<h4>Chapter 209: ter is missing.</h4>


    <strong>Charis</strong>


    <strong>Back to Court proceedings...</strong>


    The doors burst open with a loud, echoing <i>bang</i>.


    Every head in the courtroom turned towards the door, and I honestly thought it would be Kael since he hadn’te into the courtroom yet.


    Elena – Rhett’s mom was at the witness stand, holding an envelope in her trembling hands. She’d been just about to reveal what she imed was proof of my true parentage when the sudden noise cut her words short.


    The judge frowned and leaned forward. The guards turned toward the doorway.


    A man stood there.


    He was tall and slim, with grey hair to show his age and a neatly pressed dark coat that looked too formal for the humid air outside. He didn’t seem flustered or nervous. He looked calm,posed, and faintly tired.


    The way he looked at the room was strange, almost as though he had walked through a memory instead of a door.


    Isolde, sitting next to me, stiffened. Her fingers curled against herp, and her knuckles turned white. "No," she whispered under her breath, voice trembling. "He’s supposed to be dead."


    My eyes flitted to Headmistress Vale, and her eyes had widened. The colour drained from her face. She gripped the edge of the bench as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.


    But my mother—Eva Grey—only smiled. If anything, this was the first time in years I’d seen a genuine smile from her. She looked almost pleased.


    A faint ripple of murmurs passed through the audience. The man began walking forward, the faint sound of his shoes echoing off the marble floor.


    The judge banged her gavel. "Sir, you are interrupting a legal proceeding. Identify yourself, or you will be escorted out immediately."


    The man stopped at the front. "Dr ric Dane," he said quietly. "Former attending physician at Central World Hospital."


    A soft gasp rose from the gallery. I didn’t know the name, but clearly many did.


    "I’m sorry to appear this way," he continued, "but I believe the truth I carry belongs here today. It concerns Luna Eva Greye, Headmistress Raina Vale, and Ms Isolde Knox."


    The room exploded into whispers. The press cameras went into a frenzy as they snapped endlessly.


    The judge sighed. "Dr Dane, this is highly irregr—"


    But Dr Dane raised a small brown folder. "I have the original records of two births that took ce under my supervision nearly two decades ago. Twins born on 15 March, registered under Eva Greye, the young woman seated there." His eyes flicked toward my mother.


    My pulse hammered so loud I could hear it in my ears.


    "I delivered the twins myself," he continued. "The birth wasplicated. We had to perform an emergency transfusion. Luna Greye nearly lost her life, but she insisted I destroy certain files afterwards. I didn’t."


    My mother’s smile deepened faintly.


    Isolde rose to her feet. "This is absurd—"


    Dr Dane didn’t even look at her. "Two years before Luna Greye came to birth her children", he continued calmly, his voice cutting through the buzz, "another woman gave birth to twins in the same hospital. That woman was Raina Vale—now Headmistress Vale of Ravenshore Academy."


    The courtroom fell silent again.


    Vale’s lips parted slightly, her eyes darting from him to the judge. "This is—"


    He continued, undeterred. "Her children vanished after delivery. The hospital records were tampered with. The case was quietly dismissed after a private investor, Ms Isolde Knox, paid the board to have it closed. She also ordered all staff involved to sign non-disclosure contracts."


    Isolde screeched, "That’s a lie!"


    This was the first time I’d seen her get so riled up.


    Dr Dane finally turned toward her. "You came to my office that week, Ms Knox. You said you were representing the family’s interests. You offered me money to alter the records. I refused. A dayter, my clinic was set on fire. I barely survived."


    A shocked silence fell over the room.


    The judge was frozen, her pen midair.


    Someone leaned closer to me, whispering, "What the hell is happening?"


    I jerked in surprise and turned to see that Kael was sitting behind me. When did hee?


    "I don’t know," I whispered back, though my voice trembled.


    Dr Dane’s tone softened slightly as he faced the bench. "I am not here to use anyone without proof. The proof is in this folder—sealed hospital logs, blood match records, and a photograph from the day of the delivery. I submit them to the court for independent review."


