Adeline West.
Killian’s presence lingered long after he left my office, like a storm cloud that refused to vanish. Ilis words echoed in my head as I sat behind my desk, staring at the untouched documents on my
“Release a joint statement. We tell the press we’re handling thing privately, that there’s no scandal, no drama. We get ahead of the narrative before it gets out of control”
It was typical Killian: direct, authoritative, and detached. His solution to everything was control–control the narrative, control the damage, control me. But he wasn’t the one who would face Sebastian’s questions or the looks of confusion and hurt from my children.
I shook my head and forced myself to focus on my work. Emails Reports. Projects. Anything to avoid thinking about him. About the kiss. About the media madness that had already begun to spiral out of control.
Sophia had tried to warn me earlier, but I hadn’t fully grasped just how bad it had gotten. Now, the thought of the reporters waiting outside made my stomach knot. I couldn’t hide forever, though. Sooner or later, I’d have to face them. And face myself.
The hours passed in a blur, and I barely noticed the sun beginning to set until I heard a knock on the door.
Sophia peeked in, her face pale. “They’re still outside, Adeline. The reporters. It’s… a lot.”
Istood, steeling myself for what was waiting outside. “I’ll manage. Thanks, Sophia.”
I gathered my things, took a deep breath, and stepped outside. As soon as I walked through the glass doors of Moonluxe, I was hit by a wall of flashing cameras and shouting voices.
“Adeline! Adeline West!”
“Is it true you’re with Killian Volkov?”
“Are the rumors about you and Killian Volkov Ture?”
“How does Sebastian Cooper feel about the kiss?”
I quickened my pace, keeping my eyes down as the questions came at me like rapid–fire bullets. My heart pounded in my chest as I pushed through the crowd, the flashing lights blurring my vision. Somehow, I managed to slip into my car, the door slamming shut behind me.
My hands trembled on the steering wheel as I drove home. The anxiety that had been simmering all day threatened to boil over, but I clenched my teeth and fought to keep it together. The last thing I needed was to break down now. Not when everything was so precariously balanced.
When I pulled into the driveway of my home, I spotted Mary through the kitchen window, her face lined with worry. She had been with me since the day I arrived at the pack, pregnant and broken. She had helped me through it all–through the pregnancy, through raising the twins–but I had never told her about the life I had left behind.
I don’t know what to say to her. I never told her about my past.
I barely made it through the front door when she approached me, concern etched across her features. “Adeline, what’s going on? I saw the news… the reporters… What is all of this?” She asked.
I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of the past pressing down on me. I couldn’t avoid it any longer. She deserved the truth. After all these years, after all the secrets I had kept from her,.
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Chapter 59
She guided me to the couch her hands gentle but firm. The twins were playing in the other room, their laughter a soft background to the tension swirling between us.
“Adeline.” Mary said quietly, sitting beside me. “You’ve never told me what happened before you came here I never asked. because I knew you’d tell me when you were ready. When we were at Volkovs Mansion, I noticed the tension between you and Killian and never asked about it. But now, with everything going on, you need to let it out. What is all this about Killian Volkov?”
I took a shaky breath, my hands trembling in my lap. My chest felt tight, as though the secrets I’d buried for so long were clawing their way to the surface, desperate to be free. I had never allowed myself to relive it–to speak the truth aloud–but now I had no choice.
“I never wanted to talk about my past because… because it hurts too much,” I began, my voice barely a whisper. “But I can’t keep running from it anymore.”
Mary nodded, her face soft with understanding. She reached over and placed her hand on mine. “I’m here. Whatever it is, you don’t have to carry it alone.” She said,
And with that, the floodgates opened.
“I was forced to marry Killian Volkov,” I said, my words coming faster now, years of bottled–up pain spilling out. “It wasn’t for love. Our families arranged it. It was a merger–a business transaction more than a marriage. He didn’t want it, and neither did I, but we had no choice.”
Mary’s eyes widened slightly, but she remained silent, letting me continue.
“was taken to his home–the Volkov estate–and that’s when the real nightmare began. His mother, his sister, they hated me from the start. They made it their mission to remind me every day that I didn’t belong. His mother was cruel, but it was his sister, Claire, who made my life unbearable. And then there was Laurel.”
I paused, feeling a deep ache in my chest at the mention of her name. Mary leaned in closer, her brow furrowed. “Laurel? Laurel Parker?”
“Yes, Killian’s lover,” I said bitterly.
“Did they?” Mary let the question hang in the air, and I nodded, confirming it.
“She came back when we were married and worked in his company, and she made sure I knew exactly what my place was. She wasn’t just his lover, though. She was more than that. She was in his heart, in his life, and I was nothing. Just an obstacle in the way.”
Mary’s grip on my hand tightened, her eyes blazing with anger on my behalf. “And Killian? He just let this happen?”
I nodded, tears stinging my eyes as I remembered the coldness in his gaze and the way he had always looked at me with disdain. “He didn’t care. He only tolerated me because of his grandfather. To him, I was just a tool. Someone to fulfill a duty. He never defended me. Never even tried to get to know me. And then…”
My voice broke, and I swallowed hard, trying to gather the strength to continue. “There was one night. I was working late in the office when I… I saved a man from some men who were trying to kill him. He was hurt and bleeding, and I tried to help him, and He–he forced himself on me, and I didn’t even see his face.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks as I finally admitted the truth, the weight of it crushing down on me. “I don’t know who he was. I never saw him again. But a few months later, I found out I was pregnant.”
Mary gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Adeline…”
“It was the stranger’s.” I said, my voice barely audible. “When Killian’s sister was murdered… he blamed me. He thought I was the one who killed her. He didn’t even give me a chance to explain. He locked me up in a room, and then…
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Chapter 59
I let out a shaky breath, the gords tumbling out now as if they had been waiting years to escape.” He rejected me. Banished me from the pack. While I was leaving the pack, I fell ill, and Greta took me to the hospital. That’s when I discovered that I
was pregnant.
Mary’s eyes filled with tears as she listened, her face a mix of heartbreak and rage. “And that’s when you came here,” she whispered.
I nodded, wiping away my tears. “Yes. Greta helped me leave the pack and sent me here, and you helped me through everything–through the pregnancy, through raising the twins. But I never told you the truth because… because I was afraid. I was afraid of what you’d think. Of what anyone would think.”
Mary pulled me into a tight embrace, her arins wrapping around me as though trying to shield me from the pain. “Adeline, I don’t care about any of that. I care about you. You’ve been carrying this all alone for so long. You didn’t have to.”
I sobbed into her shoulder, the years of pain and fear finally breaking free. “I didn’t want to burden you.”
“You’re not a burden,” she whispered fiercely. “You’re family. You always will be. And no matter what happens, we’ll get through this together.”
As I pulled back from her embrace, I felt lighter, as though a weight had been lifted from my soul. For the first time in years, I had spoken the truth. I had laid it all bare.
But even though I had unburdened myself, I knew this was only the beginning. There was still Sebastian to face. There were still the children. And there was still the storm of the media swirling around me.
But for now, I let myself breathe. For the first time in years, I had shared my story, and in doing so, I had found a small piece of peace.
