Chapter 159 The Woman Who Shouldn't Exist
The echo of the gunshot still trembled in the air.
For a moment, no one moved.
Victor Hale staggered backward, his hand flying to his chest as blood slowly soaked into his white shirt. His expression was not pain.
It was disbelief.
Behind him stood a woman wrapped in shadows, her hand shaking as she held the gun. Her face was pale, her eyes filled with fear and determination at the same time.
Clara stared at her as if she were looking at a ghost.
“Mom…?” she whispered.
The word fell into the warehouse like broken glass.
Eliana’s heart stopped.Ethan’s eyes narrowed.
Victor slowly turned his head toward the woman.
“You…” he said quietly. “You should be dead.”
The woman swallowed hard, her voice trembling.
“So should you,” she replied.
Victor laughed softly, even as blood continued to drip from his chest.
“Interesting,” he said. “It seems the past refuses to stay buried.”
He straightened slowly, his posture still proud despite the wound.
“You survived,” he said to the woman. “I underestimated you.”
The woman stepped forward slightly, her hands still shaking.
“You destroyed my life,” she said. “You destroyed my family. You took everything from me.”
Victor tilted his head slightly.
“And yet, here you stand,” he said calmly. “Alive. Angry. Brave.”
His gaze shifted toward Clara.
“And you brought my daughter here,” he added.
Clara’s hands trembled.
Eliana stepped forward instantly, positioning herself between Clara and Victor.
“Don’t call her that,” she said coldly.
Victor smiled faintly.
“You still don’t understand who you are,” he said to Eliana.
His eyes then moved to Ethan.
“And you,” he said softly, “are standing in the wrong place.”Ethan did not answer.
His eyes remained fixed on Victor, his Alpha aura simmering beneath the surface.
The woman tightened her grip on the gun.
“This ends tonight,” she said.
Victor looked at her calmly.
“Does it?” he asked.He snapped his fingers.
The lights in the warehouse went out.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Clara screamed.
Gunshots rang out.Footsteps echoed.
Shadows moved.
Eliana felt hands grab her from behind.
Ethan’s roar ripped through the darkness.
The air exploded.
When the lights suddenly flickered back on, chaos had already unfolded.
Several guards lay on the floor.
Blood stained the concrete.
Clara was no longer in the chair.
She was gone.
Eliana’s heart dropped.“Clara!” she shouted.
Victor stood at the far end of the warehouse, his wound no longer visible.
The woman stared at him in shock.
“You healed?” she whispered.
Victor smiled slowly.
“You still don’t understand what you’re fighting,” he said.
He raised his hand slightly.Behind him, a door opened.
And Clara stepped forward.
But something was wrong.
Her eyes were not the same.
They were dark.Empty.Emotionless.
Clara looked at Eliana.
And spoke in a voice that was not hers.
“Hello, Seraphina,” she said.
Eliana froze.
Because that was the name Victor had given her.
And Clara had never heard it befor
Victor’s voice echoed through the warehouse.
“Meet your replacement,” he said calmly.
Eliana felt her blood turn cold.
Ethan stepped forward instantly.
“What did you do to her?” he growled.
Victor’s smile deepened.
“I didn’t change her,” he replied.
“I awakened her.”
Clara slowly lifted her hand.
Black energy coiled around her fingers.
And for the first time in her life…
she looked at Eliana not as a friend
but as an enemy.
The air inside the warehouse grew colder.
Not because of the night.But because of Clara.
She stood beside Victor Hale, her posture straight, her eyes dark and unreadable. The girl who once laughed easily, who had cried in Eliana’s arms, who had sworn loyalty without hesitation, was gone.
In her place stood someone else.Someone dangerous.
Eliana felt her chest tighten.“Clara…” she whispered.
Clara tilted her head slightly, studying her like a stranger studies a puzzle.
“That name no longer belongs to me,” she said calmly.
Her voice was steady.Controlled.Empty.
Ethan stepped forward instantly.
“What did you do to her?” he growled.
Victor’s smile was faint but satisfied.
“I did not do anything,” he replied. “I simply removed what was holding her back.”
Ethan’s Alpha aura surged, shaking the air around him.