    He ced the folder on the table beside Elena and stepped back. "That is all I came to say. The truth belongs to her now," he said, nodding toward me.


    For a moment, no one moved.


    The judge finally cleared his throat and said, "This court is adjourned until we verify these ims." She struck her gavel, but her voice shook slightly.


    Instantly, the room exploded. Reporters surged forward, snapping photos, shouting questions. Guards rushed to the front, trying to restore order.


    Dr Dane stepped aside calmly and left through a side door.


    Isolde looked pale, and her teeth were clenched. Vale was shaking, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes. My mother stood up slowly, brushed invisible dust from herp, and walked out through the central aisle as if she’d just won something.


    Outside, chaos continued. Reporters and cameras swarmed the courthouse steps. I stood a few feet away with Kael.


    Isolde appeared first, her heels striking the stone steps sharply. She looked livid butposed.


    Then my mother followed, serene, calm, with an unreadable expression. When they crossed paths near the entrance, Isolde stopped her.


    "What have you done?" Isolde asked in a cold whisper.


    My mom didn’t even blink. "You always did underestimate me."


    "You brought that man here," Isolde hissed. "You think this makes you innocent? You’ve dragged us all into ruin."


    She tilted her head slightly, her voice soft but edged with steel. "No, dear. I didn’t drag anyone. You buried too many things alive—and now they’re simply climbing out."


    "You think this ends well for you?"


    "I think," Eva said, her faint smile widening, "it ends as it should. You took what didn’t belong to you, Isolde. You tried to take <i>her</i>." Her eyes flicked briefly toward me. "And now the truth knows where to find you."


    Isolde’s calm cracked for the first time. "You little snake," she spat, taking a step forward, but herwyer caught her arm.


    Eva leaned in close, her voice low. "You should’ve made sure Dr Dane stayed dead."


    Then she turned and walked away, her red coat swaying softly behind her like a mark of triumph.


    For a second, Isolde stood frozen, chest heaving. Then she turned and strode toward her car, snapping at her assistant. Her driver opened the door, and she vanished inside, the tyres screeching as they sped off.


    ***


    Reporters swarmed again, shouting questions at me. Kale shielded me with his arm as we pushed through the crowd. I caught onest glimpse of Headmistress Vale slipping out a side entrance, her head bowed low, her expression nk.


    We reached the parking lot and climbed into the car. The moment the door shut, the silence hit me like a wall.


    Kael turned to me. "Charis... are you okay?"


    I nodded, though my throat was dry. "I don’t even know what I’m supposed to feel."


    He rubbed the back of his neck. "That was... wild."


    "Wild doesn’t even begin to cover it." I stared out the window at the courthouse shrinking behind us. "Did you see my mother’s face? She wasn’t scared. She was pleased."


    Kael nced at me through the mirror. "You think she knew the doctor wasing?"


    I thought of her calm smile, the way she’d watched Isolde. "I don’t think he showed up on his own," I said quietly.


    Kael blew out a breath. "Your mother’s smarter than anyone gives her credit for."


    "Smarter," I murmured, "or just more dangerous."


    The car drove on. My hands rested in myp, fingers cold despite the warmth in the car.


    For so long, I’d thought of my mother as fragile—soft-spoken, victimised, too gentle for the cruel world she lived in. But now I saw it wasn’t weakness. It was camouge.


    The way she’d stood in that courtroom, unflinching as the truth tore through everyone else... that wasn’t the face of a powerless woman. That was someone who’d been waiting years to make her move.


    And she’d just made it.


    When we arrived at the pack house, Rhett came out to greet us.


    He had a strained smile on his face as he hugged me tightly and grabbed Kael’s arm to pull him aside.


    That was when I saw Alpha Raymond at the corner of the pack house, on his phone, and I instantly became suspicious.


    "Rhett," I reached out to drag Kael, who Rhett was already pulling towards the corner of the house. "What’s going on? Where is ter? Why is Alpha Raymond here?"


    That was when I noticed the redness in Rhett’s eyes, something painful twisted inside my chest, and instantly, I was by his side.


    "Rhett, what happened?"


    He took a deep breath. "ter is missing."