Page 17 of Knot Heirs: Serenity's Reign

"Indeed." Victor paused the footage. "What you might not know is that Darius Castellano has been systematically eliminating every potential rival to his family's power for the past five years. Your father was merely the latest."

The room was spinning, but Serenity remained outwardly composed. Behind her calm façade, her mind raced through every moment, every touch, every whispered promise between her and Darius over the past three months. Their "chance" meeting at the gallery opening. The way his eyes had followed her. The intensity of his pursuit.

He knew. He fucking knew who I was the entire time.

Of course he knew. It wasn’t like she was truly hiding it from him, but to play her along to the extent of doing this…

Betraying her…for real…

The room felt suddenly airless. Every secret conversation, every night in his bed, every vulnerability she'd shown him—it had all been calculated. He'd been sleeping with her while plotting to kill her father. Or worse, he'd sought her out after murdering him, using her for... what? Information? Access to Vale holdings she hadn't even known she possessed?

"I don't understand." She forced confusion into her voice, buying time to process. "Why show me this?"

Victor resumed the footage. Darius knelt beside Marcus, who was somehow still alive. Her father's lips moved, though the audio was absent. Whatever he said made Darius stiffen visibly before he leaned closer. The conversation lasted less than thirty seconds before Marcus Vale's body went slack. Darius stood, gave curt orders to his men, and they methodically began cleaning the scene.

"Because, Ms. Vale," Victor said, his voice slicing through her thoughts, "knowledge is survival. Darius Castellano will be one of the primary contenders for your hand and the Vale fortune. And there's something very interesting about this footage that my analysts only noticed days later."

The screen zoomed in on Marcus Vale's dying moments, the resolution enhancing to show his face clearly. His lips formed words that made Serenity's heart stutter.

"Protect my daughter."

"Your father knew he was dying," Victor said softly. "His last words weren't a plea for his life. They were about you."

Serenity felt something crack inside her chest—something she'd walled off years ago. The father who had abandoned her had used his final breath to speak of her. And he'd said it to the man who would become her lover. The man who had murdered him.

"Did Castellano know who I was when he killed my father?" she asked, proud that her voice didn't waver.

"That," Victor said, turning off the screen, "is the million-dollar question. Or rather, the billion-dollar question."

Serenity's mind recategorized everything she knew about Darius. His unexpected appearance at places she frequented. His inexplicable interest in her consulting work. The way he'd seemed to know things about her she'd never mentioned. The timing of their relationship—beginning just weeks after her father's death.

He played me. Used me. And I let him.

"The Castellanos and the Vales have been enemies for generations," Victor continued. "Vincent Castellano, Darius's father, would give his right arm to control what your father built. Having his son claim Marcus Vale's daughter and heir would be the ultimate victory."

The guards waited patiently by the door as Serenity processed this betrayal. Her inner Omega keened with hurt, but she ruthlessly silenced it. This wasn't about designation or biology. This was business. This was survival.

"So Darius will be competing for me tonight," she said, more statement than question.

"Oh yes," Victor confirmed. "The King himself will certainly be among your suitors. Whether he intends to claim you or kill you..." He spread his hands wide. "That remains to be seen."

Serenity wiped her face clean of emotion, a technique she'd mastered through countless business negotiations where men underestimated her solely for being an Omega. That mask would serve her now as it had then. She straightened her shoulders, feeling each vertebrae align as she reclaimed her composure.

"I need my phone," she said, her voice steady despite the chaos churning inside her.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Planning to call for help? I'm afraid?—"

"I need to check my calendar." Her golden eyes, flecked with her mother's red, held his. "If I'm to be auctioned off like a prized mare tonight, I should at least know what appointments I'm missing."

A hint of amusement flickered across Victor's face. "You are remarkably composed for someone who just learned her secret lover ordered her father's execution."

"Former secret lover," Serenity corrected. "And I've had practice with disappointment." She extended her hand. "My phone."

One of the suited men stepped forward with her purse, retrieved from God knows where. Serenity took it, fingers trembling slightly as she rifled through its contents. Her perfume atomizer—actually pepper spray—was still there. So was the lipstick that concealed a small switchblade. These idiots hadn't even checked her belongings properly.

"You mentioned my mother," she said, buying time as she scrolled through her phone, memorizing the names of every person in the room from Victor's earlier introductions. "You called her 'the disgraced Omega.' What exactly happened to her?"

Victor leaned back against his desk. "Elise was from one of the oldest Alpha families in the country. But she was born an Omega—a disappointment to her traditional parents. Theyarranged a marriage for her with an elderly Alpha from another powerful family. A political union."

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