Chapter 393

The room remained silent for a second before Vince grabbed the phone and slammed it into the desk, shattering it. But my mom just smirked. "Oh, don't worry, Vince. I have backups." She crossed her arms. "Now…about my divorce." The smirk on her face was amazing.

But I had to play both sides. "Mom, you can't let that photo get out. It's obviously fake. Morgan might do that, but Alpha Vince would never do that." I pleaded with my mom, but she just patted my hand.

"Don't worry, baby. Whether the photo is real or not, it's not your concern." My mom turned back to Vince. "Is it?"

Vince looked at me, and I could see the relief. He thought I was stupid enough to believe it was real. He still had some standing with me. Brandon stood back up, wincing from the pain. "She's right. I don't know what Morgan does in his spare time, but my father would never do something like that." Brandon crossed over to me and tried to grab my hand.

"I will stand up for your dad because he is my Alpha, and that photo is made to make Morgan and him look bad. But don't think that makes me forgive you for what you did to me."

Brandon dropped to his knees and opened his mouth, but my mom jumped in. "My daughter is right. The picture undermines your status. It also makes it seem like you two are in a very disturbing relationship with your wife and mate. If you were both single, then it would be a harmless photo of fun. But right now…if this got around…" My mother let her threat hang in the air.

"Ainsley, you wouldn't." Morgan walked over to her, and she growled, fangs descending with a snap.

"Oh, sweetheart." She grabbed his face and leaned in. "To get away from you? Absolutely." Then she pushed him away, causing him to stumble.

Vince looked at her for a moment. "So, this is what it comes down to? Lying to get out of your marriage?" My mother laughed as she pulled a stack of pictures from her pocket.

"That photo may or may not be fake, Vince, but these are real." She tossed them onto his desk. A collage of Morgan with his secretary spread across the table. Dinners, obvious dates, sexual scenarios cascaded across the tabletop. "I showed the first photo because I found it funny. Real or not, seeing Morgan being like that healed a tiny part of my shattered soul. But this…" She pointed at the table. "This was the reason I broke. I won't fucking apologize for the way I get out of this fucking sham of a marriage."

Vince sighed. "Morgan?" He turned to look at his beta. "Do you have any way to defend yourself?"

Morgan looked down at the pictures and then back at Vince. "All I can say is that, obviously, the first was faked. What is to say these aren't faked too? I would never cheat on my wife. I love her." He looked at my mom. "I love you, and I forgive you for making up all these lies to get what you want, but I refuse to just let you go without fighting for our marriage." He opened his mouth to say something else, but I interrupted.

"I need to tell you something, Alpha."

He turned to me. "What is it, Amy?" He was tired; his maneuvering and lies were catching up to everyone, and he was scrambling to keep the pieces together.

"I'm sorry, I know you are doing your best, but I just have to tell you I made a promise to my mom last night. I also told Shannon, Brandon, and Morgan this as well. So, I figured I should tell you before you make your final decision."

He nodded and rubbed his eyes. "Sure. What is it?"

I let my face settle into dead lines. "If you deny my mother's divorce, then I will demand my right to a Cath Báis."

Vince dropped his hand and turned his head to meet my gaze. I saw him flinch at what he saw there. But he shook himself, and I let a little warmth enter my eyes so Vince would second-guess himself and what he saw when he looked at me. "What did you say?"

I tried to look defeated. "I said I would ask for a Cath Báis. My father taught me to uphold everyone to the same standards that I hold myself to when it came to the goddess. He made a promise to my mother and the goddess, one that Shannon told him to make himself: that if he was, in fact, cheating on her or lying, he would grant her a divorce. But now he is backpedaling." I shook my head. "I have to hold him to the same standard I would myself, or anyone in my own pack. So he either divorces, and she's free…" I swallowed. "Or he dies, and she is free…"