Chapter 33
I felt like I was going to be sick. My real father… was Alpha Vincenzio. Debbie’s father. The same man who raised the girl who ruined my life.
The realization hit me like a slap to the face.
I could barely process the words, barely breathe as the weight of them crushed me.
I looked at my mother, my voice barely above a whisper.
“You’re lying. Debbie is his daughter, not me.”
She sighed, shaking her head. “I’m not, Aurora. I wish I was. Debbie isn’t his real child.”
I let out a sharp, humorless laugh. “No. This is insane. This is—this is some kind of sick joke, right?”
But deep down, I already knew the truth. It made sense now. Debbie’s hatred. The way she always acted like I had stolen something from her. Because I had.
I was the true heir.
Not her.
I swallowed hard, forcing the words past the lump in my throat.
“But Vincenzio didn’t want you to marry Tyler.” My mother sighed again. “No, he didn’t.”
I frowned, my pulse pounding. “Then who did he want me to marry?”
She hesitated. “He wanted you to be with someone strong. Someone worthy. Someone who could protect you from… all of this.”
My stomach twisted. Killian.
And then, suddenly, another horrifying thought slammed into my mind. I stiffened. “Does Alex know?” My voice barely came out.
My mother blinked, confused. “Know what?”
I swallowed hard, my throat dry.
“That he slept with his stepsister?”
The second the words left my mouth, my mother’s entire body went rigid.
Her eyes widened in horror, her hands gripping the fabric of her dress so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
“What did you just say?” she whispered.
I threw my hands in the air, frustration boiling over.
“You heard me, Mother.” My voice cracked from the sheer disbelief. “Does Alex know that he slept with his stepsister? His half-sibling?”
My mother’s face drained of all color.
For a moment, she just sat there, staring at me like I had just shattered her entire reality. “No…” she finally breathed. “No, that’s not possible.”
I let out a humorless laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, it’s possible, alright. You heard that Debbie is pregnant from his child, your grandchild.”
Her lips trembled. “Aurora… oh, dear Goddess.”
I narrowed my eyes. “So he doesn’t know?”
She swallowed hard. “No. But—”
I cut her off.
“But what?” I snapped, my heart racing. “You knew. You knew the whole time, didn’t you? And you just let it happen?”
She shook her head violently. “No! You don’t understand!”
I clenched my fists. “Then make me understand!”
She took a deep, shaky breath, her eyes wild with something I couldn’t place—panic? Desperation?
And then, finally, she said it. “Debbie is not his half-sister, Aurora. She’s not even Vincenzio’s real daughter.”
The world stopped. I blinked. “What?”
“Debbie is not Vincensio’s biological child.”
My breath caught in my throat. “What the hell are you saying?” I whispered.
She exhaled, her expression pained. “Debbie’s mother brought her into the marriage. She was already born when Vincenzio took them in.”
I felt like the ground had been ripped out from under me. All this time. All this time, Debbie thought she was his rightful heir. Thought she was the daughter of the great Alpha Vincensio.
But she wasn’t. I was. My heart pounded violently against my ribs. “Does she know?”
My mother hesitated. “I… don’t think so.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, my chest tightening.
“Oh, my Goddess.” I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “This is worse than I thought.”
Because if Debbie didn’t know—
Then that meant she hated me for nothing.
She had been fighting me, trying to destroy me, over something that was never hers to begin with.
