Chapter 124 CHAPTER 124
Michael’s POV
Her words broke our perfect bubble. I stared at her, speechless for a few seconds. I wasn’t even thinking of what she had said. I was trying not to think of it. But I was becoming increasingly aware of a tightness around my head and in my chest.
“Let’s talk about it,” she said, her hand reaching out for my arm.
I moved away instinctively and she withdrew her hand.
“How long have you known?” I finally said.
“Known what?” she asked. “She didn’t do it.”
“Where is she?” I asked. “I need to hear it from her. I want to believe that what you are saying is the truth.”
“It is the truth, Michael," she answered. “I won’t lie to you. I never have. My mum was falsely accused.” She looked over my shoulders, at Jasper who was leaning against the car, trying not to listen to our conversation. “Let’s go in.”
I must have staggered after her. I didn’t want to believe her mother was involved in any way with my mother’s death. She offered me a chair and I sat on it.
“I found out a few days ago,” she said. “I couldn’t tell you. I wanted to find out the truth about everything that happened.”
“What happened?” I asked.
She talked about how my mother was pregnant and wanted to get rid of the baby. Her aunt and mother tried to help but she bled to death. I wanted to believe the story.
“Why would she try to get rid of a baby?” I asked.
She walked towards the window and shut it. “I’m sorry, Alpha Michael. Your mother was having an affair.”
I rose up. “Don’t say what you don’t know, Evelyn.”
“He knew the truth about what caused her death,” she said. “But it was bad for the family’s reputation. My mother was blamed and she went into hiding.”
I raised my hand. “Stop. Stop talking, Evelyn.” I paced around the room.
The story I was told as a child was clear. A nine tailed fox had attacked my mother while she was fixing lunch. She took the baby out, leaving my mother to bleed to death. That was the truth I was told.
“Someone else was there that day,” she said.
I faced her, struggling with overpowering emotions.
“There was another witness, Michael."
“Don’t say a word again,” I said. “I -”
The words hung in the air. Without finding the right thing to say, I turned around and headed for the door.
“Michael,” she called after me.
I stopped briefly. “I need to process this, Evelyn. I need to find out the truth.” I didn't look back at her. I opened the door and stepped into the cold. Jasper saw my eyes and he knew immediately that something was wrong.
“What is it?” he asked, easing me away from the driver's seat. I didn't protest. I was in no condition to drive.
“It’s hell, Jasper," I replied, turning around to the passengers seat. “Hell!”
He started the car. “Does it have to do with what Rosaleen said?”
“Drive me to the house, Jasper,” I said.
He eased the car backward. “Don’t ever believe Rosaleen’s words over Evelyn’s,” he added as he reversed the car.
I didn’t believe Rosaleen.
But I was finding what Evelyn said difficult to believe. It may not be her intention to lie to me. She didn’t know the whole story, perhaps.
I found Alpha Raymond by the pool. I sent the staff away and made sure no one could hear us. I was meant to see him to talk about what he tried to do to Evelyn, but I totally forgot about it. There was yet another serious issue to be sorted.
He didn’t look up at all the commotion I was making around him. He leaned in his chair, smoking his pipe and watching the pool. He never swam. He just watched the water.
“We need to talk,” I said to him.
He still stared ahead. “Do you want to talk about how you have single handedly destroyed the legacy I have built all these years, Michael?" he asked.
“How did mum die?” I asked, ignoring his question.
I got his full attention this time. He spun around, his cigar still hanging at the corner of his mouth. “What do you mean by that?” he asked, irritation in his voice and anger creeping in his face.
During the years after mum’s death, he had gradually taken down all her pictures from the mansion. There was barely a trace of her left a few years later.
“How did she die?”
He looked away. “You know the story,” he said. “Some mad nine tailed killed her. The same type you are sacrificing the legacy I've tried to build for decades. She must be rolling in her grave.”
“You told me that story, Alpha Raymond. But I have heard something else today. And I want you to tell me the truth. Did…” I struggled with the question. “Did she … was she pregnant for someone else?”
He remained silent, staring at the pool.
“Was she?” I repeated seconds later.
“We could never find out now, could we?” he asked. “Maybe you can ask that fiancee of yours to help us ask her people where the child is.”
There wasn’t a tinge of sadness in his voice. He spoke about her as though she was just a stranger. Maybe Evelyn was right. Maybe my mother was cheating on him, and perhaps there was more to her death.
“I’ll find out the truth,” I said to him. “I will.”
I turned away and headed to a section of the house I had not tried to venture in many years. It was her favourite room – the library. She’d spend hours there, reading. She loved that room. After she died, no one bothered to step
a foot into that room. I wasn’t sure why, but I was convinced I would find some answers there.