Chapter 448
I was relieved to hear that honestly.
“It’s okay,” I told her. “I understand. You don’t have to explain.”
“No, I do,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “I did some really awful things that I shouldn’t have done. All because I thought you were after Ethan… but I was so wrong. I mean… I basically poisoned my own brother-”
“You did what?!” Gavin’s voice cut through her words, and I watched Irene’s face go pale as she looked behind me, now noticing Gavin walking through the doors.
“D… dad… “she said, her voice coming out as nothing more than a whisper.
“Tell me I didn’t just hear what I thought I just heard,” he said through his teeth, his eyes flashing with anger. “Are you telling me the peanut butter incident months ago was because of you?”
I lowered my gaze, not sure what to say to resolve this situation; Gavin was furious, and his anger was rolling off him in waves. Irene was a stammering mess, not expecting that her father was only around the corner and could hear everything she had said. My heart went out to her, but still, she did essentially poison Matt and put his life at risk. Gavin blamed me for it, but then Ethan paid a maid to take the fall and Gavin had exiled her, damning her as a rogue.
That was months ago, so she was most likely dead by now. Not many can survive in rogue territory and live to tell the tale.
“I wasn’t trying to hurt him. I was just—”
“What exactly did you think was going to happen, Irene?” He asked, his tone deepening as he stepped closer to his daughter. “And what was the end goal?”
Irene’s eyes flickered to me and I wished that I could help her, but I wasn’t sure what to say. Irene was in the wrong for doing that to Matt since the beginning and nothing I could say would change that. She knew she was in the wrong as well, which is why her eyes showed no signs of malice, only guilt.
“I thought Judy was after Ethan at the time and I wanted her out of the way,” she said as tears filled her eyes.
“You could have killed your brother,” Gavin nearly growled; I could tell he was trying hard to keep his anger in check. This was his daughter, after all, not a simple wolf or enemy. But the anger he was feeling at that moment was clear to everyone in the radius. “Do you have any idea how stupid that was? All because of what… petty jealousy over someone who wasn’t worth your time in the first place?”
Irene flinched at his harsh words, but she knew he was right.
“It was selfish and tasteless,” Irene admitted, her bottom lip trembling. “I understand that now… I’m so sorry.”
“You nearly let Judy take the fall for something she didn’t do. I almost fired her because of it,” Gavin continued. “And that maid who did take the fall… did you convince her to do it?”
Irene shook her head, looking up at him.
“No…” she breathed. “I’m not sure why she took the fall but I didn’t talk to her at all. I have no idea what she was thinking. I promise…”
I believed her knew it was Ethan who had bribed her. He promised her money and protection but lied After Gavin banished her from the pack and named her a rogue, Ethan cut ties with her completely.He gloated about it for weeks afterward and it made me sick to my stomach.
“I banished her from the pack, Irene. I turned her into a rogue. She’s most likely dead right now. That was an innocent life you destroyed. Matt might not be dead, but that doesn’t mean your actions didn’t have serious consequences.”
He glared at her for a long while as she shrunk in on herself. I wanted to reach out to her and tell her it was going to be okay; part of me wanted to protect her. But I knew I couldn’t… not when it came to this.
“I need you to go to your room,” Gavin finally said, stepping away from her. “I can’t look at you right now.”
She flinched as if he had just struck her in her face. But she didn’t argue. She turned her tear-filed gaze to me.
“I’m so sorry,” she whispered brokenly.
With that, she turned and hurried back up the stairs, leaving Gavin and me alone.