Chapter 82: Deadly Secrets
Chapter 82: Deadly Secrets
(Grace’s POV)
The room felt suffocating. The walls seemed to close in, making each breath harder to take. Sweat trickled down my temple as I lay on the treatment bed, staring at Sarah, Alexander, and Daniel. Their faces were etched with something I had never seen before–distrust mixed with disbelief.
Sarah paced at the foot of my bed with frantic, uneven steps. She wrung her hands together, her lips trembling as if trying to form words that wouldn’t come. Alexander stood near the window, rigid as a stone, his good arm resting tensely against the windowsill. His eyes never left me. And Daniel–Daniel was leaning against the door, arms crossed, staring at me like he was trying to dig into my very soul.
I gulped. My throat felt dry. Every movement sent searing pain through my body, the silver poison burning its way deeper with every second. I felt trapped–by my condition, by their questions, and by their judgmental
stares.
Finally, Alexander spoke, his voice sharp and biting. “Who was on the phone?” His question was short, but it carried all the weight of his rising anger. Each word hit me like a lash.
I blinked, my mouth opening, but no words came out at first. I needed to think. Quickly.
“Grace,” he snapped again, this time louder. “Who. Were. You. Talking. To?” He took a step closer, his amber eyes narrowing.
My heart pounded in panic, each beat loud in my ears. “It was just a desperate man,” I mumbled weakly, my voice trembling even though I tried to steady it. “Someone… someone trying to extort me.”
“Extort you?” Daniel’s sharp voice joined in as he moved away from the door. His eyes darkened. “Why would anyone extort you, Grace? What in the world do you have to offer anyone? Or should I ask… what did you do?”
His words were dripping with suspicion, each syllable more accusatory than the last.
I squirmed under their intense gazes, feeling like prey in a room full of predators. My body burned from the inside, but the tension in the air was no less unbearable. “I didn’t do anything!” I protested weakly, my voice
cracking.
Sarah stopped pacing and turned to me. Her eyes were watery, filled with confusion and something much worse… doubt. She looked like a mother who had just caught her child lying but wanted to disbelieve it. “Grace,” she whispered, her voice shaky, “you need to tell us what’s going on. Who is this man? Who is
Thomas?”
Hearing his name spoken aloud sent a jolt of fear through me. My hands gripped the blanket tightly, the fabric bunching under my fingers. “I told you! He’s just some man trying to take advantage of my–my
situation.”
Alexander didn’t buy it. His jaw tighter, and his teeth clenched audibly. His casted arm hung stiffly by his side, while his good hand balled into a fist. “A man doesn’t just ask for payments in the millions for nothing,” he said, his voice low and grave. “Stop lying, Grace.”
Those words hit me hard. My stomach churned, anxiety choking me like a rope around my throat. “Alexander,
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please,” I pleaded, trying to sound pitiful. “You have to believe me. I don’t know why this is happening.”
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“You’re lying.” Daniel’s voice was like a whip against my already frayed nerves. He crossed his arms,
glowering at me. “If there’s nothing to hide, why would you react like this? Why does your voice tremble every
time we bring it up? Why are you…”
“I just…” My lips quivered. My voice dropped to almost a whisper. “I don’t have the strength for this right now.”
“Liar!” Daniel barked, his anger boiling over.
“Daniel, stop!” Sarah interjected, her own voice rising. She stepped toward my bed and held up her hands as
though trying to shield me. “She’s in pain. Look at her! She’s seriously ill!”
Alexander’s expression didn’t soften. He wasn’t buying it. His eyes drilled into mine, pinning me down harder
than the pain of the poison ever could. “Pain doesn’t excuse guilt,” he said coldly.
I could feel my breaths coming in short, shallow gasps. My fingers trembled as I grasped onto the blanket.
“Why don’t you trust me?” I whispered hoarsely, tears edging my eyes. “Haven’t I gone through enough
already?”
“Trust you?” Alexander’s bitter laugh sent a chill down my spine. He turned away for a moment, his hands
resting on his hips as though trying to control himself. Then he turned back, his voice calm but deadly.
