133 Chapter 133 Betrayed Heart
“And you didn’t even tell me,” Seraphina continued, disbelief written across every line of her face. “She’s my daughter. Our daughter. And you took her to see her kidnapper without saying a word?” 1
“Oh, sweetheart, come here. Come to Seraphina. What’s wrong?”
“Dorian,” I breathed his name like a curse, tasting blood and ash on my tongue. “I’ll make you suffer for every second of pain you caused her.”
But Elena was too young to understand the difference between the mother who’d raised her and the mother who’d abandoned her. Too innocent to grasp how Roxanne had ripped her away from Seraphina’s arms.
Seraphina was gone, and I stood there holding her sobbing daughter, completely alone with the weight of my choices crushing me.
“Elena,” I said, my voice cutting through their reunion like steel. “Go wait outside. Your mother and I need to talk.”
Every memory of her torment under Dorian’s hands blazed through my mind like wildfire. Each bruise he’d left on her skin, every cruel word he’d whispered, every moment she’d believed death was coming for her. The images carved themselves deeper into my soul with each heartbeat.
Julian’s POV
“Julian,” she said. Her voice was flat, sharp, deadly calm.
Then I crouched beside Elena, calling her name softly.
My hands trembled slightly as I dressed, pulling on clothes with mechanical precision. Dorian remained out there, a threat that needed ending. Today
“You’ll see her again later,” I said, stepping fully into the room. “But you need to go outside now.”
“Save your lies,” I cut her off sharply. “You missed her so much you were
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133 Chapter 133 Betrayed Heart
willing to let Dorian attack us rather than reveal his location. Don’t insult my intelligence. If you truly missed her, you wouldn’t be using her as a
bargaining chip.”
Elena’s laughter rang through the room, a sound I hadn’t heard from her in days.
I didn’t have to wait.
I stared down at Seraphina’s sleeping form, hoping her peaceful face might soothe the savage beast clawing at my insides. Instead, the sight only fed my
rage.
I leaned closer, letting my rage show. “I brought her because you demanded it. You see Elena, you tell me where Dorian is hiding. That’s the only reason. This is the first and last time you’ll ever see her.”
“Mommy, I missed you so much! Where did you go? Are you hurt?”
Roxanne’s sweet facade crumbled instantly. The fake tears vanished, replaced by cold calculation.
“I don’t want your explanations,” she choked out. “I don’t want to hear your justifications, Julian. Not now.”
I nodded once. “Holden will take your statement.”
“Fine,” she hissed. “I’ll tell you everything.”
Elena continued whimpering in my arms. When she spotted Seraphina, she squirmed away from me.
I didn’t wait for her response. I turned and walked out, leaving her alone in her sterile prison.
Elena was already falling apart. The moment she saw me, another tantrum exploded from her tiny frame.
I slipped from our bed without disturbing the sheets Seraphina had endured hell itself and deserved this rest. But I couldn’t he still while her tormRETIUS
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walked free.
Seraphina stood in the center of our living room, still as carved stone. She wasn’t crying or shouting. She was simply there, radiating an icy fury I’d never felt from her before.
I held her tighter and headed home, guilt eating me alive. This would destroy Seraphina even more.
“No!” Elena screamed, her voice hoarse from crying. “I don’t like you! You’re mean! I only want my Mommy!”
But as we walked toward the door, Elena’s head resting trustingly on my shoulder, dread crashed over me like a tidal wave.
She didn’t storm toward our bedroom. She didn’t hesitate. The front door opened and slammed shut with finality.
Consciousness hit me like lightning splitting through darkness. My blood burned with fury so intense it nearly consumed me whole.
“Elena, that’s enough,” I commanded, reaching for Seraphina desperately. I ran my fingers through Theo’s hair, painting on my most convincing smile. Seraphina would feel betrayed when she discovered what I’d done. She’d wake to find I’d taken Elena back to the woman who’d stolen her away. I understood this, accepted it. But Roxanne remained our only path to Dorian.
“No! I want my Mommy! Roxanne is my Mommy!” she wailed, her voice raw with anguish.
