Chapter 132

POV-

The cruel smile on widened, “The boy wasn’t a fool,” he said, his voice dripping with a twisted . “He knew he wouldn’t be able take Damon Thorne on in fight. But he also knew no matter what happened, he going to make him feel his pain.

who anything to him know what it felt like to hurt then something profound happened. He discovered the game of chess A memory flickered through my mind, a sharp image of us playing chess together on a rainy afternoon. The way his brow furrowed in concentration, the he moved the with calculated precision that belied his usual carefree demeanor. The truth had been right in front of me but been caught up in fairytale that I’d chosen not to it.

“

became with it,” Ivan continued, his voice a low murmur. “Moving the pieces around from a position of controlling the board. And then the plan started to take shape. Damon Thorne took his parents away from him, leaving him to drown in of pain. So Damon Thorne would too. And then his focus shifted to Alex Thorne – his son. Blood for blood.”

The of the puzzle finally falling into a horrifying picture emerging from the chaos.

the passed, he started moving the pieces. Setting the stage for the final act. And then, when you met Alex, the boy who had become a man, knew the time strike had come. So,” he shot a glance at Adrian, “he made those photos and sent them to him.”

My gaze darted to Adrian, searching for a flicker of remorse a hint of humanity in his cold stare. But there was nothing. Just a detached amusement, as if he were watching a particularly gruesome play unfold.

“Don’t look at him,” Ivan scoffed, waving a dismissive hand. “Adrian already made peace with whatever role he played in this twisted game. Now he’s just here to Alex suffer the way he made him suffer.”

He threw his head back and let out a harsh laugh that echoed in the cavernous room. “Isn’t it all fascinating? A –life game of vengeance, played out over years I stared at him, a hollow numbness settling me. My body ached from the ropes that bound me but the emotional pain far worse.

It crushing, suffocating.

How could I have been so blind?

Ivan’s laughter subsided, replaced by a dark smile. “Anyway,” he drawled, “he going to ruin Alex’s life. How dare the man be happy when his father had taken away the man’s happiness. As it turned out, Alex did most of the work himself by throwing you out. By doing that, he made himself utterly miserable But that enough. The man discovered something else a few years later – Alex had children. Another line carrying the blood of a monster flowing through them.”

My breath hitched in my throat, a strangled escaping my lips. The room seemed to tilt on its axis, the Ivan, on the moon goddess you’ve done anything to my children-

walls threatening to in on me.

He cut me off with a roll of his dismissing my threat with a .

Oh, shut up with your empty threats, Amaya. You’re in no position to any demands.” He leaned his breath hot and fetid against my . “Don’t worry about yourself. My children are perfectly fine “They’re not yours , my voice hoarse with fury. I thrashed against the that bound me the need to my children fueling my struggle He rolled his my words nothing more than annoying fly buzzing around his head. “Not another word from , his amusement. “But what fun would that be?

“Do to know what did ” His dropped to conspiratorial whisper, his with a manic .

went to your and would to of the Then he’d have control of two . Two . The number echoed in my mind drumbeat against the tide of My The the rushed, . It hadn’t strengthening the it about giving Ivan . Power could fulfill his The words slammed into like blow and into “The the the Ivy you stammered, my A cruel smirk on Ivan’s .

.

proud moment for under different circumstances he mocked, his voice dripping .

“Was I blurted out tumbling out of my need to understand.

Cuna He Miranda stood me, a of his “My he , his dripping with to inside woman in Alex’s life.” He narrowed his her with disappointment. “

, turned out to at her job. So, I needed another in way to inside his head, to exploit his I fueled ego by for his help, painting damsel in distress. He, too busy basking in his own self–importance noticed that by intertwining himself with my company, he handing me roadmap to his entire operation – his thought , his , the us both at each, me with disbelief and pain and him with gleaming , “Anything you’d to know Amaya doing all this because of what father did to you,” My voice trembled with a mix of anger and despair. “Your problem is with him, with his family. Why are you dragging me and my innocent children into this scoffed, a harsh, dismissive sound. “Innocent? You were already wrapped up in this mess the moment you predestined to be his mate. And don’t play with me, Amaya. I know everything every stolen glance every whispered secret. Every single moment you spent with him, a betrayal of the trust you thought I placed in you.” He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a low hiss was truly hoping for a showdown a bloody one at that. Alex and your father locked in a fight to the death. It would have brought me such satisfaction.”

His words a punch to the gut, stark reminder of the monster I’d fallen for. But as despair threatened to consume me, spark of defiance ignited within me. “You’re wrong, Ivan. My relationship with whatever it was, isn’t the cause of your twisted vendetta.”

“You’ve always been at the of it all, Alex’s one true weakness He threw his head back and let out a chilling laugh, sound devoid of any warmth or humor And you’re going to die knowing that your stupidity, your insatiable need for attention led you to this very moment. Knowing that your children are in my hands, that I can do whatever I please with them. And when I break the news to , before I finish him and his monster of a father you will all feel the pain I’ve endured! You will all know my wrath!”

With a final, menacing glare he straightened up and turned to walk away. Panic surged through me a primal for my children clawing at my throat. “Ivan, stop!”

screamed, “They’ve done nothing to you!

, let them go!”

I thrashed against the ropes that bound me but the struggle was futile. My gaze darted to Miranda, noticing the gun gleaming in her hand. Ivan leaned in, a twisted tenderness in his eyes as he her forehead.

You know what to do, darling,” he murm mured. Her voice devoid of emotion, echoed in the tense silence “Two silver bullets. One in that heart that for him. One in her little head.”

as Ivan shiver wracked my body to me cruel smile twisting his lips “Goodbye, Amaya.”

With Adrian, he disappeared into the, me alone with Miranda and the chilling weight of his final words.

My heart hammered against my ribs a desperate plea for escape. But the only sound soft click of the gun being cocked.

streamed down my a horrifying truth settled in my gut:

I would see my children again and I going to die.

色 GIFT 0 O