After Severance,Alpha Fell in Love With Ex-Luna

98: The Sterling Family Legacy

Chapter 98: The Sterling Family Legacy

(Elena Blackwood’s POV)

I was silent for a moment, feeling the weight of exhaustion pressing down on my shoulders. The thought of another confrontation made my chest tighten, but I couldn’t avoid Nathan forever.

“Lead the way.” I said finally, resignation hanging in the air like a heavy fog.

Server Jake nodded respectfully and gestured toward the staircase. I followed him through the bustling restaurant, past tables filled with pack members enjoying their meals, oblivious to the drama unfolding

around them.

Server Michael met us at the base of the stairs and led me to the second floor. The dining area here was quieter, more intimate, with large windows overlooking the street below.

Nathan Sterling sat by one of those windows, his amber eyes fixed on me the moment I appeared. His usually perfect appearance seemed slightly disheveled, as if he hadn’t slept well.

After Server Michael left us alone, Nathan gestured to the chair across from him with a smile that didn’t quite

reach his eyes.

“Please, sit. You should try the restaurant’s moonlight silver tea. It’s their specialty.”

I remained standing, keeping a careful distance between us. I won’t be drinking anything, thank you.”

Nathan’s smile faltered slightly, but he nodded in understanding. “I know you’re upset with me.a. And your

have every right to be.”

His voice carried genuine remorse, but I had learned not to trust appearances anymore. Too many people had worn masks of sincerity while plotting against me..

“I want to apologize,” he continued, his hands clasped tightly on the table. “For my actions, for the pain! caused you and your mother. I know words can’t undo what’s been done, but-”

“It’s all in the past, I interrupted, my voice calm despite the turmoil inside me. The words felt hollow, because forgiveness was something I couldn’t offer. Not yet. Maybe not ever.

Nathan studied my face, searching for something I wasn’t willing to give him. After a long moment, he leaned

back in his chair.

“Let me tell you a story,” he said quietly. “About two close friends, A and B, who were like brothers despite coming from different worlds.”

I remained silent, curious despite myself about where this was leading.

“A came from a wealthy, powerful pack,” Nathan continued, his gaze distant. “B came from a modest family, but A treated him as an equal. They shared everything–their dreams, their fears, their hopes for the future.”

His voice grew softer, tinged with old pain. “B had a sister, a beautiful young woman who fell deeply in love with A. And A, despite the social differences between their families, reciprocated her feelings completely.”

Nathan paused, his fingers tracing patterns on the table’s surface. “A promised to mate with her. He swore

Chapter 98 The Sterlag E

that their love was stronger than any social barriers. For five years, they were inseparable. She believed in him completely.”

The story felt familiar somehow, though I couldn’t place why. I found myself leaning forward slightly, drawn in despite my reservations.

“After five years together, the sister became pregnant,” Nathan’s voice hardened. “A told her he would return to the Northern Territory to arrange their mating ceremony. She waited, trusting in his promise.”

His amber eyes met mine, and I saw decades of accumulated bitterness there. “But A never returned. He simply disappeared, abandoning both his promise and the woman carrying his child.”

My breath caught. The pain in Nathan’s voice was too raw, too personal to be just a story.

“B couldn’t believe his friend would betray them so completely,” Nathan continued. “He took his pregnant sister to the Northern Territory to find A, to demand an explanation.”

Nathan’s hands clenched into fists. “They were turned away at the gates. A’s father insulted them, called them fortune hunters trying to trap his son with a bastard child.”

The cruelty of it made my stomach turn. I could imagine the humiliation, the desperate hope turning to crushing despair.

“B tried everything to contact A, Nathan’s voice grew bitter. “He wanted to understand, to hear A’s reasons directly. But A refused to see them.”

They had nothing, no one to turn to. The sister gave birth in poverty, raising the child in circumstances no Blackwood heir should

My heart stopped. “Blackwood?”

erritory.

A held a grand mating ceremony in the North The most lavish celebration the territory had seen

horrifying clarity. This wasn’t just

mating.” Nathan continued relentlessly. “The betrayal, the poverty, the shame – It all consumed

indifference and said, ‘I need. mate who can support my pack, not one who needs our support. Just like

I could see the scene playing out – a desperate man pleading for his sister’s

hollow. “The friendship had always been an illusion. A had never seen them as equals. To him, they were just amusing diversions from

slightly as he reached for his water glass. “A valued interests over friendship, power over love. B and

sister were fortunate to meet a benefactor who helped them establish

90. The

Never even inquired

humor. “A died young, perhaps as a form of retribution. But

stunned silence, processing everything he’d told me. The

staggering.

long moment, I found my voice. “This story… A represents someone from

slowly. “A was Elder Augustus

world tilted.

Sterling.” Nathan confirmed. The sister was my great–grandmother Eleanor Sterling. My mother Lillian

like a physical blow. Nathan’s mother could have been the Blackwood

she grew up as an outcast, bearing

father’s abandonment.

all of this?” I asked, my voice

“Why are you

need you to understand why I did what I did. And because I

the deception

I won’t lie about that. I saw an opportunity to hurt the Blackwood family

even though I had suspected

your mother showed me kindness I didn Patricia treated me like

slightly. “I don’t want to deceive you and your mother any longer. I can’t bear the

it.”

hand away from where it had been resting on the table, suddenly aware of how close we’d been sitting. “You still deceived us, Nathan. The damage

my words. The

erase what he’d done.

slowly, feeling older than my years. “Thank you for your past assistance, despite the underlying manipulation. And

Nathan’s voice stopped me at the edge of the dining

called out, his chair scraping against the floor

to see the regret

heard his footsteps following me into the Restaurant Corridor, but then his

walls, sharp and

muttered, clearly torn

and I heard him reluctantly answer. “What

te ba. The Steding

doors opened just as I reached them, and I stepped inside without

(Sophia Rivers‘ POV)

I had been

mask my desperation. “I was beginning to think you wouldn’t

without returning my smile, his amber eyes cold. “What do you want,

his tone, but I pressed on. “Margaret Blackwood suspended me from my job. The hospital wants to transfer me away from Marcus. When

pinned me against the wall.

face inches from mine. 1 specifically told you not to act without my

breathe, clawing at his hands.

continued, his grip tightening.

was threatened,” I gasped, my vision starting to blur. “Patricia discovered our alliance. She was going to

draw a shaky breath. His eyes searched my face,

phone,” I continued desperately. “She knew about o had

@gement. I

frowned, his anger warring with pragmatism. I could

“If I go down, you go down with me. No one else can know about our

turned cold and calculating. “Actually, Sophia, Marcus has been having me followed.

blood turned to