Chapter 450\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment Lucien\u2019s voice rang out, the entire banquet hall plunged into a stunned silence, followed by hushed gasps and murmurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The accusation hit like a thunderclap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theft.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In pack law, that wasn\u2019t a light offense-it was a serious crime, especially when the stolen item was considered a rare lunar heirloom. Minimum punishment? Three cycles in confinement. Maximum? Ten. Maybe more, if the Alpha decided to press the full weight of the Tribunal\u2019s wrath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this wasn\u2019t just any stolen object.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the Moonthread Tapestry. My Moonthread Tapestry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The piece I had poured over three moon cycles into-spinning silver-dusted threads under moonlight, weaving each sacred glyph by hand, infusing every stitch with the traditions of our lost northern line. It wasn\u2019t just art. It was history. Memory. My pain turned into something beautiful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Scarlett had torn it apart like it was nothing but a curtain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Whispers rippled through the hall. Every gaze flicked to Scarlett-formerly so proud, now bald and shaking on her knees beside Ronan Duskcliff. Her wide, hollow eyes betrayed the same thing everyone else was beginning to realize.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t just humiliation anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett\u2019s lips parted in disbelief. She looked ready to faint.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could practically feel her mind spiraling into panic-probably picturing the cold cells beneath the Tribunal\u2019s barracks, the scent of rusted chains, and the Hollow-eyed criminals who never came back the\u00a0<\/p>\n
same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She should be afraid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know I had been.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her body jerked violently, trying to twist away from the enforcers flanking her, but they didn\u2019t even flinch. They\u2019d pinned rogues stronger than her without breaking a sweat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! Please!\u201d she screamed, her voice raw with desperation. \u201cI wasn\u2019t trying to hurt anyone-I didn\u2019t know it was hers! I can pay for it! My parents-they\u2019ll send gold right now! Please, Alpha, I beg you!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears streamed down her face, streaking through the dirt and shame.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Lucien\u2026 Lucien didn\u2019t even blink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, he turned to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And just like that-his expression softened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:58 Wed,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 450\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u53f7 Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sharp, cold steel of his anger melted into somethin warm. Gentle. Like he could fold the whole world into his hands if I asked him to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked at me as if I was the only one in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you wish, moonflower,\u201d he said quietly, just for me. Is this justice enough?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened. I stared up at him, heart twisting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t done this for politics.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not for power.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did it for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To erase the echoes of what I had lost-those five misera le years stolen from me when I\u2019d been locked away, falsely accused of the very crimes Scarlett had orchestrated. She\u2019d watched me get dragged out in front of all our so-called family and laughed behind her dainty and. While I screamed my innocence, she flourished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now she was the one in chains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now she was the one begging.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet-I didn\u2019t smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I just nodded, voice barely a whisper, trembling with emotion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026Yes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A single word. But it carried everything I felt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pain. The relief. The vindication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien turned back without another glance at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beside her, Ronan Duskcliff had been glaring at me this whole time-his eyes bulging with fury and disbelief,\u00a0<\/p>\n
as if he couldn\u2019t understand how I could stand there and let this happen to his precious Scarlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tried to speak-tried to curse, maybe-but the cloth stuffed in his mouth made his words a muffled mess.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMmrrph! Mmm! Mhhmm!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He writhed, eyes wild, sweat beading on his brow. Two guards struggled to keep him still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien\u2019s assistant, Elias, looked down at him with clear annoyance. No sympathy. No hesitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without a word, he lifted a boot and slammed it straigh into Ronan\u2019s abdomen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ronan\u2019s body folded with a grunt, curling like a wounded pup. He gasped for air, eyes rolling back for a\u00a0<\/p>\n
moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Absolutely nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
214\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:58 Wed, Jan 14 D G D\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 450\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien moved next, stepping toward him like a shadow descending.\u00a0<\/p>\n
69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
His polished black boots clicked against the marble floor as he stopped before Ronan, then slowly raised his foot and hooked it under Ronan\u2019s chin-lifting it just enough to force eye contact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSvarlett thought herself clever,\u201d Lucien said coldly. \u201cAn you stood with her. You\u2019ll follow her into the cells.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ronan\u2019s pupils shrank to pinpricks. His entire body begin to tremble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Coward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t shaking like that five years ago when I begged him to listen. When I pleaded for him to believe I hadn\u2019t pushed Scarlett down the stairs. When I cried, screaming that she had framed me, and he looked me in the eye and chose her anyway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t flinch then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now he was pathetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Good.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let him rot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let him understand what it means to be voiceless. Powerless. Alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A ripple passed through me, like something old and bitter finally being laid to rest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doors to the hall creaked open, and the Lycan Enforcers arrived at last.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dressed in sleek black leather, armed with lunar-etched restraints and icy efficiency, they spoke only briefly with Lucien before striding forward. Their leader, a broad-shouldered male with Tribunal sigils across his shoulders, gave a short nod.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then they pulled Scarlett and Ronan to their feet and locked the cuffs around their wrists.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! No, please!\u201d Scarlett sobbed as she kicked her legs and twisted like a snared rabbit. \u201cI\u2019ll do anything! Don\u2019t let them take me-Riley, please! Please say something! I\u2019m your sister!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sister?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had burned that bridge the moment she framed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her wails echoed as she was dragged across the floor, heels scraping like a child refusing bedtime.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood there, rooted, unmoving, as the chaos melted into silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, all I could think about\u2026 was then.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
211\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:58 Wed, Jan 14 D G D\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 450\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another banquet. Another crowd of nobles too eager to watch someone fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That time, I had been the one shackled. The one yelling \u201cIt wasn\u2019t me! It was Scarlett!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered the sting of my mother\u2019s slap-the sound till thundered in my memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f66 \u0f4a\u0f7a 69%u\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou evil thing,\u201d she\u2019d screamed. \u201cFraming your own sister like that. We saw you do it. Me and your father both.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remember how Scarlett had stood behind her, wearing the same wide-eyed innocence she always weaponized. The same smirk curling her lips when no one else was looking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now the smirk was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time in years\u2026 I felt clean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly, letting the moment soak into my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
tana beside\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien came to me, his hand brushing mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
hang \u201cNo one hurts you\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you,\u201d he and walks away.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at him-my shield, my justice-and finally allowed myself to smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Send Gifts\u00a0<\/p>\n
992\u00a0<\/p>\n
W\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 450 Chapter 450\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 The moment Lucien\u2019s voice rang out, the entire banquet […]<\/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-20725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20725","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=20725"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20725\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}