Chapter 9

"That's not true. He is your son."

Vivienne twisted and shook. "Ethan, I've only ever been with you. How could he not be yours? I just panicked when your mother came in. I knew we had no future. So I was trying to take some money and leave quietly."

Ethan stared at her and said each word flat: "Vivienne. Last chance. Is he my son or not?"

Vivienne held firm. "He's yours."

"I had someone run the paternity test while we were talking."

Ethan took the report from his guard and opened it slowly. "The results are in my hand. If I find out you've been lying to me this whole time, I will not let it go."

He opened the sealed envelope.

The report was clear: no biological relationship between Ethan Thorne and the child in question.

When Vivienne saw it, she shattered completely.

She dropped to her knees and grabbed his leg, shaking. "I'm sorry, Ethan. I lied — but I genuinely thought he was yours. I'd only been with one other person before you, just once, I didn't think it would — Ethan, whose blood he carries doesn't matter. He already calls you dad. You could still be his father, if you wanted —"

Ethan hadn't expected to hear those words from a woman he'd thought was genuine. The fury hit him hard. He stepped back and kicked her squarely in the chest.

She hit the floor coughing up blood, a dark smear across the floor.

Every guard and servant in the room went completely still.

Vivienne still wasn't done.

"Ethan — kick me as many times as you need. If it makes you feel better, go ahead. Aria's gone. Your son is gone. You need a mate and a child. Vivienne and her son can fill that place. We could be a family —"

Before she could finish, a guard's phone buzzed.

The guard transferred the call immediately. "Alpha. The men who handled the kidnapping — we found them. They wouldn't talk at first. Now they've admitted it: the woman who ordered them to take Vivienne and frame Mrs. Thorne was Vivienne herself."

The guard put it on speaker. Everyone in the room heard.

"We also confirmed — the pup who died belonged to you and Mrs. Thorne. Vivienne arranged the burial herself."

Vivienne stood very still.

Even then, she tried to deny it. "It's all lies. Someone is setting me up — it has to be Aria. Ethan, believe me. I didn't do it."

Ethan looked at her. All he felt was disgust.

He thought about the pup he'd been so desperate to have. The pup Aria had carried through every hard day of that pregnancy. He'd spent the day his son was born confessing to an affair.

And now he knew: his son was dead. His mate was gone. Because of this woman.

The servants who had been silent finally found their nerve. They started kneeling, one by one.

"Sir. There's something we've been afraid to tell you. The day Vivienne said she was bathing your son — she wasn't bathing him. She aimed the showerhead directly at his face. That's almost certainly how he got sick."

"That's right. Mrs. Thorne was telling the truth. You didn't believe her. She must have been so alone."

Ethan's fists closed at his sides. His eyes went dark.

Then he heard Vivienne from behind him, still trying.

"Don't listen to them. I never — it's Aria, she has to be behind this —"

"Take her to the dungeons." Ethan's voice was quiet. "Three days. Whatever she did to Aria, do that to her. Then hand her to the Council enforcers. Murder charges."

"Murder charges?" Vivienne's voice broke. "Ethan, you can't imprison someone without cause. If you touch me, I'll report you to the Alpha Council."

"Go ahead and threaten me." He turned and looked at her. "Don't forget — you have a son."

The word "son" cracked her open.

"Your son has nothing to do with this. He's innocent. He's just a child. Please, don't touch him. I'll do anything. Put me in the dungeons for life, I don't care. Just don't hurt him."

"Then are you finally admitting you did all of this?"

Vivienne broke down completely. "Yes. I did it. But your son dying — that was an accident. I didn't think the fever would kill him. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Take her away."

Ethan was done. The guards dragged her out.

As her screams faded down the corridor, the study went quiet.

Outside, the sky was beginning to lighten.

The servants who had spoken up knelt in a row, waiting. Ethan swept a flat look across all of them and said: "Go collect three months' pay from the head housekeeper and get out. Don't let me see any of your faces again."

They scrambled to their feet and ran.

The study had only Ethan and two guards left.

He pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead, exhausted. "Any news on Aria?"

"Nothing, Alpha. Every team came back empty. It's like she disappeared — no records, no trail, no exit documents from the territory."

"Is that right."

One guard said carefully, "It suggests someone helped her. If she has a completely new identity, there may be no record to follow."

"Then keep looking."

"Yes, Alpha." The guard hesitated. "And Vivienne's son —"

"He's a child. He didn't do anything wrong." Ethan looked away. "Find him a placement."

"Right away."

The door closed.

Ethan sat alone in the study, staring at the wedding photo that had stood on his desk for five years.

Tears traced their way down the side of his face. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened.

"Aria. Wherever you've gone in this world, I'll find you. I will."