Chapter 161 Pulling Back the Curtain
Author’s POV
Three days had passed since Linda sent that package to the Silver Moon Pack house, and the silence was making her crazy. No phone calls. No confrontations. No blowup. Nothing.
"What the hell is going on?" she muttered, pacing her apartment. Sebastian should’ve lost it after watching that video. The man had a temper like a volcano. Everyone knew that. So why was he acting like nothing happened?
After hours of stewing over it, Linda landed on the only answer that made sense: Emilia must have gotten to it first. That scheming little bitch had probably grabbed it and destroyed the evidence.
"Well, joke’s on her," Linda said with a cold smile. "I’ve got backups."
She grabbed her purse, checked her reflection in the mirror, and headed out. If the package didn’t work, she’d deliver the message herself. Face to face. Let’s see Emilia talk her way out of this one.
The guards at the pack house recognized her right away. "Miss Taylor," one of them said with a polite nod. "Here to see the Young Madam?"
"Something like that," Linda said sweetly, brushing past him.
She walked through the grand entrance with her head held high. The living room was elegant and spotless, and sitting on the cream sofa with a book in her lap was Mila Simons.
"Hello, Mila," Linda said brightly.
Mila looked up. Surprise crossed her face before she smoothed it into a polite smile. "Oh, Emilia’s sister. What a surprise. Please, sit."
Linda sat down across from her and skipped the small talk. "I came to show you something. Something important. After you see this, you’ll understand who Emilia really is."
Mila’s expression didn’t change, but her eyes sharpened. "What is it?"
Linda pulled a DVD from her bag and held it up like a trophy. "This."
She walked over to the old DVD player. Thank God these people were too sentimental to throw out old tech. She slid the disc in. The screen flickered on, and there she was. Emilia, sitting in that café with her friend Lily, tears running down her face as she confessed everything.
Linda watched Mila’s face, waiting for the shock, the anger, the sense of betrayal. But the older woman stayed calm, almost blank, as she watched the whole video in silence.
When it ended, Mila stood, walked over to the player, and took the disc out. She held it in her hand and turned to Linda.
"Where’s the original?" Mila asked coolly.
Linda blinked. "What?"
"The original copy of this video. Name your price. I’ll buy it, whatever it costs."
For a second, Linda thought she’d misheard. Then the words landed, and rage shot through her chest. "Are you kidding me? Did you not just watch that? Emilia is a liar! She married your son for revenge! She used him, played him, and you want to pay me to cover it up?"
Mila didn’t blink. "What happens in this family is our business, not yours. Now tell me. How much do you want?"
"I don’t want your money!" Linda’s voice rose, shrill. "I want you to do something! Punish her! Throw her out! She doesn’t deserve to be here!"
"If you’re not here for money," Mila said, her voice dropping into something cold and final, "then get out. And let me be clear. If you spread this video anywhere, I’ll make sure you regret it."
Linda’s mouth fell open. "I’ve never met such a ridiculous old woman in my life!"
She grabbed the DVD from Mila’s hand, turned on her heel, and stormed out of the mansion, angrier with every step.
"Fine," Linda hissed to herself as she got into her car. "If the mother won’t do anything, maybe the son will."
She drove straight to Simons Corporation, gripping the wheel so tight her knuckles went white. She replayed the video on her phone twice on the way there, feeding her anger, telling herself she was doing the right thing.
Sebastian was in his office when his assistant told him she was there. He looked up from his desk, already annoyed.
"What are you doing here again?" he asked flatly.
"I came to show you something," Linda said, walking toward his desk without waiting to be asked. She pulled out her phone and held it up. "Something you need to see."
Sebastian’s green eyes went to the screen, and Linda hit play.
The video started. Emilia’s voice filled the room.
Linda watched Sebastian’s face, waiting for the explosion. His jaw tightened. His hands curled into fists on the desk.
"Are you done?" Sebastian’s voice was low, dangerous. "Are you done meddling in things that don’t concern you?"
Linda’s confidence wavered. "I... what? Didn’t you just see..."
"I saw it," he snapped, standing up fast. "And now I’m asking you. What the hell do you think you’re accomplishing here?"
"I’m trying to help you!" Linda’s voice rose, defensive. "She lied to you! She used you! Don’t you care?"
"Whether I care or not is my business," Sebastian growled. "Not yours. You don’t get to walk in here, throw around accusations, and expect me to dance to your tune."
"But she..."
"Enough!"
Sebastian grabbed her phone and threw it across the room. It hit the wall with a crack and shattered on the floor.
Linda stared at the broken phone, then back at him, her eyes wide. "You... you broke my phone!"
"And I’ll break a lot more if you don’t get out of my office. Right now."
Tears filled Linda’s eyes, whether from anger or humiliation, she didn’t know. She bent down, scooped up the pieces of her phone, and ran out.
The door slammed behind her, and the silence after it was heavy.
Sebastian stood there a long moment, his chest heaving, his fists still clenched. Then, slowly, the anger drained out of him and left only a hollow ache behind.
He pressed his palms flat against the desk, his head bowing. His hands were shaking. Blood seeped through the bandages on his knuckles. Old wounds torn open again.
But it wasn’t his hands that hurt.
It was his chest. That same deep, crushing pain from three years ago, when Abigail left. The kind of pain that made it hard to breathe, hard to think, hard to do anything but sit in the weight of it.
He’d told himself he was over this. That he’d learned his lesson. That he’d never let anyone hurt him like that again.
And yet here he was. Again.
The worst part? He’d known. Some part of him had always known Emilia was hiding something. He’d seen the guilt in her eyes, the way she hesitated when she spoke. He’d given her chance after chance to come clean.
And she’d looked him in the face and lied.
As long as she didn’t say it out loud, he could pretend. He could tell himself it didn’t matter, that whatever she was hiding couldn’t be that bad, that they could work through it.
But now? Now there was no pretending.
Linda had pulled back the curtain, and he couldn’t unsee what was underneath.
"Damn it," Sebastian whispered, his voice breaking.
He sank into his chair, his head in his hands. And for the first time in three years, Sebastian Simons, Alpha of the Silver Moon Pack, CEO of Simons Imperial Group, the man everyone feared, felt like he was falling apart.