Chapter 261
**Chapter 0261**
She nodded and looked down at her hands, nervously tugging at her fingers. I realized that this was my chance. I had to ask her the question that had been on my mind.
“What exactly did…”
“Do you remember earlier, Irene?” I asked. “You said you saw Judy shoot him?”
She nodded and turned to face me.
“She did it on purpose,” she said.
I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair. I knew this was going to be complicated.
Judy and I both felt sure that she would never hurt anyone out of spite.
“She wouldn’t do that,” I whispered, shaking my head.
Irene crossed her arms and shot me a fierce look.
“She can’t be trusted, Daddy,” she insisted.
Irene asked plainly, “What do you have against Judy?”
She blinked a few times, as if trying to focus.
“What?” she replied, clearly confused.
Matt, who was watching closely, said, “You used to be friends.”
“I reminded her, ‘So you found out she’s mated with your fiancé. That can’t be everything that happened. What do you have against her?'”
Irene sighed softly. “She was never my friend. She lied to me.”
“I feel betrayed,” Irene said, her voice heavy with emotion.
“Her only mistake was not telling you the truth about her and Ethan’s past,” someone replied gently.
Irene sighed, “But she still wants him…”
“Ethan lied to you too,” the voice continued, trying to comfort her.
“Irene,” I said firmly, “if you’re going to be mad at Judy, then you should be just as mad at him too. It’s not fair to treat her like she did something wrong when she didn’t want to.”
“I’m not trying to hurt you. That’s why she didn’t tell you. There’s nothing more to the story than that.”
“But…” she began to speak, but I raised my hand to stop her.
“I need you to back off from her,” I said firmly.
“Irene,” I said, narrowing my eyes at my daughter. “It’s not healthy for either of you to keep this grudge going. Matt was hurt badly.”
“That wasn’t my fault!” she replied quickly.
“I’m not saying it was easy, but right now, we need to focus on him and not on our own selfishness,” I told her. “Do you think you can put aside your feelings for the sake of your brother?”
“He’s going to need you these next few weeks while I’m gone. I’d like to leave knowing your head is in the right place.”
She bit her bottom lip and looked down at the ground, not saying a word.
After a moment of silence, she sighed and nodded.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“So, tell me. What did you see?” I asked again, hoping this time her answer would be different. She stayed quiet for a while, lost in her thoughts.
She kept her eyes on the ground for a moment, but then she looked up at me. Tears filled her blue eyes. “It was a mistake,” she whispered. “Judy was the one who pulled the bow back and…”
She shot the arrow into his leg, but her focus had been on the target. Her timing was off. I didn’t believe she would hurt him on purpose.
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Chapter 26
+25 BONUS
I sighed and nodded. I knew I needed to talk to her.
Judy wanted to make sure Matt was okay. Now that I knew for sure that he was safe, my anger began to fade away. Instead, all I felt was worry. It was a strange feeling, like something was bubbling inside me, getting close to boiling over.
“I’m going to sleep now. Goodnight,” Irene said as she left the parlor.
I picked up my phone and called Judy. The call went straight to voicemail, which didn’t surprise me. So, I decided to call Leroy instead. I knew he would be up.
he must have taken her home.
“Hello, Alpha,” Leroy greeted me on the other end of the line.
“Leroy,” I replied. “Has Judy made it home?”
“Yes,” Leroy said. “But then…”
“She left again.”
“What do you mean she left?” I asked, feeling my wolf getting anxious again.
“I mean she got into another car, and it drove off.”
Today’s situation was getting more complicated.
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