Chapter65
“Your mom nearly got locked up because of Vanessa’s schemes, and now she’s defending her? Don’t you
think that’s weird? You think the Quinns put her up to it? Or, more specifically, Vanessa?”
“Maybe. Could be either. I don’t know.”
“So you’re saying that’s the most likely scenario, right?”
“Yeah.”
Cassie pressed on.
“So, putting it all together: your side piece, Vanessa, got slammed online after that airport video. She’s pissed, wants to clear her name, so she either strong-arms or sweet-talks your mom, Evelyn, into cooking up a nasty rumor about Vivian. Evelyn makes the statement to make Vanessa look innocent while dumping filth
on Vivian. That about right?”
“Exactly.”
Alpha Adrian exhaled heavily.
As Cassie opened her mouth to keep going, he raised a hand.
“Cassie, you’ve got enough for your evidence now, don’t you? The recorder’s probably full.”
Cassie’s expression faltered, a bit sheepish.
He knew.
Of course he did. Alpha Adrian wasn’t some clueless pup.
My gaze on Alpha Adrian was layered with complexity.
“Let’s end this,” I said.
“If we don’t, Vanessa will keep coming for me. Today, she got your mom to smear me. What’s tomorrow? The day after? You might not kill me, Alpha Adrian, but I’m dying because of you all the same.”
“Whether you’re genuinely sorry or still love me, it doesn’t matter. We messed up, and we can’t go back. What’s the point of this three-way tangle?”
“Once we’re done, she’ll stop sinking her teeth into me. Whatever you two do after that? Nothing to do with
me.”
“Think it over.”
My words were calm.
Alpha Adrian didn’t argue as fiercely as before.
He sat in Cassie’s place for a long time, leaving without saying.
Alpha Adrian’s cooperation threw a wrench in our plans. We’d been ready to drop a bombshell, expecting a
64.8%
VIP Ad-Free >
15:29 CD
0:
brutal back-and-forth. But before we could strike, one of the enemy’s key players had flipped.
“Now what? Stick to the plan?”
Cassie admitted she was softening, so she left it to me.
I stared out the window, then said, “I’m starving. Let’s eat first.”
Cassie couldn’t help but laugh. “Fine, dinner it is.”
That night, a new pinned reply appeared under Evelyn’s morning post on Helixon ‘ official site.
It was me, responding!
And not just any response-a video, me facing the storm head-on.
The internet exploded, netizens sharing it like wildfire, grabbing their popcorn to watch the elite pack drama
unfold like a soap opera.
In the video, I was poised and elegant, my tone gentle but steady as I told the story of mine and Alpha
Adrian’s love.
How we fell for each other, how we overcame obstacles to form our sacred bond, and how Vanessa wormed
her way in. I spoke like a storyteller, measured and vivid.
I didn’t rush to debunk Evelyn’s smears.
We met in our senior year of high school-pure, young love.
Even if that “fated bond” nonsense with Vanessa was real, would a nineteen-year-old pup be mooning over an
elementary school pup instead of a she-wolf his age?
The “overcoming obstacles” part?
That was Evelyn’s constant disapproval of me.
As for Vanessa’s interference, I casually mentioned it started with a business deal with the Quinns, implying
the two packs had no history-no way there was some long-standing “fated bond.”
Only after laying out the story did I bring the receipts, dismantling Evelyn’s lies one by one.
I had chat logs, recordings, photos-hard evidence.
The massive settlement? Evelyn knew about Alpha Adrian’s cheating, and it was agreed upon by both sides
when I moved to break the bond.
Evelyn’s claim about me with some wolf at a hotel?
She thought she’d been clever, deleting the second half of the hallway footage.
But I’d dug up the video of me leaving the hotel nine minutes later.
Nine minutes-barely enough time to kick off your shoes.
My final piece? Alpha Adrian himself admitting his mom’s accusations were lies.
65.1%
VIP Ad-Free >
15:29
iptere
Rewards
Menu
I said a lot but still left Alpha Adrian a sliver of dignity, holding back the ugliest recordings and messy bed photos.
The internet went wild.
Meanwhile, me, having unleashed my counterattack, packed a few clothes and drove out of Cloud Packthat
night.
I didn’t notice the two cars trailing me, keeping their distance in the dark.
The night roads were still buzzing with cars.
I rolled down my window, letting the cool night breeze sweep in.
The streetlights stretched endlessly ahead, snaking into the darkness.
I hadn’t lied to Alpha Gideon-I really was headed to my grandma’s pack.
