Alpha King Chases Abandoned Luna

Chapter 55: The Matriarch's Justice

(Matriarch Evelyn's POV)

Ethan looked up, surprise flickering across his features before he composed himself.

"Grandmother," he greeted, rising. "I wasn't expecting you."

"Clearly." I replied coldly. "If you were, perhaps you would have prepared a better explanation for your actions."

Confusion crossed his face. "My actions?"

"Don't play innocent with me, boy,” I snapped, advancing into the room. “I found Olivia in that basement. I saw what you did to her."

His jaw tightened. "That was pack discipline. She endangered Emma-

"She did nothing of the sort!" My voice cracked like thunder in the confined space. Tve investigated the matter thoroughly. Olivia was at Canis Enterprises that entire day, surrounded by witnesses."

Ethan stared at me, momentarily speechless. "That's impossible. The contact number-"

"Was hacked," I finished for him. "A fact that could have been discovered with even the most basic investigation. But you were too eager to believe the worst of your mate, weren't you?"

His amber eyes-so like my own-narrowed defensively. "Victoria wouldn't lie about something like this."

"Wouldn't she?" I challenged, stepping closer. "Victoria Frost orchestrated that entire incident herself. She manipulated you, just as she's been manipulating you for years."

Ethan's face hardened into stone. "You have no proof of that."

"I don't need proof to know what's in front of my eyes," I retorted. That woman has been systematically destroying your family while you stood by and allowed it."

(Ethan's POV)

My grandmother's accusations felt like physical blows. I struggled to maintain my composure as she

continued her tirade against Victoria.

"Victoria would never harm Emma," I insisted, clinging to this certainty. "She's her mother."

"A mother who uses her child as a pawn, Grandmother countered, her eyes flashing with righteous anger. *Just as she used your feelings for her to turn you against your true mate."

Through the stone walls of the basement in Matriarch Evelyn's Villa, Victoria's enhanced hearing captured every word of our argument. I could almost feel her panic rising as she realized I wasn't immediately coming to her rescue.

"Let me out!" Victoria screamed, her voice muffled by the thick walls and heavy door. "Ethan! Help me!"

The knowledge that Olivia had deliberately chosen this location, knowing Victoria's paralyzing fear of snakes, sent a chill through me. This wasn't the Olivia I knew-the gentle healer who couldn't bear to see anyone suffer.

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"Grandmother," I said, my voice tight with restraint, "I understand you're upset about what happened to Olivia. But imprisoning Victoria isn't the answer"

sn't it?" she challenged "Why should Victoria be spared the very punishment you inflicted on Olivia? Or does your sense of justice only apply to some?"

Her words struck a nerve. I had locked Olivia in that basement without a second thought, convinced of her

quilt. What if I had been wrong?

Victoria's screams grew more desperate. The snakes! Please! Get them away from me!"

The raw terror in her voice tore at me. I needed to get to her, to rescue her from this nightmare.

"Release her," I demanded, moving toward the door. "Now"

(Matriarch Evelyn's POV)

I blocked Ethan's path with surprising agility for my age, my cane raised like a barrier between him and the

door.

"You will do no such thing," I declared firmly. "As the elder of this family and guardian of our traditions, I

invoke my right to ensure justice is served."

Ethan's eyes flashed with frustration, "Grandmother-

"Victoria will remain there for exactly as long as Olivia was imprisoned," Inoveldrama

continued, unmoved by his protest.

"Not a minute less."

I could see the conflict raging behind his eyes-respect for pack tradition warring with his desire to protect Victoria. Finally, his shoulders slumped slightly in reluctant acceptance.

"Fine," he conceded, though his clenched fists betrayed his true feelings. "But if she's harmed="

"She will experience exactly what Olivia experienced," I assured him coldly. "Nothing more, nothing less."

We moved away from the basement door, Ethan's gaze lingering on it as if he could see through to Victoria inside. As we walked, his eyes fell on Olivia, who stood silently nearby, supported by one of my bodyguards.

I watched as he noticed, perhaps for the first time, her pale face and the blood on her fingers where she had clawed at the stone walls during her imprisonment.

"You've forgotten, haven't you?" I said, my voice heavy with disappointment. "You've forgotten how you her as a child, locked in that same basement by your cousin Isabelle."

Ethan's expression changed, shock replacing anger as the memory surfaced. found