Chapter 15
Layla
"I'm not flaunting anything." Cecelia took a step closer. "I'm trying to find my missing child. That has nothing to do with Cameron."
"It has everything to do with Cameron." My voice rose despite my attempts to control it. "You come back here after three years playing dead and suddenly everyone's falling over themselves to help you. Meanwhile, my son, the boy Zeke has raised since birth, is being pushed aside like he doesn't matter."
"That's not what's happening and you know it."
"Is it?" I gestured wildly at the palace. "Zeke barely looks at Cameron anymore. He's too busy chasing after your ghost child, proving he's some kind of hero who'll save the day. Where was this devotion when Cameron was a baby? When Cameron needed a father?"
Cecelia's eyes narrowed. "Maybe if Cameron was actually his son, things would be different."
The words hit like a slap. I felt my face go hot with rage and shame. "How dare you."
"How dare I what? Speak the truth?" Cecelia's voice stayed level but I saw her hands clench. "We both know Cameron isn't Zeke's biological child. The tests proved it. So maybe stop using that boy as a weapon against me when you're the one who's been lying to everyone for years."
"I did what I had to do to survive." The admission escaped before I could stop it. "After you died, after I lost my baby, I was broken. Cameron gave me a reason to keep going. Zeke gave me a home. Was I supposed to just walk away from that?"
"You were supposed to tell the truth." Cecelia moved closer, her presence somehow taking up more space than her small frame should allow. "You were supposed to admit that Cameron wasn't his instead of letting everyone believe a lie. You were supposed to not try to kill me in the first place."
"I didn't kill you." The words came automatically. "You fell. It was an accident."
"I didn't fall, Layla. You pushed me." Cecelia's voice dropped to barely above a whisper but somehow it felt louder than shouting. "You put your hands on my chest and you pushed me off that cliff because you wanted me dead. Because you wanted my place, my mate, my life."
Cameron had gone still against my side, his tears forgotten as he listened to us. I should have sent him away, should have protected him from this conversation. But part of me wanted him to hear it, wanted him to understand why I'd done what I'd done.
"You took everything from me," I said, my voice shaking. "Zeke was supposed to be mine. We were in love before the war, before our fathers tore us apart. And then he chose you. Plain, boring, adopted you. Do you know what that felt like? Watching the man I loved marry my sister out of duty while I had to smile and pretend I was happy for you?"
"So you tried to murder me." Cecelia's words were flat, emotionless. "That was your solution."
"You were supposed to just disappear." I hated how desperate I sounded. "Just fall and be gone and then everyone could move on. Zeke would grieve for an appropriate amount of time and then he'd turn to me for comfort and eventually, eventually things would be the way they should have been from the start."
"Except I didn't die."
"No, you didn't." The rage bubbled up fresh and hot. "You survived somehow and built yourself a nice little life in some backwater pack. You had Zeke's son, the heir I could never give him. And now you're back to ruin everything again."
"I came back to find my son." Cecelia's voice rose finally, some of that careful control cracking. "I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see Zeke or you or this palace ever again. But someone took my baby and I needed help finding him. That's the only reason I'm here."
"How convenient that the kidnapping happened right when you needed an excuse to return."
Cecelia's expression shifted to something dangerous. "Are you suggesting I staged my son's kidnapping?"
"I'm suggesting that everything about your return is suspiciously timed." I knew I should stop talking, knew I was revealing too much, but the words kept coming. "You show up claiming Zeke has a son he never knew about, right when Cameron's parentage is being questioned. You have this dramatic story about being pushed off a cliff and surviving against all odds. You need Zeke's resources and protection. It's all very convenient."
"You're delusional."
"Am I?" I laughed but it sounded unhinged even to my own ears. "Or am I the only one willing to say what everyone's thinking? That maybe, just maybe, you're not the tragic victim you're pretending to be."
"What's going on here?" Zeke's voice cut through the garden like a blade.
I spun around to find him striding toward us, his expression thunderous. Behind him, several guards hung back at a respectful distance.
"Zeke, thank goodness." I moved toward him but he stepped around me, going straight to Cecelia.
"Are you alright?" he asked her, his voice gentle in a way it never was with me anymore.
"I'm fine." Cecelia didn't look at him, still staring at me with those cold eyes. "Just having an interesting conversation with your houseguest."
"I heard shouting from my office." Zeke's attention shifted to me and the gentleness vanished. "Layla, what did you say to her?"
"I was defending my son." I pulled Cameron closer. "He came to me crying because she was mean to him."
"She's lying, Papa." Cameron's voice was small. "I threw rocks and got her wet and she asked me to stop nicely but I called her a name because Mama said she's trying to replace me."
The silence that followed was deafening. Zeke's eyes moved from Cameron to me, and I saw the moment his expression changed from anger to disgust.
"You told him what?" His voice was dangerously quiet.
"I told him the truth." I lifted my chin, refusing to back down even as my heart raced. "That woman is trying to take his place in your life. Cameron deserves to know what's happening."
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