The video, originally meant to be recorded by Cassie on my behalf, was something I decided to do myself
after some thought.
I could see it in Alpha Adrian’s eyes-he was worn out too.
I hoped by the time I got back, he’d have come to his senses, and we could finally sever our bond for good.
To avoid any reckless retaliation from Vanessa or the Quinns, I figured it was smarter to slip out of Cloud
Pack for a few days.
Meanwhile, the Blackwoods and Quinns had seen my counterstrike.
Their rage was hot enough to burn the roof off.
They seemed to forget one thing: I used to be a top dog at Helixon. I’d only recently left, and my access to the official backend hadn’t been revoked.
Even if it had, I still had plenty of loyal packmates.
Hell, Alpha Adrian himself might’ve left the door open for me.
Evelyn blew up Alpha Adrian’s phone, call after call, but he wouldn’t pick up.
Alistair’s face was a storm cloud.
“You never should’ve let that Quinn she-wolf manipulate you. Now look-our pack’s humiliated, the pack’s bleeding, and it’s all because I’m stuck with a fool for a mate.”
Evelyn was already fuming and humiliated, chewed out all day, treated like an enemy by her own son.
Now her mate was piling on?
She snapped. “Yeah, I’m the fool. Why don’t you trade me in for a smarter she-wolf? Oh, wait-you already have one. Celeste Moreau, that vixen you’ve been cozying up with in other packs. Why not bring her and her bastard pup into the Blackwood? Let them take my place and inherit everything!”
65.4%
VIP Ad-Free ›_____
>
15:29 D
Slap!
Alistair’s hand cracked across her face, his voice a snarl. “Who’re you calling a vixen? A bastard?”
Evelyn hadn’t expected him to hit her.
She stared, stunned, disbelief etching her face.
Clutching her cheek, she laughed, the sound hollow and bitter.
“I’m nothing like Vivian, living free and fierce. I turned a blind eye for twenty years, and what did it get me? You and your mistress living it up across the packs while I’m left alone here, and now you call me a fool. Yeah, I’m a fool. A damn fool.”
She walked upstairs, her voice heavy with resignation.
“Evelyn…” Alistair called after her, regret creeping in. They’d kept the peace for years-he shouldn’t have provoked her.
Chapter66
The second Evelyn locked her bedroom door, Vanessa’s call came through like a grim reaper’s summons. She’d ignored it downstairs multiple times, but Vanessa was relentless.
Evelyn answered, snapping, “Instead of harassing me, why don’t you figure out how to handle this mess?”
Vanessa’s voice was sinister, ghostly. “Scared? So what if she debunked your lies? You think the pack’s just gonna buy her story? I’ve got ways to muddy the waters. But that’s not why I’m calling. I’m warning you-if Alpha Adrian doesn’t bind with me, your dirty secret’s next.”
Evelyn’s hand shook, the phone slipping to the floor as she collapsed, trembling.
She grabbed it, forcing down fear and fury. “I did everything you asked! The whole Blackwood pack sees me as the villain now. I’m ruined! And you saw-Alpha Adrian doesn’t listen to me. My words mean nothing to
him!”
Vanessa didn’t care. “You’ve got one week.”
She hung up.
Evelyn slumped to the floor, as if plunged into an icy abyss, trying to stand but sliding back down.
If Alistair found out about that, he might actually use it as an excuse to bring Celeste and her pup into the
Blackwood den, stealing what belonged to her son.
No. Absolutely not.
Over the next two days, the internet was a wildfire.
At first, most were Team Vivian-her response was rock-solid, dripping with credibility.
But then, other voices started creeping in.
An anonymous account, claiming to be a Helixon Enterprises worker, called Vivian a drama queen, saying her video was all an act and the airport brawl showed her true colors. They urged everyone not to fall for her.
Another, supposedly a hotel staffer, swore Vivian’s video was fake, pointing out details like the hotel’s entrance pillar being under repair at the time, wrapped in covering-absent in her footage. Proof it was
healered, they claimed.
More of these accounts popped up, one after another.
A swarm of influencers and big-name bloggers, hungry for clout, jumped in, playing detective. They dissected
every detail, spinning wild theories, each acting like they’d cracked the case.
One blogger went rogue, pointing out that with today’s Al, swapping faces, tweaking audio, or faking chat
logs was child’s play-no tech skills needed.
Suddenly, both sides’ evidence was under a cloud.
Microexpression experts and psychologists piled on, chasing their fifteen minutes of fame.
65.9%
VIP Ad-Free >
15:30
