Let the real games begin!!!
I took a deep breath, gathering my thoughts. “Because Amira has been helping me gather evidence. We have proof of her dealings with corrupt members of the court and her plans to undermine the council. I’ve been working with Rita to piece everything together, and we’re ready to present it to you.”
There was a moment of silence as the two of them processed my words. Lucas finally leaned back in his chair, his expression thoughtful.
“If what you’re saying is true, then why didn’t you come to us sooner?” he asked.
“As if,” I scoffed. If I had come to them any sooner, they would have dismissed me as quickly as possible. Not to mention the fact that going without concrete evidence could have endangered the little I had managed to gather over that space of time.
“If I had come any sooner, would you two have given me a listening ear? That is exactly the question you should be asking right now, not the one you just mentioned. Given that every attempt I made to reveal her deeds went futile, this time I wanted to make sure we had enough evidence to bring her down once and for all,” I explained. “I didn’t want to risk acting too soon and giving her the chance to cover her tracks as she always does.”
Simon narrowed his eyes, still not entirely convinced. “And you expect us to believe you’ve been doing all of this out of the goodness of your heart? Without any ulterior motives?”
I sighed, feeling the weight of their mistrust falling on me once again. “You see, this is exactly what I was talking about. I just mentioned that you both wouldn’t believe me, and here we are, having it play out right now. I totally understand why you’re suspicious, but you know me. I would never betray you or this kingdom. All I’ve ever wanted is to protect our people-and our family.”
“Well, I guess I get your point now, but still, we just cannot act based on mere statements; we need proof,” Lucas responded, and I nodded. He studied me for a moment longer before he finally let out a sigh. “Alright, Ashley. We’ll give you the benefit of the doubt for now. But if you’re lying, if this is some kind of trick-”
“It’s not,” I interrupted, meeting his gaze firmly. “I swear to you, I’m telling the truth.”
Simon crossed his arms, still looking a bit uneasy, but he seemed to relent as well. “Fine. We’ll see what this evidence of yours reveals. But don’t think for a second that we’ll let our guard down just because we’re considering your point.”
I nodded, grateful for the chance to prove myself, but fully aware that the road ahead would be difficult. Veronica was powerful and cunning, and bringing her down would not be easy.
“I understand,” I replied. “Thank you for hearing me out.”
“No problem. Right now, we have a couple of things to handle, so just meet us at the patio by, let’s say, 7:00 p. m. tonight.”
“Oh, alright then, thank you.”
Without another word, Simon turned and exited the room, leaving me and Lucas alone. The latter gave me one last lingering look before he, too, left, shutting the door behind him.
As I stood there, my heart still racing from the tension of the confrontation, I knew that the final showdown with Veronica was approaching. The pieces were in place, and soon, the truth would be laid bare for all to see.
A couple of hours-it was now just a matter of a couple more hours before I would present the evidence. By tomorrow, everything will change.
—
As soon as it was a few minutes to 7:00, I quickly made my way out towards the patio where Lucas and Simon had both agreed to meet with me. As I went, I could feel my heart beating terribly fast with each passing step. I constantly had to remind myself that this wasn’t just for me but also for the future of my children. So, every time I felt discouraged or fed up with everything going on, that gentle reminder was all I needed to get my head back in the game.
When I got there, Lucas and Simon were obviously not around yet, so I took the opportunity to practice how I would present it all to them.
“It’s really such a shame that you both have had to be in the dark for so long, but not to worry, it is finally time for the long-awaited truth to be revealed.” I paused for a while, letting the words sink in. “No, no, not at all, that sounds so weird, especially for them.”
“How about I say, ‘I know this might sound and look very crazy, but this is everything Veronica has really been doing behind your backs. See for yourselves.'”
Hmmm, no! This was even worse compared to the former one.
“Oh my gosh, this is really going to be harder than I thought,” I exclaimed out loud, slapping the papers in my hands on my face.
“What is apparently now much harder than you thought?” I heard from behind, and I flinched in surprise. Turning back, I was met with both Lucas and Simon, who had been standing quietly, watching me.
“How long have you two been watching me?”
“Hmm, let’s see, long enough to find out that something seems to be much harder than you thought, so I really hope you wouldn’t mind letting us in on what this difficult task seems to be.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I responded, and they didn’t say anything as they walked closer and sat down on the lounge chairs. I looked around to check for one I could sit on, and after turning left and then right, I finally found one and sat quietly.
“So can we get started with this as soon as possible? I have things to do this evening, and this is definitely not one of them,” Simon said, looking down at his wristwatch. I pouted while his head was still down, but as soon as I noticed his head returning upward, I instantly composed myself before speaking to commence the meeting.
