Chapter 40 BLOOD AND BETRAYAL
Chapter 40 BLOOD AND BETRAYAL
RONAN POV
The look on my mother’s face in court today should not have brought me joy.
Yet it did.
It filled me with a dark, twisted satisfaction that settled deep in my chest and warmed something ugly inside me. The tightness around her eyes. The barely concealed panic. The way her perfectly curated composure cracked, just a little. I should feel guilty maybe any son should but guilt towards my mother is a luxury I no longer possess.
Victoria Blackthorne did this to herself.
The truth about what she did to my father has changed everything. It has poisoned every childhood memory I once cherished, every moment where I thought I had a powerful but loving mother. Now all I see is a woman capable of murder, manipulation, and destruction without any remorse.
Sooner or later, Victoria Blackthorne would be completely crushed. I would make sure of it.
I know her too well, though. This wasn’t the end. This was only the beginning. When cornered, my mother doesn’t retreat, she strikes harder. Louder. Deadlier.
And that thought sends a sharp spike of fear through me.
Annabelle.
She must be protected at all costs.
If Victoria could kill the man she shared a bed with for decades, what would stop her from hurting the woman I love? Annabelle is kind. Gentle. Completely unprepared for the kind of monster my mother truly is.
My jaw tightens as another face flashes through my mind.
Alec.
According to the background check I ordered, he wasn’t lying. Not about his name. Not about his past. Not about his hatred for my mother.
His mother Casey was a French model. Young. Beautiful. Naive. And my father’s lover for a brief period before my mother destroyed her life. Victoria had dragged her name through the mud, destroyed her family, ended her career, and left her with nothing but shame and a child to raise alone.
Alec.
My half-brother.
I rake a hand through my hair, exhaustion pressing down on me like a physical weight. My thoughts are a mess—rage, confusion, betrayal all colliding at once.
I need Marcus.
I grab my phone and dial his number, pacing my living room as it rings.
“Hey, Chen,” I say when he answers. “I’ll be coming over in the next few minutes.”
There’s a pause on the other end.
“I’m actually on my way to you,” Marcus replies. “Someone came to visit me today. That’s why I couldn’t make it to court.”
I stop pacing. “Oh. Is everything okay?”
“No,” he says slowly. “Actually, Ronan… I don’t know how to say this but I have to. You have another brother.”
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “Yeah. I know. He came to see me two days ago.”
There’s a stunned silence.
“What?” Marcus finally says. “He never mentioned that he had already met you.”
“He didn’t know you yet,” I reply. “Or maybe he didn’t trust you enough.”
“Damn,” Marcus mutters. “This keeps getting worse.”
“That's why I called you,” I continue, my voice rough. “He said his name is Alec. He said he’d do anything to destroy my mother. Anything. And now I don’t know what to think.”
“You’re not wrong to be confused,” Marcus says carefully. “This is… a lot.”
“Just get here,” I say. “I need you. I need someone who can help me make sense of this because my head is a war zone right now.”
“I’m ten minutes away,” he replies. “Hang in there.”
I end the call and immediately dial another number, one that matters more than any legal strategy or family secret.
Annabelle.
She picks up on the first ring.
“Hello, Ronan.”
Her voice is soft, but I hear it. I hear the tension beneath it. The fear she’s trying so hard to hide.
“Hey,” I say gently. “How are you doing?”
She sighs. “Honestly? Not so well.”
My chest tightens.
“I’ve been looking over my shoulder all day,” she continues. “Checking my doors. My windows. Every sound makes me jump. I keep thinking someone’s going to show up and…” She stops herself, breath hitching. “And kill me.”
“Oh God,” I mutter. “I’m so sorry for leaving you alone. Do you want me there right now?”
“No,” she says quickly. “It’s okay. Sofia just left actually. She went to get some things from her place. She’s coming back to stay with me for a few days.”
Relief washes over me, but it’s not enough.
“Okay. That’s good,” I say. “Listen to me, Annabelle. I need you not to be scared, alright? Victoria will be brought down. That much is certain. And I will make sure of it.”
“I know you will,” she says softly. “I’m just… I’m sorry you’re going through all of this, Ronan. It must be the hardest on you. Having to face this about your own mother.”
I close my eyes.
If only she knew.
“It’s okay,” I lie. “I’m just glad she’ll finally pay for her sins.”
“Yeah…” she trails off.
Before I can say anything else, I hear the sound of my front door opening.
Footsteps.
My brows knit together. Marcus has a key, but something about the silence feels wrong.
“Annabelle,” I say, lowering my voice. “I have a visitor. I’ll call you later.”
“Okay,” she replies. “Please be careful.”
“I will.”
I end the call and turn…
And my blood runs cold.
It’s not Marcus standing in my living room.
It’s her.
Victoria Blackthorne.
Immaculately dressed as always. Perfect makeup. Cold eyes assessing me like I’m an enemy instead of her son.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I snap.
She smiles faintly, unbothered. “That is no way to welcome your mother, son. I taught you better than that.”
I let out a bitter laugh. “Did you? Or did you teach me how to lie, manipulate, and destroy people without blinking?”
Her eyes darken. “Watch your tone.”
“Or what?” I challenge, stepping closer. “You’ll kill me too?”
Her jaw tightens. “Kill you how? You’re being dramatic.”
“Am I?” I fire back. “You murdered my father.”
Silence slams between us like a gunshot.
Her expression doesn’t change at all but I see it. The flicker. The calculation. Just how evil is this woman.
“Why would you say such a thing? You have no proof,” she says calmly.
“I have enough,” I reply. “And soon, so will the world.”
She sighs, as if I’m the one exhausting her. “You’ve always been emotional, Ronan. Easily influenced.”
“By the truth?” I sneer. “Yes. Guilty.”
Her gaze sharpens. “You think exposing something useless will protect that girl you’re so fond of?”
My blood boils.
“Do not mention her.”
“She’s a weakness,” Victoria says smoothly. “And weaknesses get eliminated.”
I move before I can stop myself, slamming my hand against the wall beside her head.
“Touch her and I swear to God,” I growl, “you will regret ever giving birth to me.”
For the first time, I see something like fear flash in her eyes.
Good.
Because the war has only just begun.