I’d rather face Seraphina’s anger than lose her to Dorian’s violence
“I genuinely missed her,” Roxanne insisted, though her voice carried no real emotion. “I can’t survive without my daughter”
By the time I reached our front door, my shirt was soaked with Elena’s tears and exhaustion weighed on me like lead. I pushed the door open, prepared for more crying and the impossible task of explaining myself to Seraphina
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“How could you?” she asked, her voice shaking with barely controlled rage.
“How could you take her back to that woman? To Roxanne? After everything she did to us, everything she put us through?”
Elena continued crying softly behind me.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. She’d won this battle, but she understood the war
was over.
Elena tore herself from my grip and burst through the doorway like a missile seeking its target.
“That was heartless, Julian,” she snapped, struggling to sit upright. “Couldn’t you let us have one moment?”
“Come with me, sweetheart,” I said gently. “We need to go somewhere together.”
“Seraphina, please listen,” I pleaded, trying to move closer. “I had no choice! It was the only way to get Dorian’s location from her. It was for our protection, Seraphina! I did it for all of us!”
Her eyes locked onto mine, blazing with betrayal.
I ignored Roxanne completely. “Outside. Now.”
Theo’s head snapped up, worry creasing his young features. “Where?”
Elena’s sobs filled the air as she clung tighter to Roxanne. Roxanne simply stroked her hair, shooting me a triumphant look that said she’d already won “I want Mommy! I hate you! I hate you, Julian! Why did you take me away?” The pack hospital loomed before us, sterile and unwelcoming. My heart hammered against my ribs as we approached Roxanne’s room
Elena reluctantly pulled away, tears streaming down her cheeks. Once she d gone, I slammed the door with enough force to rattle the frame
Seraphina’s expression softened instantly, her maternal instincts overriding her anger. She moved toward us, reaching out with gentle hands
133 Chapter 133 Betrayed Heart
I moved to the foot of her bed, crossing my arms. “Drop the act, Roxanne. You know exactly why I brought her.”
I scooped her up immediately. She screamed and kicked with surprising strength, her fists pounding against my chest. I held her tight, ignoring the stares from passing hospital staff.
She raised her hand, stopping me cold. Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she fought for control.
“Mommy!”
I lingered in the threshold, watching their reunion with ice forming in my
stomach.
The door stood slightly ajar. I couldn’t stop what happened next.
I forced my smile wider, brighter. “Elena seems sad today. I want to do something special to cheer her up.”
Cold fury surged through my veins. This was wrong on every level. Seraphina deserved those embraces, that title. Seraphina, who’d given birth to Elena, who’d die protecting her. Seraphina, who loved her with every fiber of her being.
The rejection hit Seraphina like a physical blow. Through our bond, I felt her heartbreak slam into me, so sharp and deep it stole my breath.
“Don’t touch me,” Seraphina whispered, stepping back like I’d burned her Relief flooded through me when Theo simply nodded without jealousy or suspicion. I winked at him before lifting Elena into my arms
I needed to hold her, to explain that Elena was confused and hurting, that Seraphina was her real mother.
Roxanne offered her most pitiful smile, stroking Elena’s hair with practiced tenderness. The picture of devoted motherhood, perfectly crafted and completely false.
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She knew. She knew everything.
The sounds of laughter drew me from our room toward the main living area. I found my parents sprawled on the carpet with Theo and Elena, constructing an elaborate fortress from building blocks.
She looked at Elena one final time, devastation written in every line of her face, then turned and walked away.
Roxanne lifted her arms despite her obvious weakness. “Elena! My precious girl!” She crushed Elena against her chest, covering her face with theatrical
kisses.
But Elena recoiled violently, scrambling behind my legs and glaring at Seraphina with surprising venom.
“Shh, sweetheart. We’re going home now,” I murmured.
She glanced up, toy clutched against her chest. Her eyes sparkled with momentary joy, but I recognized the shadows lurking beneath. She missed Roxanne desperately, and part of her believed her mother had simply vanished.
Shock painted Elena’s features. Her lips quivered dangerously. “No, Daddy! 1 don’t want to leave Mommy! I missed her too much!”
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