Chapter 468: How far she can go.
Leilani.
As soon as I said those words, I saw his face go cold. So cold that I couldn’t make out any emotion on his face.
His hands that had been clutched together, balled into fists on his thighs and I couldn’t help... goddess I couldn’t fear but feel like I may have crossed the line.
Maybe he is still sore about the death of his brother.
Maybe he doesn’t like talking about it with people, especially strangers, and to him... I am still a stranger.
A lump formed in my throat at the thought and I immediately looked away, feeling quite unable to meet his hardened eyes.
A beat of silence passed between us before he finally looked up— with less coldness of I may add— and drawled; "You said you wanted to see me about something."
I scooted closer to him while still being sure enough to keep as much distance as I could between us. And when I noticed him watching my every move like a predator would watch its prey, my cheeks burned with embarrassment. I rasped out quickly;
"It’s about something personal. While I am sorry that my words will come as a shock to you, I also need to let you know that I recently found out about my origins. I also recently got to find out who my biological father is... and he is your late brother, Ragnar Valemont." I said, but he didn’t move, he didn’t even seem as though he had heard me.
Another beat of silence passed between us before he finally broke it by asking coldly; "Is that all you want to say to me?"
I recoiled.
Goddess, his words made me feel as though I had been smacked right in the face. And hard. My body shrunk into itself in pain as I stared openmouthedly at the stoic put-together man sitting right in front of me as if seeing him for the first time— mind you, this can also be regarded as the first time we’ll meet each other— and then I shook my head in embarrassment plus a tinge of disbelief.
I whispered; "That’s not all."
He cocked his eyebrows at me. "What else do you wish to say?"
Hearing those words made me feel some type of way. It made me feel unseen. Unheard. Unloved. I felt as though I was nothing but a disturbance to a man who obviously did not want to have anything to do with me.
I also felt like this whole meeting was a mistake on my part. A mistake that I should have thought well about before embarking on.
However, despite the way I felt, I still managed to meet his gaze with my unwavering one and I still forced myself to say;
"I am sorry but I wanted... I wanted to find out what happened to my father."
The man froze at that and for the first time, I seemed to have caught his attention.
"I want to know if he was really a traitor and a thief and I want to know if Darius, his son, was indeed involved in the shady situation surrounding his death."
As soon as I said those words, the room descended into an intense silence. It was the type of silence that echoed in your ears and wrapped itself around your throat, feeling as though it was about to suffocate you. It was so bad that you could easily hear the sound of a pin drop on the floor... so bad that the only thing I heard was the sound of my heart as it pounded wildly against my chest like a bird in a cage.
The man watched me closely for a moment and then slowly rose to his feet. And truth be told, I had almost begun to think that he was about to walk away from me until he suddenly drawled in that smooth baritone that sent chills down my spine. He said;
"Leilani, your father was not a traitor nor was he a thief. He had more than enough wealth to go around that it was insane to think that he would try to steal from a pauper such as Zack and his demon spawn of a beta, Malakai."
I gulped. "Thank you."
Really, thank you.
"Also, Darius was fully involved in his death but I cannot explicitly tell you if he affected it negatively or positively."
"Why?" I couldn’t help but ask and to my utter surprise, he shrugged.
"Because I am not sure either. It is only a hunch. I do not wish to talk about this today, daughter... so it’s best we move this meeting to a later date."
His words made my jaws drop. But before I could respond... to ask him why he was unwilling to talk to me about this even though it was my right, and to also remind him that I was not ’his daughter,’ he turned away and left the room, leaving me staring at his retreating frame in both exhaustion and embarrassment.
At least I was right about one thing.
"Darius was indeed involved in the death of my father."
—
Something about that whole meeting with Uncle Theon ruined my mood for the rest of the day, and as I worked, I couldn’t help but remember the cold look on Uncle Theon’s face as he spoke to me coldly.
I couldn’t shake out the word tingling in my spine, and for some reason, I could also not help but remember how warm I had felt around him. How homely. How safe.
But he doesn’t want anything to do with you.
The thought made my blood all over again and deciding that it was best to go home, to sleep this annoyance off, I cleared my table and ordered a ride home— to the triplets’ mansion.
Along the way, I suddenly decided to stop by at the pack’s dungeons to pay a visit to Keisha and to have a word with her. I didn’t realize how wrong that idea was until I was walking through the damp dark walls of the dungeons, that is after being cleared by the security and began to head over to the cell which had been described to me by the security guard I’d met at the front.
However, I was only a few steps away from her cell, and I could swear that I had sighted her when my phone suddenly rang. I picked it up, pressed it to my ears and hissed;
"Caelum?"
"Where are you?" He asked, more like ordered.
His question made me frown but deciding to play it cool, I spat; "I’m somewhere safe. You don’t have to worry about me."
"I was told you are at the pack’s dungeon and knowing you, you’re either there to see your mother..."
"I don’t want to see my mother!" I snapped at him.
"...Or you’re there to see Keisha, which I am now sure you’re there for." He snapped, but before I could think of a response, he added; "Leave that place this instant!" He growled, but I stubbornly refused by shaking my head.
However, upon realizing that he couldn’t see me shaking my head like a literal lizard, I hissed; "I am not leaving this place until I kill Keisha."
Saying these words made Keisha’s head whip up towards me, and I saw the recognition glint in her eyes before she rushed to stuff something out of her pocket into her mouth.
I snorted at her and ignoring Caelum’s pleas, dropped the phone into my bag before walking towards her cell.
I snarled; "Good day, Keisha."
She didn’t respond. Instead, she continued to chew on whatever it was violently.
Her behavior made me roll my eyes at her but ignoring it, I went on to ask that one thing I have always wanted to ask. I seethed;
"Why did you do it?"
She stopped. Eyed me and shook her head.
"Why did you kill Jarek? Why did you inject him with so much silver and wolfsbane? You said you loved him, why did you hurt him like that?"
I noticed the way my voice trembled as I spoke because even until now, Jarek was still a sore topic for me. And for the first time since I walked in here, she wasn’t glaring at me like a maniac. She looked completely regretful.
"I was made to do it." She murmured, stunning me beyond words. My breath hitched as I lifted my head to look at her— like really look at her. But for some reason, she didn’t look like she was lying.
If anything, she looked... resigned. Tired.
"By whom?" I asked, but she didn’t respond.
Her eyes drifted close and from here, she appeared like someone who had slumped. Her back was resting against the wall and her eyes were closed as if she was asleep.
Something about that irked me, and I found myself screaming; "OPEN YOUR DAMN EYES, KEISHA!"
But she didn’t move. She didn’t even respond.
My heart jumped once again in my chest.
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