Chapter 181 CHAPTER 181

Chapter 181 CHAPTER 181
Evelyn’s POV

The estate fell into an uncomfortable silence after they took Philly. No one spoke out loud but there were whispers and everyone had the same questions in their minds. Did Philly really do it?

I stood in the main hall long after the patrol cars disappeared, trying to thread the day together in my mind. I stared into the empty space as though I could just wake up from this dream I was having.

The news about Flora’s disappearance as well as Jon’s poisoning sat uncomfortably with me. There was no way there was no foul play involved. I knew that Philly was not involved.

I needed to speak to Alpha Michael. Perhaps there was something that mum knew that she was not telling us. Something was missing in the entire narration of what had happened that night.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him heading toward the staircase. His stride was sharp, purposeful. Controlled anger wrapped carefully. I didn’t hesitate. I followed him.

“Alpha Michael,” I called softly.

He paused halfway up, glancing back at me.

“I’m going to speak with Anna Trent,” he said before I could ask.

“About what?”

“That night.”

I nodded slowly. “I was going to tell you that we need to ask her for more details..”

His jaw flexed faintly. “We needed it earlier.”

Something in his tone unsettled me.

“You didn’t tell me,” I said carefully.

He held my gaze. “I didn’t want to alarm you.”

“I’m already alarmed.”

A flicker of something passed through his eyes, something like remorse, but it vanished quickly.

“Come,” he said.

We climbed the rest of the stairs together.

Mum was in her room, near the window. She was looking out through the window, but her window faced the other side of the mansion and i wondered what she could be looking at. She looked emotionally drained and tired.

She stood when we entered.

“Alpha Michael,” she said, nodding to Michael. Then she looked at me. “What is it?.”

I walked towards her. She had told me that Calderon had given her a deal. Perhaps there was something she could tell us that would solve all the misunderstanding.

“Mum, we need you to walk us through what happened that night again,” i said.

I felt her fingers tighten.

“I already told the officers—”

“We want to hear it again,” Alpha Michael said evenly. “Start from the beginning.”

She inhaled slowly.

“There was a knock,” she began. “Philly answered it.”

“Did she say who it was?” Michael asked.

“No.” she shook her head. “I was in the kitchen. I heard voices. Then, there was a crash.”

Her eyes flickered briefly.

“What kind of crash?” I asked gently.

“Like something heavy being knocked over. A table. A chair.” She swallowed. “Then shouting.”

“Male?” Michael asked.

“I think so. It was fast.”

“Then what?”

“We ran.” Her voice wavered slightly. “We ran out the back.”

“To the bushes?” Michael pressed.

“Yes.”

“Did you see the attacker?” he asked.

“No.”

“Did you see a car nearby?”

She hesitated. “No.”
His gaze sharpened.

“No car at all?”

“No,” she repeated. “I didn’t notice one. There was no car when we got there.”

“Did you see Flora Dover at any point that night?”

She shook her head and whispered, “No,”

I looked at her tired face and i felt guilty that we were pressing her for questions as though she was a suspect. Yet i couldn’t shake off the feeling that she knew more. She was still not mentioning that she had talked to Calderon that night. She also mentioned she didn’t know the attacker, but when we all concluded that it was Calderon, she never tried to stop us from thinking that it was him.

Alpha Michael thanked her, then he turned to me. “I have to check on Alpha Raymond. This is very bad for him.”

I nodded and he turned and left the room.The door clicked shut behind him.
I remained standing where I was, staring at my mother. She avoided my eyes.
“Mum,” I said quietly.

She busied herself smoothing the fabric of the chair beside her.

“You didn’t tell him everything.”

She stiffened.

“I told him what I remember.”

“That’s not true.”

Her head snapped up. “Evelyn -”

“You didn’t mention the deal.”

There was silence. Then she moved away from the chair and busied herself with some items on the dresser.

“What deal?” she asked carefully.

“Don’t.” My voice trembled despite my effort to steady it. “Please don’t try to deny it now. You told me.”

Her shoulders sagged slightly. “Because I assumed you’d be on my side since you’re my daughter.”

She turned away, walking toward the window.

“You know that deal was necessary. To protect all of us. To protect your Aunt Maya.”

Anger flared in my chest. “Nothing gets protected by hiding the truth.”

“You don’t understand what was at stake. You should know better than that by now, Evelyn.”

“No, Make me understand.”

She turned back slowly.

“There are people who don’t operate within the rules you believe in,” she said quietly. “People who require compromise to survive. They won’t lose a strand of their hairs to save you. Why should we do the same?”

“Calderon is one of them,” i said as calmly as i could. “Don’t you think we should trust the Greywoods instead of this man we don’t know?”

“Alpha Raymond blamed me for the death of his wife for many years when he knew she was alive. How do i trust him?”

She had a point.

“And Philly?” i asked. “What happens to her?”

Her jaw tightened. “She was collateral in their war. The war between Greywood and Calderon.”

“Mum -”

“I saved her once before,” she said suddenly, her voice sharp with emotion. “Do you know what that cost me?”

I didn’t say a word.

“Years,” she whispered. “Years of my life. We were separated. I didn’t get to watch you grow up. Maya was forced to be married to that sick bastard because he thought he could use her to do whatever fetish stuff he had in his head. You. You had to grow up with your step mother and a step brother who was sickly obsessed with you.”

I stared at her in silence.

“I made that sacrifice once,” she continued. “To keep her alive. To keep you alive. I won’t be a pawn in their game again.”

“You’re choosing yourself? I thought Philly was like a sister to you,” I pleaded.

“I’m choosing survival,” she retorted.

“Philly is in cuffs,” I said, my voice trembling. “Iron cuffs suppressing her fox. And you’re talking about survival?”

“You think I don’t know what that feels like?” she snapped.

Silence crashed between us.

I stepped closer.

“We can still fix this,” I said urgently. “But not if you’re hiding things from us.”

Her eyes filled, not with tears, but with something far more complicated.

“I can’t undo what’s been set in motion.”

“Then tell me who set it.”

She shook her head.

“If I speak too soon, it will get worse.”

“For who?”

“For everyone,” she said.

Frustration clawed at my chest.

“We need the truth,” I insisted. “All you have to do is mention Calderon’s name. He’ll be investigated. If we’re going to save Philly, we need all of it.”

Her expression softened briefly.

“You have your father’s stubbornness,” she murmured.

“And your secrets,” I shot back.

She didn’t deny it. I stepped back slowly, trying to steady my breathing. Outside the room, the estate remained eerily quiet.

“You once told me,” I said quietly, “that alliances built on half-truths collapse.”

She nodded faintly.

“Then stop building one with them.”

She didn’t answer. Her mind was made up and she had every right to feel the way she did. I couldn’t even fault her.