Page 231 of Deadly Sweet

“I’m not a mind reader, Corbin. The half of what?”

“What I did to you!” He laughs again, gasping for air. “For years, no matter what I did, you never fucking broke. You never cried, or screamed—nothing. Not unless you were lost in your heat like a whore,” he spits, then he smiles. “My time with you was up. I’d done everything I could think of, all while I ruined your father’s life. I could have killed you, but I didn’t want your suffering to end. So I sold you to someone who would make that happen.” He chuckles. “But not before doing the one thing I know that would destroy you from the inside out.”

My breathing picks up, panic filling me as I try to think of what he could have possibly done that I didn’t already know about. I try not to show the way my body shakes as my gut turns, the anticipation killing me.

“You can’t destroy me, Corbin. You're going to die tonight. Just give up already,” I growl, trying not to let my words break.

“Oh, but I already did,” he laughs again. “I was outside the room, you know. I heard every gut-wrenching sob leave your chest as the nurses told you our baby was dead. It was fucking music to my ears. I’ve never been so hard in my life.”

My body stiffens, and I’m unable to hold back my anger. “You’re a fucking sick bastard!” I spit, vibrating with rage.

His eyes light up seeing that he’s getting a reaction out of me. I hate it but I can’t fucking control myself.

“Knowing you were a wrecked, heartbroken, and defeated mother who lost her son would have been just the right amount of pain to send you off to your next owner with. Knowing you would give up, shut down, lose the will to live, and let yourself die was the ultimate win.”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t turn out like that, now did it?” I shout in his face, pressing the gun to his head, my hand shaking as I do.

“No.” He laughs. “No, it didn’t. But it’s like the gift that keeps on giving.” He continues to fucking laughing every moment he’s not speaking.What the fuck is so funny?

“Wanna know why?” he grins. “Wanna know the big secret?”

“Sure, why not?” I grind out.

“The baby never died.” He tosses his head back, laughing so hard he can’t breathe.

My brain tries to make sense of his words, but before I can untangle that web of nonsense, he keeps going.

“I told the nurse to tell you he died. But in reality, the moment he slid out of that gaping cunt of yours, I had it taken away.”

“No.” I shake my head, refusing to believe it.

“Yes.” He grins. “I had no need for the little bastard. The idea of killing my own blood didn’t sit right with me, so my plan was to put the baby up for adoption.”

This can’t be right. No. No. My baby isn’t alive, he’s dead. I saw him with my own eyes. He was so small, his lips and face so blue. He was dead. No. NO!

My breathing is erratic, my eyes and mind growing hazy as I spiral. Fuck.This isn’t real. None of this is real. He’s lying, Savannah. This is his one last-ditch effort to hurt you before his miserable life is ended.

“While I was waiting for you to come tonight, I did some research to make sure I had every tool at my disposal to destroy you.” He grins. “I know all about the new life. The new pack you found yourself.”

“Don’t speak about my pack!” I scream, my voice cracking as tears spill down my face.

He doesn’t listen. “Sweet little baby girl, too. What a precious little thing.”

“Don’t!” I rasp.Not my baby girl. How fucking dare he even think about her.

“Athena, is it?” he asks, letting out a choked sound, his injuries and loss of blood starting to get to him.

“Don’t you fucking say her name.”

Kill him, Savvy. Just end him, and all his ramblings will stop.

Only... I can’t, my trembling finger is frozen on the trigger. I can’t fucking move.

“Those Alphas of yours had her through a surrogate, right? A pretty little young thing named Ashley.”

“Stop,” I scream.

“Did you know, I’ve met Ashley before?” He grins. “She was a mess. A few months had gone by, and I was looking for the right family to take the baby. That's when I found Ashley outside the agency. One that I owned, by the way.” He winks. “She was distraught, and was going on and on about how she was going to lose everything if they found out, blah, blah, blah. I was out having a smoke, her words intriguing me. So I went over to her and she told me her story. Do you wanna hear it?”

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