Chapter 275

Hannah

I laughed stiffly at that. “Funny,” I said, bouncing Melody a little in my arms. “I know she has fairer looks than you, Marcus, but she is your granddaughter.”

Marcus said nothing. And as I met his cold, calculating gaze, the tightness in my chest deepened. The faint trace of amusement died on my lips as it hit me.

Oh, Goddess. He was being completely serious, wasn’t he?

“Of course she’s your granddaughter,” I said with a scoff, glancing at Noah—who was sharing in my shocked expression. “Who else would she be?”

“Hm. I’m not sure.” Marcus stepped forward, his sharp eyes narrowing on Melody.

His gaze wasn’t filled with the warmth or tenderness of a grandparent meeting a new addition to the family for the first time—it was a hard, piercing look, as though he were inspecting something wrong, something out of place.

He reached out a hand to touch her.

A primal instinct kicked in at that moment, and I clutched Melody tighter against my chest, pulling her away from him before he could make contact. As if I’d let him touch my daughter.

“Father,” Noah growled, stepping forward, “What is all this about? Why are you treating our daughter like a specimen?”

Marcus barely acknowledged his son, his gaze still fixed on Melody with a calculating intensity that sent a shiver down my spine.

“Oh, forgive an old man for simply being cautious,” he said, flashing me a thin smile that did nothing to ease my anxiety. “In matters like these, one must be certain.”

A sharp stab of anger cut through my growing unease. “Well, she is your granddaughter, Marcus,” I said, my voice colder now. “And one day, she will be the Alpha of Silvercrest—probably in your lifetime.”

I paused, eyeing him up and down with no attempt to hide my disdain. “If you’re lucky, that is,” I added.

That got his attention. His gaze snapped to mine, his eyes narrowing, a flicker of irritation breaking through his otherwise perfect facade.

“Ah. Silvercrest,” he repeated slowly, as though the name left a bitter taste in his mouth. He leaned back slightly, crossing his arms with a look of mild amusement on his face. “And a female Alpha, no less. How... progressive.”

Sarcasm dripped from his words, but I refused to be baited. A fire burned low in my belly, but I kept my composure, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing my anger.

Noah moved closer, his hand resting gently on the small of my back. “Melody has the female Alpha gene. I’ve already explained this to you, Father. She’s as much an Alpha as any son might have been.”

Marcus’s jaw clenched at that, although he remained silent. His disapproval was palpable, thick enough to cut it with a knife; but for now, at least, he seemed to be smart enough to keep his thoughts to himself.

After that, we moved to the dining room in tense silence. The table was laden with delicious-smelling food: rare elk steaks, cream croquettes, glistening green asparagus. Noah hadn’t mentioned anything about his dinner plans, although I assumed he had asked the chef to prepare something that he knew Marcus would like.

Why he would care, I wasn’t sure. Maybe he was trying to impress his father. But the food did look good.

I sat down beside Noah, my heart still racing from the earlier exchange. Melody gurgled softly in her high chair between us, oblivious to the tension as she played with her bib.

But as my gaze drifted toward Marcus, I noticed his eyes still on her, watching, calculating.

The first course began. Marcus uncorked the wine, insisting on pouring it himself, and for a short while, the clinking of silverware and quiet coos from Melody were the only sounds that broke the suffocating silence. My appetite had disappeared entirely, but I forced myself to eat for the sake of appearances.

But it wasn’t long before Marcus broke the fragile peace.

“I must admit,” he began, his voice deceptively light, “I’m still having trouble believing this child is truly my granddaughter.”

The glass of wine I had just sipped nearly went down the wrong way. This again?

I coughed, blinking in disbelief as I set the glass down, my fingers gripping the stem a little too tightly. “Marcus, you must be joking,” I said, forcing my tone to remain even. “She has your son’s eyes, for Goddess’ sake.”

Marcus set down his fork with exaggerated precision, his eyes sharp as they fixed on me once more.

“Oh, I know. But it just seems rather... convenient, that’s all,” he said, his voice maddeningly calm. “A child appearing at just the right moment, securing your position as Luna and ensuring the future of Nightcrest. Why, if I didn’t know better, I’d wonder how it all happened so… perfectly.”

“Alpha,” Noah corrected, setting aside his steak knife. “And Silvercrest. And it wasn’t ‘perfect’; we dealt with a whole mess of shit to get to this point.”

Marcus’s lips curled into a tiny smirk. “Right. My apologies.”

I went to tell him to stuff his ‘apologies’, but Noah’s hand slid under the table to find mine, his fingers wrapping around mine with a silent warning.

Stay composed, his touch seemed to say. He just wants to piss us off.

He was right. So I bit my tongue and remained silent.

Marcus sighed and picked up his glass of wine. “For what it’s worth, I don’t genuinely think that she is not my granddaughter,” he said after taking a sip, “but you should expect that some people may believe otherwise. Desperate times often call for desperate measures, or so they say.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

He shrugged one shoulder, waving his hand dismissively. “Again, I don’t think this. But I have heard some rumors that the baby doesn’t belong to either of you.”

“She wasn’t born by surrogate, if that’s what you’re asking. Nor was she adopted,” I said. “I’d show you my stretch marks to prove it, but I don’t think that would be appropriate for a family dinner.”

“No, no, I would never ask such a thing.” Marcus tilted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming with something cold and unfeeling. He paused, his tongue darting out briefly to wet his lips.

“It wouldn’t be the first time someone went to extreme lengths to secure their position, though,” he said, as though the idea were perfectly reasonable. “After all, Hannah, you did have difficulty conceiving for many years.”

A wave of heat surged up my neck. “I was poisoned,” I said, wondering for a moment if maybe he simply didn’t know what had happened. “For years, someone was slipping contraceptives into my food. That’s why I couldn’t conceive.”

Noah nodded. “It’s true. We have evidence. Her cousin, Alvin, was trying to keep her from having an heir. Although we’re not entirely sure why just yet. But thankfully, he’s behind bars now.”

For the briefest moment, I saw something shift in Marcus’s eyes. Surprise? Fear? It flashed by so quickly, I couldn’t be sure.

But then his expression returned to its familiar, unreadable mask.

“Poisoned,” he said slowly, his voice taking on a strange, distant tone. “I see. How... unfortunate.”

I felt my shoulders relax a little.

But Noah wasn’t finished. “An apology would be apt, considering that thinly veiled accusation of yours,” he growled. “Unless you intend to cut tonight’s dinner short.”

Marcus went stiff, his knuckles turning white around his glass. Cold eyes flicked to me, a hint of amusement in their depths, but I pulled my shoulders back and lifted my chin.

Finally, Marcus seemed to think better of whatever jab he had prepared and instead grabbed the wine bottle. He rose and circled the table slowly, painstakingly, and…

Refilled my glass.

“My sincerest apologies, Alpha Hannah,” he all but purred down at me as the red liquid swirled into the glass. “I assure you, it won’t happen again.”