everything around us.

Now I had the answers.

And somehow, they hurt more than the questions ever had.

“You should have thought about that before you made me lose the man who spent his entire life making sure I never had to face anything alone.”

She looked up at me.

Her eyes were red.

“Pete…”

I shook my head.

“No.”

I stepped backward.

“I don't want to hear another excuse.”

“I was trying to protect you.”

“You stopped protecting me a long time ago.”

She stared at me.

“You became obsessed with controlling my life. With deciding who I should love, who should stand beside me, what my future should look like.”

My throat tightened.

“And somewhere along the way, you forgot that I was your son.”

She began crying silently.

I looked away for a moment, because it hurt. Goddess, it hurt more than I wanted to admit. Because despite everything she had done, there was still a part of me that remembered her holding my hand when I was a child.

The same woman who had once kissed my forehead before I went to sleep had become the woman standing behind bars because of the blood she had spilled trying to control my life.

I hated that I still remembered the good.

Maybe that was what made this hurt so much.

I turned back to her.

“Your plans are finished.”

She wiped her tears.

“What are you going to do?”

“Nothing.”

Her brows drew together.

“Nothing?”

“The law will deal with you.”

She stared at me.

“I know everything now. Richard has confessed. The men at the facility are talking. We have evidence, witnesses, and enough information to establish exactly what you've done.”

I paused.

“You're not getting out of this.”

Her face crumpled.

I continued before she could speak.

“From this moment, you will have no visitors unless they're approved by the authorities. No private phone calls. No access to anyone outside this facility.”

Her eyes widened.

“Pete…”

“You will remain secluded until you're taken before the court.”

“You can't do this to me.”

I looked at her.

“You did this to yourself.”

She stared at me for a long moment.

Then she whispered,

“I'm still your mother.”

The words struck somewhere deep.

I felt my throat tighten and I looked at her for several seconds.

“Yes.”

My voice was barely above a whisper.

“You are.”

Her eyes filled with fresh tears.

“But you're no longer the woman I can call home.”

Silence filled the room.

I turned toward the door.

Behind me, I heard her begin to cry, but I didn't turn around. Because if I did, I wasn't sure whether I would see the woman who had destroyed my family or the mother I had once loved.

And I couldn't afford to confuse the two anymore.

I opened the door.

“Pete…”

I stopped and waited.

But she didn't say anything.

Perhaps there was nothing left to say.

I stepped out and closed the door behind me.

For the first time in years, I walked away from my mother without looking back.

And somehow, that hurt more than anything else she had ever done.