Chapter 331: Chapter 331 - You and Mommy are stronger than him
Everyone turned toward the doorway. Jasmine stood there quietly. She’d clearly been listening for longer than anyone realized.
She stepped forward slowly, her eyes staying on Esperanza. "One day, she told me her old daddy was dangerous. She said she had to stay away from him."
Voren frowned. Jasmine nodded. "Alpha Ravyn was visiting the pack at the time. Honestly, I didn’t really understand what she was talking about back then." The pieces finally clicked into place for everyone.
At first it had been hard and even painful to hear. But now things felt different. She finally understood.
The woman standing beside Voren wasn’t just another woman. She was ’the woman.’ The one his parents had always talked about, the one who had broken him, and somehow the same one who had healed him.
For the first time, Jasmine accepted what she’d been avoiding for months. It was time to move on. The realization hurt, but not as much as she thought it would. Maybe because she could finally see how deeply Voren loved Seraphine, and how much Seraphine loved him right back.
She glanced toward Seraphine, a faint smile curling her lips. She’d expected arrogance or hostility, but Seraphine had only shown her kindness.
Any other woman in her position might have demanded she leave immediately, yet Seraphine never had. That meant something more than Jasmine could easily put into words.
Back at the table, Seraphine’s attention stayed fixed on Esperanza. One particular comment had really caught her interest. The mention of an "old daddy," a dangerous one. Her curiosity finally won out. "Espe."
The little girl looked up right away. "Tell me about your old daddy."
The change in Esperanza was immediate. Her playful expression vanished completely, replaced by something far too serious for a child her age.
The adults exchanged uneasy glances, suddenly understanding that this wasn’t just some simple story. Esperanza folded her small hands together. "The woman told me something."
"What did she say?" Voren asked carefully.
Esperanza looked between him and Seraphine before answering. "She said old daddy has special powers." The room instantly went still. Voren narrowed his eyes. "Special powers?"
Esperanza nodded. "But he doesn’t know about them." Before anyone could ask more, she kept going. "If he had treated Mommy better, he would’ve become the most powerful Alpha."
The words hit like lightning. Seraphine froze. Corvine sat up straighter. Even Jasmine looked stunned. Esperanza continued.
"The woman said his powers became weaker because of the woman he chose." Nobody needed her to clarify—she meant Daisy. The little girl pointed a finger into the air.
"But if he leaves that woman, his powers will come back." A thoughtful look crossed her face. "Actually... they’ll come back even stronger."
The room fell silent again. Voren’s mind immediately started turning over the information. Years ago, Ravyn really had been stronger, much stronger than even him, Voren.
There was a time when people believed he’d become one of the greatest Alphas in history. Then things changed gradually, his growth slowing and his strength plateauing. At the time, no one understood why. Now, according to Esperanza, they finally had an explanation. Daisy was Ravyn’s weakness.
Seraphine sat completely stunned. It all lined up perfectly with what Voren had told her before. Ravyn had been so much stronger when they were younger. If his weakness really came from his relationship with Daisy, then she finally understood one of his biggest vulnerabilities. And vulnerabilities could be exploited.
She wasn’t thinking purely about revenge, but knowledge was power, and every new detail brought them closer to finally taking down both Ravyn and Daisy.
Then Esperanza smiled again, bright and confident. "But don’t worry." Everyone looked at her. The little girl pointed toward Voren, then toward Seraphine. "You and Mommy are stronger than him."
The certainty in her voice made everyone blink. It was as if there had never been any doubt in her mind. For a moment nobody spoke.
Seraphine sat quietly, trying to absorb everything while dozens, maybe hundreds of questions swirled through her head. But one question rose above all the others, something she’d wanted to ask for a very long time.
Taking advantage of the moment, she finally voiced it. "Espe." The little girl immediately looked toward her. Seraphine’s heart beat faster. "Do you have a birthmark?"
Esperanza shook her head right away. "No." Then she frowned slightly, like she was about to say something more, but Jasmine stepped forward before she could finish.
"She does," Jasmine said quietly. Every head in the room turned toward her as she moved closer to Esperanza and crouched down beside her chair. "I’ve seen it before. When I was helping her shower and drying her hair."
Esperanza blinked up at her. Without hesitation, Jasmine gently lifted the girl’s long hair away from the back of her neck. The moment the skin was exposed, the whole room fell into a heavy silence.
A perfect crescent moon birthmark rested just below her hairline. Everyone froze. Seraphine’s breath caught in her throat. Voren stared hard.
Corvine slowly straightened in his chair. The mark was unmistakable, exactly like Seraphine’s, exactly like the symbol engraved on the pendant and bracelet Voren had once given her.
For several long seconds, nobody could speak. The sight was simply too overwhelming. Seraphine instinctively reached up and touched the side of her own neck, her eyes locked on Esperanza’s birthmark. The resemblance was impossible to ignore. Her heart pounded so loudly she could hear it in her ears.
Voren suddenly stood up as the realization crashed over him all at once. His eyes widened. "I’ve seen it before," he said, his voice sounding distant like he was replaying the memory in his head.
"It was the day Coco brought her to me. I bathed her myself and dried her hair afterward." A faint smile crossed his face as he looked at Esperanza. "I remember seeing the birthmark."
Then frustration flashed across his features. "But after I hired a nanny, I stopped doing those things, and eventually I just... forgot."
The confession made him feel ridiculous. How had he overlooked something so important? How many signs had been right in front of him the whole time?
Across from him, Seraphine couldn’t tear her eyes away from Esperanza. Every doubt she’d been carrying was slowly crumbling away, piece by piece.
The stories, the memories, the physical resemblance, and now this birthmark. Everything pointed in one clear direction.
For the first time, she found herself not even wanting the DNA test anymore. This felt like proof. Something deeper than science, deeper than paperwork.
Corvine seemed to reach the same conclusion. A wide grin spread across his face. "Then there’s no need for a DNA test," he said, voicing exactly what Seraphine had been thinking.
Relief shone bright in his eyes. After days of uncertainty, they finally had real answers, or at least most of them.
To everyone’s surprise, Esperanza immediately shook her head. "No. You still have to do it."
Corvine blinked. "Why?"
