Chapter 317: His Sacrifice
Emma’s trembling hand slowly withdrew from the broken seal. She stared at the envelope for a moment before pushing it slightly away from herself. She couldn’t bring herself to open it. Not yet.
Her eyes lifted to Ashley. "I don’t want to read it."
Her voice was barely a whisper. "I want you to tell me."
Ashley nodded slowly. "You deserve that much."
He leaned back in his chair, but his eyes remained on the gardens outside the window. For several long moments, he said nothing. His fingers came together in front of him, then slowly separated again as he searched for the right place to begin.
Finally, he looked back at her.
"The day Brandon disappeared, he wasn’t running away from you."
Emma held her breath.
"He was walking into a trap."
Her brows drew together. "A trap?"
Ashley nodded. "For months before that day, King Eldric had been secretly investigating Samuel. The King discovered that Samuel with the help of Alpha Julian had built a network of spies throughout the kingdom. They weren’t only inside government offices. They had infiltrated noble families, the military, the palace, and even the royal guards."
Emma stared at him, trying to take in everything he was saying.
"No one knew who could be trusted anymore," Ashley continued. "The King couldn’t simply arrest Samuel. If he moved against him without knowing who was involved, it could have started a civil war. So instead, they decided to uncover everyone working with him."
Emma’s fingers tightened against her sleeve. "What did that have to do with Brandon’s disappearance?"
Ashley looked directly into her eyes.
"Everything."
He paused before continuing. "Brandon was the only person Samuel truly feared. If Brandon stayed beside you and continued ruling openly, Samuel would eventually make a move against him. And when he did..." Ashley swallowed hard. "He wouldn’t have stopped with Brandon. He would have come after anyone in his way including you and your family."
The color drained from Emma’s face.
"No."
Ashley slowly nodded.
"King Eldric believed the only way to protect your family and the kingdom was to make Brandon disappear."
She blinked, her eyes fixed on her father. "What do you mean... disappear?"
"They needed Samuel to believe Brandon was gone. Completely gone. So the plan was put into motion."
Emma’s lips parted, but for a moment, no words came out.
"The attack everyone witnessed..." he continued carefully. "That part was real. Brandon was in danger, and Samuel’s people were already closing in. But it wasn’t the end."
He closed his eyes briefly before looking back at her. "Brandon survived."
Emma’s hands flew to her mouth.
"The men who took him..." Her voice trembled. "They were Samuel’s?"
"Samuel managed to find out about King Eldric’s plans several times. That was why we kept the secret between the four of us: the King, Nelson, Brandon, and me."
Emma stared at him. "You... you mean Nelson was working with you?"
"Yes. From the beginning." Ashley’s fingers tightened around his glass. "Nelson was the one who uncovered the bigger threat. Once he showed us how far Samuel’s network had spread, Brandon finally understood how serious the situation was. That was when he started considering the King’s plan."
"You mean Samuel’s men attacked him on his way to stop them?"
"Yes, but..." Ashley paused, his expression tightening. "That attack was part of the plan too."
Ashley slowly shook his head. "Yes. They were Samuel’s warriors. They reached Brandon before King Eldric’s most trusted warriors could get to him and secretly moved him somewhere no one would think to look. Fortunately, one of the men was an old schoolmate of Brandon’s, someone he had helped winters ago. When he realized who he was supposed to kill, he turned against Samuel and helped Brandon. He gave his testimony and provided information that helped expose Samuel’s involvement."
She stared at him for a moment. "You know what that means, don’t you? He’ll end up in the dungeon for attempted murder."
He nodded slowly. "He knew that."
Emma’s brows pulled together. "And he still helped Brandon?"
"He did." Ashley lowered his gaze to his hands. "He knew what the consequences would be, but he chose to help anyway."
She stared at him, trying to understand.
"They spread the story that Brandon had died and abandoned everything. Samuel believed it, and so did everyone else."