“You’ve been hiding something, Grace. You’ve been lying this whole time. Haven’t you?”
The room seemed to spin. I felt trapped, like a bird caught in a snare. My head pounded as I tried to think of anything, anything that could salvage this.
“If you’re innocent,” Daniel chimed in again, his voice grating against my nerves, “you won’t mind telling us
everything we need to know about these payments.”
I shook my head violently, my pulse thundering in panic. “No, no! You’re twisting everything! You nev
me!”
Sarah’s trembling voice joined the fray. “Grace, this only gets worse if you don’t tell the truth!”
“I am telling the truth!” I screamed, my voice raw. My wolf whimpered painfully in my mind, barely audible
through the agony ripping through me.
lieve
“You’re hiding something!” Alexander shouted, slamming his fist on the edge of the bed. The sound made me
flinch. His sharp amber gaze bore into me, unrelenting. “Who is Thomas Ward, Grace? What does he have on
you?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came. My throat constricted, and my vision started blurring as
panic ate away at my composure.
Sarah stepped forward again, her face pale, her own tremors visible. Then something in her eyes changed,
and her expression twisted into one of horror. “The crystals,” she murmured faintly, like the realization was
hitting her all at once. Her trembling hand went to her mouth. “The sacred crystals, Grace!”
A chill washed over me, head to toe. My body froze.
“The sacred vault,” Sarah continued, her voice breaking. “The rare healing crystals–the ones that went missing last week.” Her tone grew louder and sharper with each word.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, you’re wrong. I didn’t-”
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Chapter 82 Deadly Secrets
“Did you take them?” she yelled, her voice finally cracking in desperation.
Her words echoed in the room like a thunderclap. All eyes were on me.
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The weight of their stares was unbearable. My heart felt like it would burst from my chest. I couldn’t breathe. Even the poison blazing through me seemed distant compared to the dread building in my stomach.
(Claire’s POV)
My fingers hovered over the keyboard, frozen as I watched the feed on the monitor. Grace’s treatment room was descending into chaos.
Sarah’s desperate pacing. Daniel’s scorn–filled stare. Alexander’s rage–so sharp and cutting, it practically seeped through the screen. And Grace… Grace was the picture of someone who realized their world had
started to c***k.
I could see it in her trembling hands and the way her lips moved soundlessly for answers that wouldn’t come. She wasn’t just weak from the poison. She was terrified.
This wasn’t just about missing crystals or a suspicious phone call. It was a truth buried so deep that even Grace had come to fear its exposure.
Shaking off the unease settling in my chest, I grabbed the phone from the desk and dialed Roman’s number. The sound of the ringing was deafening in the otherwise silent room.
“Claire,” Roman’s calm but hard tone came through after the second ring. His unshakable presence settled
me slightly.
“Roman,” I began, my voice barely above a whisper, but I quickly steadied myself. “It’s about Grace.”
There was a pause. A tense silence that seemed almost heavier than the one in the treatment room!
watched.
“What happened?” Roman’s voice was cold, sharp as ice.
“I overheard… well, the security feed caught it,” I corrected myself quickly. “She was talking to Thomas Ward.”
I heard Roman’s sharp inhale, though his response was as steady as ever.
“She was panicking,” I continued. My words spilled out quickly now. “Thomas was demanding something- p*****t. He said something about covering up what she did to Scarlett three years ago. Roman, it all lines up. Scarlett was right about Grace. Every single thing.”
The line went silent again except for his breathing. Each drawn–out second felt more oppressive.
When he finally spoke, his voice carried a weight that would crush mountains. “Good,” he said simply. “Let her crumble under her lies. Keep watching. Everything is unfolding exactly as it should.”
“Yes, Alpha.” I placed the receiver down gently, my fingers shaky.
I turned back to the monitor just in tim
o see Grace finally crumple into tears, her body convulsing with
sobs under the weight of her lies and the poison tearing through her veins.
Her scream echoed through the speakers.
And I knew… this was far, far from over.
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