“All right then, I’ll try to be very brief. As we all already know, the circumstances surrounding my banishment six years ago were based on betrayal and nothing more. Back then, I didn’t expect such a thing to happen, so I was blindsided by the whole thing. Veronica gathered a lot of evidence to frame me, as well as convincing false witnesses, and everyone bought it without giving me a chance to prove myself because I obviously had nothing to counterattack all the accusations being made against me.”
“Don’t tell me we are really still on this, Ashley.”
“But of course we are. And don’t worry, this time I am not speaking without anything to back me up because I know better than to do so at this point in my life,” I responded, handing over a couple of papers for them to go through.
“As you can see from the signed agreement, which is dated to approximately six years ago, the leaked secrets weren’t given to just one person as we all thought. In fact, they were shared among a good number of wolves who were obviously desperate to claim the throne for themselves.” I noticed both Lucas and Simon turning to face each other, but I didn’t make sense of what they were thinking.
“Looking at the signatures, you can see that this is not mine but that of Veronica. I found this particular sheet of paper when I was in the library a while back. To this day, Veronica still doesn’t know I have this, though she knows it was taken from the library. If you read the contract carefully, you will notice this was the very first piece of information that got out to these people before you both really started noticing what was going on. Moving on, we have this,” I said, handing over a few more papers alongside small cut photo cards.
“This is the copied text conversation between Veronica and some guy she had been supplying the secrets to. And if you look at this security footage, you will see her sneaking out of the mansion extremely late at night while everyone was probably asleep or something. I wasn’t able to get much, but the little I have shows that the woman in this footage is none other than Veronica.”
“Fabian! This is definitely Fabian. He came up with a couple of arguments about this exact topic when we were being confronted, so I’m 100% sure this is him,” Simon said, and Lucas agreed.
“Well, that’s not all. I was able to get her handmaid, Amira, to help with this operation, and I am sure you will not believe what she found. Here,” I said, handing over the last sheets of paper I had.
“That right there contains the list of every single thing Veronica is still planning on leaking out. I was able to get a friend to tap into her phone, and there is a particular landline that has been reaching out to her for a while now. I suspect it’s one of the people she’s been working with who is probably in hiding. If you have any idea of anyone who might have challenged you both some time ago and is now in hiding, I’d suggest you track down this number because I’m 80% sure it would lead you to him or her.”
As soon as I mentioned this, both Lucas and Simon turned to each other before saying at the same time, “Fabian!”
“What?”
“Don’t worry about it. I know this won’t change the course of action we took years ago, but at least for the sake of our children, find it in your heart to forgive us,” Lucas said, and I raised my brow in immense surprise. Knowing the type of people Lucas and Simon were, it was shocking to hear an apology from either of their lips. These were ruthless kings who could wipe out entire packs with a mere decree. For them to set aside their pride, even for this short moment, I couldn’t be more grateful or accepting of it. They both cleared their throats awkwardly, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. How typical it was for them to feel uncomfortable right after apologizing.
“So, what is going to happen now?” I asked, and Simon responded.
“You have nothing to worry about anymore. We are going to pick things up from here. Veronica is a very cunning person, and for all she has done, she’s going to pay for it.”
“But what about her father and your commitment to him?” I asked, concerned.
“Screw that! She should have considered that commitment when she not only betrayed us but also the kingdom at large,” Lucas interjected. I let out a sigh. “She’s always been getting away with things since she was very little, but this is where it all ends. Because of her, we almost lost our future. Only the goddess knows what would have happened to us if we hadn’t found you and the kids again. No, that woman is done for,” Simon said as he stood up from his seat and began to walk away.
I quickly tried to call after him, though he didn’t respond. “Oh my goodness, Lucas, please try to calm him down. I understand that you both are very angry right now, but I suggest we don’t do anything in haste. Remember, there is still someone in hiding, and there’s the risk of her going crazy and doing something that could be detrimental to us all.”
“I honestly don’t understand how you’ve managed to stay this calm and composed, despite knowing the truth and not being able to express it all this time,” Lucas remarked, shaking his head.
“It’s fine, but Simon-”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s just a bit overwhelmed, that’s all. Trust me, he won’t act on impulse. You’ve done your part by revealing all this to us, and we’ll take it from here. Thank you so much, Ashley.”
“You’re welcome. I mean, it’s about time everyone finally sees who she really is. Please go meet Simon now,” I responded, and he nodded. Before I realized what was happening, I felt a warm kiss land on my cheek. I blushed as I watched Lucas walk away as if nothing had just happened.
Once I was finally alone, a mixture of anxiety and determination washed over me. Veronica would not go down without a fight, but I was ready. With the evidence I had successfully presented to Lucas and Simon, the fate of the kingdom had been decided, and things were definitely not in her favor. She would certainly fight back, but this time I was confident, knowing that I had not just any support, but the backing of both Lucas and Simon.
Let the real games begin.