Noa’s POV
Finally, Elias’s voice snapped through the room: “Enough.”
The guards stepped back.
Harper was sobbing. Her voice was weak, but her words still rang clear.
“Please, Elias… Your nephew died. I was alone. You promised to take care of me. How could you do this to me?”
His voice roared in return. “How could I do this to you? What the fuck did you do to Noa? To my twins? You psychotic bitch!”
Harper laughed through her tears–bitter, manic. “I did what I had to do! You think I could survive in the Ward house without doing those things? Would you have even noticed me otherwise?”
“Have I not protect you? Have I not promise you the Ward casino? Why can’t you just leave my Noa and the twins alone?”
“You talk like you had a choice. But even I knew–everyone knew–if you didn’t have Noa, you’d be nothing. Your casino, your deals, your reputation? All because of her. And now you want to name Lila your heir? Please. If Noa doesn’t agree, you can’t do shit.”
For once, I was almost impressed.
Even Harper had figured it out.
The empire Elias clung to so tightly was never his. It was mine.
“you fucking bitch!” Elias’s voice snarled in the video just before he stormed forward and slapped Harper across the face.
“And you’re no better than me,” Harper hissed, her mouth bloody but still defiant. “Wife–killing bastard. You’re the one who abandoned her to those thugs.”
“I was trying to protect you!” Elias shouted.
“Yes,” she laughed bitterly. “You just kept telling yourself that. Over and over again. At the end of the day, you were just as sick as I was–pretending it was love. Pretending it was protection while we both enjoyed the filth we made.”
Elias stared at her, stunned. Probably never imagined Harper could be so sharp, vicious and unfiltered.
He stood frozen for a moment, and then his voice dropped.
“From this day on, Harper, you’re no longer Lila’s mother. And you’ll live in the basement–just like my twins did.”
“You can’t!” Harper screamed, trying to lift her head but failing, her strength gone.
“I wanted to kill you,” Elias said. His voice was calm. Deadly. “But I thought about my nephew. This is the last time I forgive you. If you ever try anything again, Harper, I will finish what I started.”
He meant it. I could tell, even from the screen. He only ever looked like that when he was ready to kill.
Harper sobbed then. Realized, finally, that her game was over.
“You’ll live down there,” Elias continued, “eating the same trash you fed my children. I’ll have guards on you around the clock. If they hit you, humiliate you–if they break you I won’t lift a finger. You’ll suffer ten times the pain Noa did.”
The screen showed Harper being dragged away, screaming, before the video cut to black.
I stared at Elias.
“And so what?” I asked, voice cold. “You think torturing another woman makes me forgive you? You think pain balances pain?”
“No,” he said quickly, his voice tight. “I’m not asking for forgiveness. I just wanted you to know she’s out of my life. I had taken care of the gang that took you, too. There’s no more danger. You can come home. Please, Noa. I’ve missed you. Without you, I-” His voice cracked. “I don’t want to live anymore.”
I almost laughed.
Now he understood.
After everything, he decided to take a stand.
“Isn’t it funny,” I said, voice quiet but razor–sharp, “that after I died–or so you believed—you finally did everything I begged for a year ago? You finally protected me and the twins. But it’s too late, Elias.”
He went pale.
“Noa… I didn’t know. Harper told me you were dead. I trusted her to care for the twins. I didn’t know she locked them up, I swear I didn’t—”
“And what does that make you?” I cut in. “A fool? A coward? You say you didn’t know–but why didn’t you check? You could’ve sent someone. Called someone. Asked anyone. But you didn’t. You believed her. You let her poison you. And then you fucked your dead nephew’s bride and gave her a baby.”
Elias lowered his head.
He didn’t argue. Because he knew I was right. “Sorry,” he whispered.
But it wasn’t enough. His apology meant nothing to me.
“Now leave,” I said. “Leave me to the life 1 rebuilt for my children. Let me have the peace you never gave me.”
And with that, 1 turned and walked back to the car.
Tessa looked up at me with those wide, gentle eyes. “Mommy, don’t be sad,” she whispered.
I smiled softly and pulled her into my arms.
“Mommy’s not sad anymore,” I said, kissing her forehead. “Not at all.”
The next day, I received an express delivery.
Inside was a small velvet box- and a card.
It was the Ward heirloom ring. The one Elias once placed on my finger with trembling hands and too many promises.
