Chapter 264: I Didn’t Replace Him

Reid pulled out his phone and dialed Marina. When she picked up, he kept his voice steady, first asking if she was busy, then asking when she could make time to come over to the east wing.

But Marina sounded hesitant, her sharp tone lacing every word with work-related excuses as if she were intentionally avoiding another confrontation or heavy conversation this morning. Seeing her stall, Reid didn’t hesitate. He dropped the ultimate card: "It’s about Sarah."

That was all it took. The hesitation vanished in a heartbeat, replaced by the immediate, sharp rustle of keys and coat fabric over the line. She dropped whatever she was doing without another word and headed straight for her car.

While Reid handled his end, I took out my own phone to call Mom Samson. The poor woman had probably been pacing the floor all night, imagining the absolute worst.

I needed to reassure her before my new, overly anxious mother had a full-blown heart attack, convincing herself that her precious son had been kidnapped for the family fortune and blaming herself for the rest of her life.

Because believe me, that had actually happened once.

When she answered on the first ring, her voice was frantic, bordering on tears, but I kept my tone as soothing and gentle as possible.

I assured her that I was completely fine, that I had just bumped into an old acquaintance after the gala, and that I would be home later in the afternoon. It took a few minutes of patient coaxing, but I finally managed to smooth over her panicked heart before hanging up with a heavy sigh.

I think I was blessed with people who treasured me beyond measure in all lives.

I looked back at Reid and Brad, setting the phone aside as Sarah let out a soft, satisfied burp in my arms.

"She’s on her way," Reid said quietly, stowing his phone into his pocket. His eyes met mine, steady and fiercely protective. "We have about ten minutes before Marina gets to the estate."

Brad reached over, his hand trembling slightly as he patted my knee, his eyes filled with a mixture of nervous anticipation and intense maternal protection. "Whatever happens when she walks through that door, Kain... Reid and I are right here with you. We won’t let her hurt you."

I gripped Sarah close to my chest as the loud, frantic click of heels echoed down the hallway.

The door soon crashed against the wall as Marina stormed into the nursery, her expensive leather jacket draped over her shoulders, her dark eyes flashing with lethal fury.

She didn’t even look at me at first. Her eyes locked straight onto Reid.

"What is so urgent about Sarah that you had to call me away from—"

Marina stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes dropped to the bed, catching sight of the silver-haired stranger sitting on the mattress, holding her niece with an ease that belonged only to family.

The air in the room instantly turned arctic. Her Alpha pheromones exploded—sharp, suffocating, and dripping with raw, violent hostility.

In a fraction of a second, Marina closed the distance. Before Brad or I could even react, she lunged forward, her hand slamming into the collar of Reid’s shirt, yanking him up off his feet and slamming him hard against the bedpost.

"Are you fucking out of your mind?!" Marina screamed, her voice cracking with a terrifying, raw rage that rattled the room. Her knuckles turned white where she gripped his collar, her face inches from his. "Kain hasn’t even been in the ground for a year, Reid! And you’re bringing another omega into his bed?! Letting him hold his daughter?!"

"Marina, stop!" Brad cried out, scrambling up from the armchair to grab her arm. "Let go of him!"

"No, Brad! Stay out of this!" Marina snarled, her dark eyes bloodshot as she glared into Reid’s calm, unblinking face. "He’s lost his damn mind! Who the hell is this kid, Reid?! Did you get so desperate, so pathetic, that you went out and found some pretty Omega who looks vaguely like my brother just to replace him?!"

Reid didn’t fight her grip. He stood there, pinned against the wood, looking at his sister-in-law with pure, grounded sorrow.

"I didn’t replace him, Marina," Reid said softly, his voice utterly steady. "Look at him."

"I don’t care who he is!" Marina roared, her grip tightening until the fabric strained. "Get him out of this house before I throw him out the window myself!"

"Marina," I called out quietly.

The voice was softer than the one she remembered, but the cadence—the exact, steady rhythm—made her entire body lock up.

Marina slowly turned her head, her terrifying gaze falling onto me. I sat there on the edge of the bed, cradling Sarah securely in one arm, while my free hand reached up to lightly rest over the back of her wrist—the exact spot I used to grab whenever she was about to start a brawl at the academy.

"You’re going to tear Reid’s good shirt," I murmured, a gentle, sorrowful smile touching my lips as tears welled in my eyes. "And you know how much he hates shopping for new clothes"

Marina’s breath hitched violently. The color completely drained from her face.

"What... did you just say?" she rasped, her grip on Reid’s collar loosening just a fraction, though her eyes were wide with sheer, disbelieving horror. "Who... who told you to say that?"

I held her furious, terrified gaze, letting my tears finally spill over as I looked into the eyes of the sister who had carried the entire world on her shoulders to protect our family.

"The night before your final academy exams," I whispered softly, "you broke your hand punching the locker because you were terrified you’d fail and disappoint Dad who already didn’t like you miuch for being an Alpha. I sat with you in the nurse’s office for three hours, wrapping your knuckles in ice while you cried and made me swear never to tell a single soul. Not even mom. I was 12 then."

Marina went completely, deathly still.

Her hand slid off Reid’s collar, falling uselessly to her side. She stumbled back a step, her chest heaving in violent, shallow gasps as she stared at my unfamiliar, silver-haired face.

"No..." Marina choked out, her voice fracturing down the middle as she shook her head frantically, clutching at her head. "No, no, no... that’s impossible... Kain is dead... I buried my brother! I held his hand when his pulse stopped!"

"You held my left hand," I sobbed quietly, taking a small step toward her, holding Sarah close. "And you whispered in my ear that you’d take care of Reid and Sarah for me. You kept your promise, Marina. You protected them... but I fought my way back to you."

Marina let out a ragged, shattered sob. The untouchable, fierce Alpha female who had spent eight grueling months holding herself from falling apart in front of anyone.

"No... no, what kind of sick joke is this?!" she gasped out, digging her fingers violently into her hair as she shook her head back and forth. "It’s not real... it can’t be real! Kain is dead! Because of me, he died... he definitely died!"

While it was clear to the public and everyone around us that Reid had suffered openly, in truth, Marina had suffered far worse. She was just that good at hiding it. She had been my shield, my protector, my everything—and behind her armor, she had spent eight months secretly drowning in a sea of toxic, suffocating guilt.