Chapter 282 Repeating Patterns
DAMIEN’S POV
I’d never spoken to my mother the way I was about to.
Even as I walked through the halls of Stone Villa, I felt something heavy sitting inside my chest. The Council notice was in my hand, but it felt heavier than any document I had ever carried.
For years, everyone in this family had acted as though we were untouchable. Now I knew we weren’t.
The moment I entered the sitting room, I found my mother exactly where I expected her to be.
Helen Stone sat elegantly on the sofa with a cup of tea in her hand. She looked calm. She looked comfortable. Looking at her now, nobody would ever guess that she had walked into a hospital room and slapped a woman who had just lost a child.
My wolf growled. The sound rumbled through my mind.
For the first time in a while, I didn’t silence him.
“Damien.” My mother looked up and smiled slightly. “You’re up early.”
I didn’t answer.
Instead, I walked forward and threw the Council notice onto the coffee table between us. The paper landed hard.
Her smile disappeared “What is this?”
I folded my arms across my chest “You tell me.”
Her brows furrowed as she picked up the document and began reading. At first, her expression remained calm. Then it changed. The color drained from her face.
“What nonsense is this?” she asked.
I stared at her “Nonsense?”
She threw the paper onto the table “This Council has no business interfering in family matters.”
The words made something inside me snap.
For months, I’d excused everything and looked away. For months, I had convinced myself that things weren’t as bad as they seemed. Not anymore.
“No.” My voice came out cold. “You don’t get to call this a family matter. The council is above all royal families. They have every fucking right to interfere.”
She blinked.
I could see surprise in her eyes. She wasn’t used to me speaking to her like this. Nobody in this family ever challenged Helen Stone. Nobody except me.
“You assaulted Sophia in a hospital bed.” I said coldly.
My mother’s jaw tightened “She provoked-“
“Don’t.” I cut her off immediately. The force in my voice shocked even me.
I stared directly at her “She had just lost a child.”
My throat tightened. The words felt like glass.
“She was bleeding.” I continued, clenching my fists “She was injured….and you hit her.”
My wolf paced restlessly. Images kept flashing through my mind. I thought of Sophia lying pale in a hospital bed, Sophia bleeding and crying all alone.
Then another memory appeared – My hand around her throat.
My stomach twisted hard. For weeks I’d been forcing myself not to think about it.
Now, I couldn’t stop. I’d choked her. I’d put my hands on her. The realization made me feel sick.
Meanwhile my mother sat there without an ounce of remorse, without guilt.
“I was protecting this family.” She said. The words left her mouth confidently.
I laughed “Protecting us? You call that protection? Hitting a woman hours after she lost her child. You’re a mother yourself. How heartless could you be?”
She stood abruptly. Her eyes flashed with anger.
“That woman was destroying everything.”
I stared at her in disbelief. For a long moment, I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Even after everything, she still believed she was right.
“You’re fucking heartless” I said.
My mother’s eyes widened “What?”
“You heard me.” I said. “You’re heartless.”
My wolf felt strangely satisfied.
Nobody had ever spoken to Helen Stone this way. Nobody ever dared yet I couldn’t stop.
“Because of you, Sophia was beaten in a hospital bed.” I pointed toward the Council notice. “Because of you, the Council is investigating us.”
For once, my mother didn’t have an answer. For once, she looked uncomfortable. Still, she refused to apologize. That told me everything.
I looked at her for several seconds, then I turned and walked away.
I was done. Completely done.
–
An hour later, Declan arrived.
He entered my office looking nervous. The bruises Zade had given him were still visible. His face remained swollen. His nose looked crooked.
Part of me almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
“Sit.” I ordered.
Declan obeyed immediately. That alone told me how serious the situation had become.
Normally he would’ve complained. Today he stayed quiet.
I placed another copy of the Council notice in front of him. His face went pale.
“Damien…” he said.
I leaned back “No. I’ve listened to excuses long enough.”
Declan swallowed. I could see fear growing in his eyes.
Good.
Maybe fear would finally teach him what responsibility couldn’t.
“You will present yourself to the Council representative.” I said.
His eyes widened “What?”
“You heard me.”
His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again.
“You can’t be serious.” He muttered.
I stared at him “I’ve never been more serious.”
Declan looked genuinely panicked now “The Council could sanction me. They could remove me from pack affairs.”
“Exactly”
“They could-“
“Yes.”
I interrupted him.
Every answer of mine came calmly. That frightened him more than anger would have.
Finally he lowered his head “Damien…”
His voice sounded weak.
I looked at my younger brother. For the first time, I didn’t see family. I saw consequences.
“If you refuse,” I said quietly, “I will remove you from every Stone Group board position.”
Declan froze.
I continued “I’ll cut off your company accounts. I’ll remove every privilege attached to our family name.”
The room became silent.
Declan stared at me in awe. His face turned white.
For the first time in his life, he understood I wasn’t bluffing.
I wasn’t angry. I was finished.
He swallowed “I understand.”
“Good.”
Then I dismissed him.
After he left, I sat alone in my office for a very long time. The house felt quieter than usual.
The silence gave me too much time to think and thinking was becoming dangerous. Because every memory led back to Sophia.
It was always Sophia.
I opened the drawer and pulled out the folder Simon had compiled. The files contained papers on Tiffany Stewart, her family, her father, the shell company, the missing marriage certificate and the article.
It had everything.
I spread the documents across my desk, then I started reading. The deeper I looked, the worse I felt.
For the first time, I wasn’t looking for reasons to defend Tiffany. I was looking for the truth and the truth wasn’t kind.
The shell company connected back to Stewart interests. The missing certificate connected back to Stewart interests. The article connected back to Stewart interests.
The pattern was impossible to ignore.
My wolf growled, not at Sophia but at me. I had allowed this.
I closed my eyes and another memory surfaced. It was one I hated.
My mind went back to the cocktail party fire. I remembered carrying Tiffany outside. I remembered holding her, checking her injuries and making sure she was safe.
Then I remembered Sophia running, being terrified while a man chased her with a machete.
I opened my eyes.
My chest hurt. The guilt felt too much. It felt like something crushing my ribs.
Back then I told myself I made the right choice. Tonight I couldn’t convince myself anymore.
Eventually, I picked up my phone. My thumb hovered over Sophia’s contact – the same contact I had stared at countless times lately.
Her photo appeared. Sophia was laughing in the picture with her head tilted slightly.
My fingers moved to type something, maybe an apology.
How did you apologize for years of neglect? How did you apologize for not protecting your own Luna?
I didn’t know…and maybe that was the problem.
Still, I wrote messages only to delete them.
At some point I realized something, the apology wasn’t difficult because I couldn’t find the words. It was difficult because words weren’t enough anymore. Not after everything.