Chapter 488\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
From that moment on, everything unfolded just the way they had planned-like a spell perfectly cast, dark, twisted, and horrifyingly seamless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elira Blackthorn survived the transplant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And not only that-her daughter, Scarlett, the child she had with Caden Blackthorn, was brought into the Ebonclaw household by Alaric himself, right under Zara\u2019s broken heart and blind trust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caden, unable to bear being apart from the daughter he and Elira had created in secret, changed his surname to Blackthorn, claiming to be Elira\u2019s younger brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elira, ever the skilled manipulator, introduced him to Alaric with a perfect mix of motherly concern and calculated charm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just worry so much about Scarlett,\u201d she had said, her voice trembling with practiced fear. \u201cShe\u2019s still so young. I\u2019m afraid she\u2019ll be mistreated in this unfamiliar home. My brother, Caden, has always been protective of her. If he could work for the Ebonclaw estate, maybe as her driver\u2026 it would give me peace of mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Alaric, the so-called Alpha, nodded without hesitation, never questioning the story, never seeing the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And just like that, Caden was brought into the pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every day, he picked up and dropped off Scarlett from the Halston Academy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every day, he stood at Elira\u2019s side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every day, he played the role of the devoted uncle, the ever-loyal driver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the truth was-they were a family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A true family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And they were living happily under the roof of the very woman they had all helped destroy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elira\u2019s health stabilized, her career soared, and her place by Alaric\u2019s side was secured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And not long after, she got pregnant again-this time with a boy,\u00a0<\/p>\n
That child is now twenty, studying overseas under a new name, protected and pampered, receiving millions in monthly \u201callowance\u201d from the man who still believed him to be his only\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:26 Fri, Jan 16 T..\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 488\u00a0<\/p>\n
biological son.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric had no idea that the boy bore no trace of his blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That none of the children he raised as his heirs were his own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That the woman he thought he\u2019d conquered had belonged to another man all along.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And worst of all?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f56\u0fa6\u0f71(74)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
The only five minutes he ever had to offer her in bed-Elira had mocked behind his back for\u00a0<\/p>\n
years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The longer I stared at the documents, the more twisted the story became.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t look away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The truth was like blood-I needed to see every drop spilled, every lie uncovered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t just vengeance anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric, you thought you had won.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That you had outplayed Zara, Kael, and me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u00a0<\/p>\n
you had rewritten your place in this pack\u2019s history with lies, betrayal, and cruelty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But look at you now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your one and only son sits rotting in a prison cell, framed by your own hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All the wealth you siphoned off over the years-gone. Hidden under the name of a woman who never loved you.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your legs, broken. Your name, disgraced.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You deserve it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You deserve every second of your downfall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The satisfaction that surged in my chest was so intense it bordered on euphoria.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One moment, I laughed-uncontrollably, breathlessly-relishing the image of Alaric being reduced to a pathetic, humiliated shell of a man.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:26 Fri, Jan 16 T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 488\u00a0<\/p>\n
But then the laughter twisted, tangled with pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
74\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
A tightness gripped my heart, and I remembered everything Zara had lost-her mate, her father, her daughters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered the coldness of the Rogue caves, the hunger, the humiliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The way Scarlett used to smirk when the guards kicked me down, the way Elira\u2019s hand lingered too long on Alaric\u2019s shoulder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears blurred my vision. My knees buckled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I would have hit the floor if not for someone catching me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Familiar hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Steady, warm, and strong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His deep green eyes were filled with concern, the kind of worry that made my throat tighten.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d I whispered, forcing a shaky smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I would be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because now I had the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the truth was a weapon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once I steadied myself, I met Lucien\u2019s gaze again, this time with a spark of cold resolve.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to go to the infirmary,\u201d I said quietly. \u201cI want to see Zara.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t ask why. He didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was time to let her know the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The full truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About Scarlett. About Alaric. About everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:26 Fri, Jan 16 T\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 488\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let her taste the betrayal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let her look into her mirror and see the ghosts of every wrong she ever overlooked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien opened his mouth to speak, but just then, his comm crystal pulsed to life-a from the Council.\u00a0<\/p>\n
message\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Eastern Borderlands Expansion Plan was being reviewed again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They needed him. Urgently.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could see the apology in his eyes before he even said a word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
go\u00a0<\/p>\n
with you,\u201d he muttered, jaw clenched. \u201cThey want me in the council tower now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be fine,\u201d I said, my voice calmer now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned to Caelum-who had remained quiet until now, leaning against the wall like a silent sentinel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCaelum,\u201d Lucien ordered, \u201cfrom this moment forward, you\u2019re her shadow. You don\u2019t let her out of your sight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Caelum didn\u2019t even flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He simply nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And with that, the tides turned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:26 Fri, Jan 16 T.\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 488 Chapter 488\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 :\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 From that moment on, everything unfolded just the […]<\/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-20763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20763","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=20763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}