Chapter 30 #2
It looked like a makeshift photography darkroom—chemical baths on shelves, red lights dripping shadows across the walls, photographs strung up like a grotesque gallery.
Pictures of Leila. Dozens of them. Some I recognized from years ago.
Some from before I’d even met her again. My pulse thundered in my ears.
And then I saw the table.
The pictures there were worse. Leila again—but with Victor’s face inserted beside her.
Holding her hand. Kissing her. Laughing with her.
And then…the one that made my vision go white.
A naked body with Leila’s face crudely photoshopped onto it—Victor posed beside her, his cock in hand, cum smeared across her skin.
The door creaked behind me, footsteps cutting through the thump of the music. And then came Victor’s startled voice.
“Luca, what the hell are you—”
I didn’t let him finish. My fist smashed into his jaw, the crack of bone almost satisfying. Almost.
Victor staggered, his eyes flashing with anger as he shoved his jaw back into place. “How dare you walk into my home and harass me?”
I dropped the nude photographs at his feet. “What is this?” My voice was ice.
His gaze lowered, and when he saw the photos, he smirked. “Guilty pleasure. Hobby. Call it whatever you want.”
My fist connected with his jaw again—harder. “You son of a bitch,” I roared. “That’s my Mate.”
He laughed. Actually laughed. “Is that supposed to mean something? Do you know how many men must have fucked your ‘Mate’ before you met her?”
None.
Leila had been a virgin when I met her, and she’d only ever been with me. But that wasn’t the point.
I hauled him up by the chest, slamming him against the wall in the hallway.
“Five years,” I snarled. “Five fucking years you let me believe she betrayed me.”
Victor didn’t so much as shrug. And his gross nonchalance was pissing the hell out of me.
“You should be thanking me, brother,” he said. “She was making you weak.”
“Weak?” I let out a humorless laugh. “You wouldn’t know real strength if it stared you in the face. You framed her—fabricated evidence, stole money, and dumped the blame on her so I’d cut her loose.” My voice dropped to a growl. “And that photo? Another one of your cheap tricks, wasn’t it?”
“Photoshop is a wonderful thing,” he wheezed. “Amazing what you can create when you have the right skills.”
My temper detonated. I released his throat only to slam my fist into his stomach, doubling him over.
“Why?” I roared. “If you claim to care about her so much, why make her suffer? Why put her through hell?”
Victor straightened slowly, wiping blood from his mouth. When he looked up, his eyes were blazing with years of pent-up hatred.
“Because watching you suffer was so much better than being with her,” he spat. “I loved her first, Luca. I met her first. But what did you do? You stepped in and took her like you took everything else in my life.”
“I didn’t take anything from you!”
“Yes, you did!” Victor’s voice cracked with emotion. “That Alpha title? It’s supposed to be mine. I’m older! The CEO position? Supposed to be mine! I wanted Father to look at me with admiration, like I was his son, not a disappointment. But who got all that? You!”
He laughed bitterly. “At least our mother abandoned both of us, but I’m sure if she was to choose between us, she would choose you too.
Everybody chooses you, Luca. And what happens to me?
You all make me feel so small. Ignore me.
But then I thought to use that to my advantage,” he continued, his voice gaining strength.
“While you were so busy ignoring me, I was working in the background, doing things you’d never suspect me of.
Building an empire you didn’t even know existed. ”
I stared at him, seeing him clearly for the first time. Not just my jealous brother, but a man consumed by envy and hatred. A man who’d spent years orchestrating my downfall, who would tear anyone down just to see me fail.
“You robbed me of five years with her,” I said quietly, my voice more dangerous than any shout. “Five years of memories, of love, of—”
“And I’d do it again,” Victor cut in. “Because every day you suffered without her was a day I won. Every night you lay awake thinking about what you’d lost—that was my victory.”
My hands curled into fists. “You destroyed an innocent woman’s life out of spite.”
“Innocent?” Victor scoffed. “She chose you over me. That made her guilty enough.”
“You’re sick, Victor,” I said. “Pathetic. Sick.” I let each word drip with venom, watching the smugness drain from his face until it went taut with anger.
His lips curled into a humorless smile. “Maybe I am. But I’m still the one who outsmarted you for five years. Guess that makes you something worse, Mr. CEO.”
I moved faster than he could react, my hand wrapping around his throat again. This time, I lifted him clean off his feet.
“Listen carefully, because I’m only going to say this once,” I growled, stepping in so close he could feel the heat of my breath.
“You stay the hell away from Leila. If I see you anywhere near what’s mine again—if I even hear your name breathed in the same sentence as hers—I won’t just end you, Victor.
I’ll erase you. Piece by piece, until there’s nothing left for the world to remember. ”
I released him, letting him crumple to the floor. One last glance at that twisted shrine, then I turned for the door.
“And Victor?” I paused, meeting his eyes. “That empire you built in the shadows? I’ll dismantle it—brick by brick. Starting tomorrow.”
I left him there, choking on the ruins of his own obsession, and walked out.
The truth was finally out. All of it.
Now I had to make sure Leila knew just how sorry I was—and just how much I planned to spend the rest of my life making it up to her.