“Release her,” he commanded.
Clara turned her gaze slowly toward him.
For a moment, something flickered in her eyes.
Then it vanished.
“I am not under your command,” she said.
The words pierced Ethan like knives.
Eliana stepped forward, her hands trembling.
“Clara, look at me,” she said softly. “It’s me.”
Clara looked at her again.
Longer this time.
As if searching for something.
Then she smiled faintly.
“You are Seraphina,” she said.Eliana froze.
Victor’s voice echoed through the hall.
“Yes,” he said. “She is.”
He walked forward slowly, his presence filling the space like smoke.
“Seraphina,” he repeated, savoring the name. “The one born from betrayal, shaped by war, and destined to rule.”Eliana clenched her fists.
“I am not your daughter,” she said.
Victor stopped in front of her.
“You are not just my daughter,” he replied quietly.
His eyes darkened.“You are my successor.”
The word hit her like thunder.
Ethan stepped between them instantly.
“She is not becoming anything under you,” he said coldly.
Victor looked at him with mild amusement.
“You still believe you can protect her,” he said. “That belief will be your downfall.”
He turned his gaze back to Eliana.
“Watch carefully,” he said.He raised his hand slightly.Clara stepped forward.
Black energy spread from her palms, swirling around her body like living shadows.
The ground cracked beneath her feet.
Eliana felt it.The power was real.And terrifying.
“Clara,” Victor said calmly. “Show her.”
Clara lifted her hand.
The shadows shot forward like chains.
Ethan reacted instantly, pulling Eliana back.
The chains smashed into the wall behind them, shattering concrete.
Eliana’s heart pounded.
“That power…” Ethan murmured.
Victor nodded slightly.
“She was always special,” he said. “You simply never noticed.”
Eliana stared at Clara.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked.
Clara’s expression did not change.
“Because I finally understand,” she said.
“Understand what?” Eliana whispered.
Clara looked at her.Her voice was calm.
“You were always the chosen one,” she said. “The world revolved around you. Your pain mattered. Your destiny mattered. Your blood mattered.”Her eyes darkened.“And mine didn’t.”
Eliana felt her heart break.
“Clara, that’s not true”“Yes, it is,” Clara interrupted.Her voice sharpened.
“While you were being protected, I was invisible. While you were loved, I was replaceable. While you were destined to become a queen, I was destined to stand behind you.”
The shadows around her intensified.
Victor watched silently, pleased.
“I got tired of being the shadow,” Clara continued.
Her gaze locked onto Eliana.
“So now,” she said quietly, “I will become the crown.”
Silence swallowed the warehouse.
Ethan stepped forward.
“You’re being manipulated,” he said.
Clara laughed softly.
“No,” she replied. “For the first time in my life, I am awake.”
Eliana felt tears burn her eyes.
She took a step forward.
“Then come back to me,” she whispered.
Clara stared at her.
For a long moment, her expression wavered.
Something fragile surfaced.
Then Victor’s voice cut through the air.
“Enough.”
Clara’s eyes hardened instantly.
“Seraphina must learn,” he said calmly.
“Learn what?” Ethan demanded.
Victor looked at Eliana.
“What it means to lose,” he said.
He snapped his fingers.
The shadows surged violently.
The ground split open.
Chains erupted from the darkness, wrapping around Ethan’s arms and legs.
He struggled, roaring, his Alpha power exploding outward.
But the chains did not break.
Eliana screamed.“Stop!”
Victor’s gaze never left her.
“Choose,” he said quietly.The word echoed again.“Fight her,” he said.“Or lose him.”
Eliana’s body trembled.
Her eyes moved slowly from Ethan to Clara.
Clara stood still, watching her.
Waiting.Not as a friend.But as a rival.
Eliana realized something terrifying.
This was not just Victor’s game anymore.
Clara wanted this.
And the war had officially begun.
Victor stepped closer to Eliana and whispered so only she could hear:
“If you hesitate again,” he said softly,
“I will make her kill him instead.”
Eliana’s breath stopped.
Because she saw it.
In Clara’s eyes.She wasn’t pretending.
She was ready.And for the first time…
Eliana was not sure who she was more afraid ofVictor…or Clara.