Chapter 315

Chapter 315
Paxton

The message from Freya arrived during a board meeting, interrupting my thoughts about quarterly projections and expansion strategies. Her words were cryptic but urgent: [Need to discuss urgent matters. Come alone.]

I stared at the text for several seconds, my wolf instincts picking up on something significant. Despite everything between us—the dissolved marking, the cold distance we'd maintained—she'd never reached out like this. Not about Sterling Group business.

"Paxton?" Wayne's voice cut through my thoughts. "The Henderson acquisition proposal?"

I glanced up at the expectant faces around the conference table, my mind already elsewhere. "Handle the details. We'll reconvene tomorrow."

As I walked through the halls of Morgan Group, I felt an unexpected flutter of anticipation. Even dissolved of our marking bond, being near her still affected me in ways I refused to acknowledge.

I found Freya standing by the conference table, documents spread across its surface like a battlefield map. She looked up as I entered, her amber eyes unreadable.

"Freya." I kept my voice neutral.

Freya gestured toward the chair across from the conference table. "What I'm about to show you involves Flynn's accident and secrets your family has kept buried."

Flynn—her brother who'd been injured in that terrible accident.

Her voice carried a weight that made my wolf stir uneasily. "Flynn's accident wasn't random, Paxton. It was orchestrated."

"Caused by Lyra Welch." She placed a set of documents in front of me. "Acting under direct orders from your uncle Kai."

I stared at the papers, my vision narrowing as I processed her words. "What are you talking about?"

Freya spread out intercepted communications, financial records, and what appeared to be Kai's personal notes. The handwriting was unmistakably his—the same careful script I'd seen on birthday cards and business memos my entire life.

"We obtained these from Kai's private files," she said, her voice steady as steel. "He's been using Lyra as his weapon against my family."

I read the communications. Kai's instructions to Lyra were methodical, calculating.

I wanted to deny it, to find some explanation that would preserve the image of the man who'd raised me after my parents died. But the evidence was irrefutable, laid out in Kai's own handwriting.

Freya then placed photographs on the table.

The images showed people I recognized—Vivian, my mother Serene, and my father in various combinations.

Freya continued, "Your uncle was obsessed with Zoe's mother, Vivian. But Vivian was in love with your father while Kai watched from the sidelines."

My hands trembled slightly as I picked up a letter written in Kai's delicate script, declaring his love for Vivian. "I never knew that."

"According to these letters, Kai pursued Vivian relentlessly, believing she would eventually return his feelings if he could prove himself worthy," Freya said

She handed me Kai's another letter—bitter words that revealed depths of resentment I'd never suspected: [Henry has stolen everything from me - first Vivian's love, then father's approval, then the family legacy. But I will take it all back through his son.]

The letter shook in my hands as years of trust began to crumble.

"Is part of a revenge campaign." Freya pulled out more evidence—business documents showing systematic sabotage of my ventures. "The Munich deal that made you question your judgment for months? Kai convinced them you were unstable."

I remembered that meeting clearly. Uncle Kai had suggested I pursue the German partnership, had even provided introductions. He'd comforted me when it fell through, told me that building an empire takes time.

"He suggested I take that meeting," I said, my voice hollow with realization. "He said it would be good for my confidence."

"While planning its failure from the beginning." Freya's voice carried no satisfaction in being right, only grim determination. "Every business setback, every moment you doubted yourself—it was all orchestrated by the Alpha who helped raise you."

The most devastating revelation came in a sealed envelope containing DNA test results. My eyes scanned the document twice before the implications sank in.

"Zoe isn't even his biological daughter," I said, my voice cracking.

Freya continued, "Vivian let your father believe the child might be your father's. Even after the truth was revealed that Zoe wasn't biologically your fathers', Kai still embraced her as his own child."

I stared at the test results, my breathing becoming shallow. Zoe—sweet, loyal Zoe who called me her favorite cousin—had no Sterling blood at all. Yet Kai had raised her as his own while systematically destroying my life out of spite.

The words tasted like ash. "Every failure... every word of comfort... he orchestrated it all.' For years, I had been thanking the very man who was engineering my ruin."

I walked to the window. Uncle Kai had been my mentor, my guide through the complexities of Alpha leadership. He'd taught me to control my first transformation, had offered wisdom during my darkest moments.

Yet, in truth, it was all part of his cunning scheme.

"What do you want from me, Freya?" I asked, turning to face her.

Freya responded, "Justice for Flynn. Complete exposure of what Kai has done. And I want him stripped of everything—his position, his reputation, his ability to hurt anyone else ever again. Kai dragged my innocent brother into it and caused him harm. And if you still decide to stand by him, well, I've got my own ways of handling things."

I studied her face, seeing not my former mate but an Alpha seeking justice for her family. Despite everything between us, I respected her strength, her determination to protect those she loved.

"What do you need from me?" I asked.

"Access to Sterling Group's internal records. Testimony about the business sabotage. Your support when we present evidence to the authorities." She paused. "And your word that Zoe won't be collateral damage in this."

"Zoe is innocent," I agreed immediately.

As I left Morgan Group, my mind was already turning to the confrontation ahead. Uncle Kai had spent decades manipulating from the shadows, using others as weapons while keeping his own hands clean.