Chapter 301\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
After speaking, Bella\u2019s mother moved to leave at once, intending to take her daughter with her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Bella did not move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBella,\u201d her mother called softly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
077\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bella looked at the family waiting for her-then at Derek, his cheeks flushed from the drug, the pallor beneath impossible to hide. Her fingers curled into her palm, claws biting into flesh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a long pause, she finally stepped forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned away and left, never once looking back at Derek.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek let out a self-mocking breath and turned to the silent Magnus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMagnus, I need some private space. Please escort them out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus raised a brow and motioned calmly for the others to withdraw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s decisiveness earned him a measure of respect. At least he knew when to sever a limb cleanly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soon, Bastien departed with the guests. The room emptied, leaving only Ulva, Derek-still writhing under the drug\u2019s pull-Aysel, Magnus, and Johanna, who coughed lightly now and then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna\u2019s expression remained neutral. She glanced at them briefly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s nothing more for me here. I\u2019ll be leaving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel lifted a hand and waved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you tonight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Twenty minutes earlier, when Aysel had pushed open the lounge door, she had found Alfie inside- drugged, scent disordered, the door locked from within.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seeing her, Alfie had frowned sharply, ordering her to leave before retreating into the bathroom and sealing himself inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Outside the door, however, Magnus had already stationed a male and female Shadowbane guard with her. Aysel had not panicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After confirming who was inside, she calmly unlocked the door. Standing outside were not only the guards \u2014but Johanna, arriving with a master key.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From there, events unfolded exactly as planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel and Johanna sat inside the room, chatting idly, waiting for those eager to \u201ccatch them in the act.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Alfie was escorted away by the guards to find Kian, who held the antidote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 Wed, Dec 24\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 301\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes, Derek-who had orchestrated everything-was seized by Magnus\u2019 men, force-fed the same drug, and thrown into another room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A crude setup. A desperate trap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After the failed yacht kidnapping, Magnus had turned predator, not prey. Derek had been driven into a\u00a0<\/p>\n
corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In open territory-business or pack politics-challenging Magnus now was suicide. The Sanchez estate had long since been purged of compromised servants, its defenses alert and unyielding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Sanchez Lodge-neutral ground during the engagement-became the only viable breeding ground for malice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had Aysel truly been \u201ccaught\u201d with Alfie, Magnus would have killed him on the spot. No explanations. No\u00a0<\/p>\n
mercy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alfie was chosen not out of insight into his hidden feelings, but because of his position.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood outside the core Sanchez bloodline. Bastien carried guilt and affection toward him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If Magnus had gone mad-slaughtering an innocent brother and enraging the old Alpha to death-the Sanchez Pack would have fractured instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that chaos, Derek, the legitimate eldest grandson, would have risen naturally.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the Fifth Branch would have been forced to stand against Magnus.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the yacht incident, Magnus had been tightening the noose, devouring Derek\u2019s influence piece by piece.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Knowing their time was running out, the First Branch had gambled everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A filthy move-but devastating, if it had worked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva had not wanted this.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Magnus was too sharp. Even without evidence, he had retaliated without hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cold. Precise. Relentless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only one weakness existed in his hunt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She disrupted his rhythm. Blunted his strikes. Drew his attention away from annihilation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But tonight proved something else entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva had acted too hastily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This engagement banquet-\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 Wed, Dec 24 MG J\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 301\u00a0<\/p>\n
-may well have been a deliberate snare laid by Magnus and Aysel themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva lowered her gaze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Losing to these two\u2026 was not shameful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna\u2019s eyes flicked briefly toward her. Then she nodded at Aysel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo need to thank me. I wasn\u2019t doing this for you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wolves understood each other perfectly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
730\u00a0<\/p>\n
B\u00a0<\/p>\n
C\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 301 Chapter 301\u00a0 Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0 After speaking, Bella\u2019s mother moved to leave at once, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20574\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}