Tears slipped down Emma’s cheeks.
"So..." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "He let me believe it too."
Ashley lowered his head. "Yes."
"Why?" Her voice broke as she wiped at her face. "Why didn’t he send me a message? One letter. One call. Anything."
He looked at her, his expression heavy with regret. "Because Samuel had eyes everywhere. Every message was monitored, and every person known to be close to Brandon was watched. If Brandon had contacted you, even once, there was a chance they would have traced it back to him."
Emma’s breathing grew uneven.
"And the first place they would have searched..." Ashley paused, his voice dropping. "Would have been Moon Estate."
Emma’s knees weakened beneath her. She slowly lowered herself back into the chair, gripping the edge of the table as she tried to steady herself.
Her mind raced through every lonely moonfall, every unanswered call, every tear she had shed, and every moonfall she had convinced herself that Brandon no longer loved her.
None of it had been true.
Ashley watched her for a moment before continuing quietly.
"Brandon argued with the King," Ashley said quietly. "He refused the plan."
Emma’s eyes lifted to him. "He did?"
Ashley gave her a faint, sad smile. "He refused three times. He told King Eldric he would rather die than let you believe he had abandoned you."
She covered her mouth again, and her eyes filled with fresh tears.
"But King Eldric asked him one question."
He turned his gaze toward the window, his expression tightening as he remembered the conversation.
"He asked him, ’If sacrificing his own happiness was the only way to protect his family and bring lasting peace to the kingdom, would he be willing to do it?’"
Silence filled the chamber.
Emma’s tears spilled over as she stared at her father.
Ashley closed his eyes briefly. "Brandon didn’t hesitate."
He looked back at her.
"He simply said, ’Yes.’"
The single word broke whatever control Emma had left. A sob escaped her as she bent forward and buried her face in her trembling hands.
Ashley stayed where he was and let her cry. There was nothing he could say that would take away what she had just learned, and no apology could erase the winters she had spent believing the man she loved had chosen to leave her.
After several minutes, she slowly lifted her head. Her cheeks were wet, and her breathing was still unsteady as she looked at her father.
"So all this time..." she whispered. "He was carrying all of this alone."
He nodded slowly. "Every day. He knew you wished he would come home to you. He knew you believed he had abandoned you. He knew Bryan would wonder if his father was angry with him, and he knew Charlotte would grow up never understanding why her father was gone."
She closed her eyes as another tear slipped down her cheek. "And he accepted all of it."
"He did," Ashley said quietly. "Because he believed your lives were worth more than his happiness."
The chamber fell silent again. Outside, the laughter of Bryan and Charlotte drifted through the open window. Emma turned toward the sound and listened for a moment, her fingers slowly curling against her palm.
Then another memory surfaced.
Brandon had never defended himself. Not when she slapped him, not when she placed the severance papers in front of him, and not when she told him she no longer trusted him. He had simply stood there and accepted every word she threw at him.
At the time, she had taken his silence as proof that he had nothing to say.
Now she understood that he had been carrying the truth while allowing her to believe the worst about him.
She covered her face as another sob escaped her. This time, she wasn’t crying because she believed Brandon had abandoned her. She was crying because she finally understood that he never had. He had loved her from a distance, knowing exactly what she thought of him and accepting the pain because he believed keeping her and the pups safe mattered more than having her love him back.
Ashley reached into his satchel once more and carefully pulled out the sealed envelope.
"There is still more."
Emma slowly lowered her hands and stared at it.
He placed the envelope on the table between them, his fingers resting over the royal seal.
"Everything I’ve told you today is only part of the story."
Emma’s gaze dropped to the envelope. Her heart began to pound.
"What is it?"
Ashley was silent for a moment before meeting her eyes.
"This is Brandon’s own account of what happened."
Emma’s fingers trembled.
Ashley slowly withdrew his hand from the envelope.
"And once you read it, you’ll finally know what he gave up to keep you and the pups safe."