Chapter 69: Chapter 69 Astors Hidden Heir
Seraphina’s POV
My breath caught as I slowly turned around. The familiar presence behind me sent a chill down my spine, though I already knew exactly who stood there. Even without seeing their faces, I could feel the weight of their disapproval crushing down on me like a heavy blanket.
There they were – my mother and father. Six years had vanished into nothing, yet they appeared frozen in time, wearing the same expressions of exhaustion and perpetual disappointment that had haunted my childhood.
What surprised me most was how little their presence affected me now. The old wounds didn’t tear open, the familiar ache didn’t return to my chest. I felt nothing but a strange sense of detachment.
My mother wasted no time on pleasantries. Her features had hardened into granite, unyielding and cold.
I had foolishly hoped she might let the matter drop, but that hope crumbled instantly.
"Seraphina," she spoke, her tone flat and emotionless. Then came the question I had been dreading, the same one she had cornered Roxanne with earlier. "Do you have a son?"
I forced my expression to remain neutral, stretching my lips into what I hoped resembled a smile, though it felt wooden and fake. I needed to maintain some semblance of civility, to take the moral high ground.
"Hello, Mom. Dad," I replied, attempting to inject warmth into the frigid atmosphere between us. "How wonderful to see you both. Six years really is quite a long time, don’t you think?"
They had clearly overheard my earlier conversation, yet neither bothered to ask about my wellbeing. The lack of basic courtesy stung more than I cared to admit.
My father moved closer, his jaw clenched tight with barely contained anger. His eyes held no trace of paternal warmth or joy at our reunion.
"Cut the act, Seraphina," he snapped, his voice gravelly with accusation. "You were the one who disappeared. You were the one who erased us from your existence completely. Don’t you dare try to pin this on us."
My carefully constructed composure cracked like thin ice. Before I could formulate a response, my mother interrupted, her stare boring into me with laser-like intensity.
"We’re not here for a reunion or to assign blame," she declared curtly. Her voice dropped to a hiss, but lost none of its venom. "I asked you a direct question, Seraphina. Do you have a son?"
My eyes darted around the bustling corridor. The last thing I needed was for this conversation to become public entertainment. This secret belonged in the shadows, not under the bright lights of pack gossip.
"Not here," I stated firmly, keeping my voice level. "We need privacy. Follow me."
Perhaps recognizing the gravity of the situation, my mother didn’t protest. She fell into step behind me without her usual arguments.
I guided them through the maze of hallways to a small guest room I had been occupying. The moment we crossed the threshold, I shut the door and turned the lock with deliberate precision.
My mother didn’t wait for the click of the lock to fade. She closed the distance between us, completely dismissing our surroundings.
"The truth, Seraphina. This instant," she commanded, her words sharp as broken glass. "Do you have a son?"
I stared into her eyes, seeing years of accumulated worry, pain, and condemnation reflected back at me. The weight of finally speaking this truth aloud felt crushing.
There was no point in pretending they hadn’t overheard my earlier words or attempting to fabricate some elaborate lie. I wasn’t naive enough to believe the truth wouldn’t surface eventually. But there was a certain satisfaction in watching them grapple with the secret I had guarded so fiercely, knowing their protective instincts would keep them silent to preserve their daughter’s interests.
"Yes," I admitted with a slow nod. "I do."
My mother’s reaction wasn’t the explosion of tears or shouting I might have expected. Instead, she did something far more chilling. She began to laugh – a brittle, cutting sound devoid of any warmth or amusement. The noise was harsh and contemptuous.
"Oh, Seraphina," she said with cruel mockery, shaking her head in disgust. "You should be mortified. Walking back into this place, daring to show yourself, knowing full well you betrayed your mate and bore another man’s child."
Her words struck me like physical blows. The fact that she immediately concluded I had failed spectacularly, that I had abandoned my responsibilities to disgrace myself with some random stranger, made rage burn through my veins. She hadn’t even entertained any alternative explanation.
That assumption shattered the carefully constructed walls around my deepest secret. The truth I had sworn to carry to my grave burst free like water through a broken dam.
"How presumptuous of you, Mother," I snarled, advancing toward her with trembling hands. "To assume you understand everything, just as you always have. You want to know the identity of his father? Because I’m about to tell you."
I let the silence stretch between us, thick and suffocating.
"My son belongs to Julian," I declared, my voice ringing with fury and conviction. "Which means your grandson will inherit the Alpha position of this entire Fang."
Complete silence engulfed the room for several heartbeats. My mother stood frozen, her mouth agape in shock, while my father had gone ashen, gripping the door frame to steady himself.
The stunned quiet didn’t endure long. My mother rallied quickly, her face contorting with disbelief and renewed anger.
"You’re lying!" she accused, her voice dropping to a venomous whisper. "You couldn’t bear watching Roxanne find happiness, could you? So you returned to destroy everything, and now you’re spinning lies about Julian being the father just to create more chaos."
I moved even closer, my protective fury blazing hotter than any emotion I had ever experienced. My voice emerged controlled but unyielding.
"Say whatever you wish about me," I warned her, my tone deadly serious. "Label me a disappointment, call me a disgrace. But you will never speak about my son with such disrespect. You will never treat him the way you always treated me. Not now, not ever."
My mother appeared to wilt slightly under my intensity, but her primary objective remained unchanged.
"Just go, Seraphina. Please, just leave," she begged, abandoning her harsh tone for desperate pleading. "Leave Julian and Roxanne to their life. Leave their happiness intact."
I smiled, but the expression held no warmth – only cold determination. I had traveled too far down this path to retreat now. My running days were finished.
"I wish it were that simple, Mother," I said, leaning close enough that she couldn’t mistake the truth blazing in my eyes. "But unfortunately for everyone involved, Julian has already claimed me as his mate. I’m not going anywhere. Even better – it’s only a matter of time before Julian discovers he has a son and heir."
