Chapter 73 The Truth on Trial


    Aubrey’s POV


    1 kg still brud eilent, trigning deep as the two Omega maids confirmer charting A few minutester their foorstops Ended down the hallway.


    The momem they were gone, 1 bolted upright and slipped out while no one was watching. I left Seabrart Ind as quickly as possible.


    Back at my apartment, I stared down at the wolf–fang ring on my finger, my head pounding.


    “E, is he insane?” i hissed through clenched teeth, twisting the ring back and forth. “When I was chasing after him, he looked down on me like I was dirt. Now that I want nothing to do with him, he suddenly starts clinging to me?”


    From deep in my mind, E let out azy yawn. “He’s our fated mate. It’s instinct.”


    Instinct? That was it?


    A sharp, needle–like pang jabbed through my chest. So that sudden change of heart–his warmth, the gentleness, the kisses–none of it had anything to do with me as a person. It was just… the damn nature of werewolves?


    I didn’t know why that answer unsettled me so much.


    My phone buzzed again. My father’s name shed across the screen, over and over. Reluctantly. I picked up. The second the call connected, his furious bellow roared through the speaker, nearly bursting my eardrum.


    “Aubrey! Get to the security bureau immediately! Jimmy’s been caught!”


    That was fast. I blinked, momentarily surprised. “I’ll be right there.”


    I hung up without another word.


    By the time I arrived at the werewolf security headquarters, half an hour had passed.


    Bailey was already there, dressed in a pristine white dress, face pale and pitifulpletely different from the shameless, panting mess she’d been in the video.


    “Aubrey, I’m so disappointed in you,” my father spat, looking at me as though I were filth.


    I let out a short, dryugh. I didn’t even bother defending myself. I didn’t need to hear the story to know what had happened–Bailey must have shed a few crocodile tears, and that was all it took. That was always all it took.


    No matter what happened, in his eyes, I was always the one at fault. It would take him two minutes of real thought to realize how many things didn’t add up–but he wouldn’t give me two seconds of benefit of the doubt.


    Still…


    My eyes shifted to Aurelia. She stood there looking smug,pletely at ease.


    So she had backup now. Someone powerful enough to give her confidence. But who? The Lynn family? Or that shadowy figure I still hadn’t uncovered?


    15:08 111, <b>15 </b>Aug


    Chapter 23 The Truth on Titai


    Please, let it be thetter.


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    #Finished


    I couldn’t wait to find out who they were then let E rip their throat out with her own teeth. I was keeping Aurelia and Bailey alive for one reason only: to lure out the real monster hiding behind them.


    Swallowing my anger, I followed them into the interrogation room.


    There, a reinforced iron window separated the room from the holding cell. Jimmy would be brought in soon to testify from the other side. The bars were coated in wolfsbane, meant to keep even the most aggressive werewolves from tearing through.


    But before Jimmy arrived, a stranger entered–a werewolf officer I didn’t recognize.


    “We’ve tracked down the supplier,” he said calmly. “He’s confessed. He ims a woman named Aubrey purchased the aphrodisiac from him.” He handed over a stack of documents. “Here’s the evidence<i>.</i><i>” </i>


    My father snatched the papers and flung them at my face. “What more do you have to say for yourself?!”


    The corner of one page grazed my cheek. It didn’t hurt. Strangely, I felt nothing at all. I wasn’t even angry


    anymore.


    I had no expectations left for him. Not as a father. Not as a man. If he told me right now that he was disowning me, I might thank him for it.


    “If I told you this was forged,” I said calmly, locking eyes with him, “would you believe me?”


    Before he could answer, Aurelia shrieked from behind him, “Oh please. Evidence can be faked, sure, but what about Jimmy’s testimony? What’s your excuse there–he was bribed too? Is that what you’re going to say?”


    At that moment, the door behind the iron bars creaked open.


    Jimmy was shoved forward, looking like a soaked, stray dog. His eyes were sunken, face pale, and shoulders hunched.


    And when he saw me… he flinched.


    I gave him a slow, icy smile.


    “Well then,” I said, voice low and clear. “Let’s hear it, Jimmy. Tell us what really happened.”


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