Chapter 787: Your ex-wife sealed her fate.
"Aiden, don’t do anything to Selene. I will take her away, and I promise you won’t see her again." Caden spoke through the phone in desperation. The way his voice trembled made it clear —he knew that this time, there was no saving her. "Just ... please don’t do anything to her."
"This time, it’s not just me," Aiden’s voice was colder than ever, a razor-sharp edge of threat lacing each word. "Even you won’t get to see her ever again."
"Aiden, no. You can’t —"
"Do what you deem fit, Aiden. Martins owes you this," the old man’s voice cut in, firm and unshaken. "If Selene dares to touch your wife, she deserves every bit of punishment you decide for her. We won’t intervene."
Aiden heard him but didn’t respond. He simply disconnected the call, his expression turning even more frigid as he turned to Emyr. "Find her. Bring her to me."
Emyr nodded sharply. "Sir, our men are already on it. She won’t be able to hide for long. But still, it would be best if we keep people around Madam."
Idris, who had been quietly listening, frowned deeply. He didn’t know much about the Martins, but from the conversation so far, he had pieced together fragments of danger. "Why does my daughter need to be kept safe? What exactly is happening here?"
Normally, Aiden wouldn’t have bothered to explain. But he understood where Idris’s worry came from. He turned to brief him when, suddenly, a panicked yelp echoed from somewhere deeper in the garden.
Both Aiden and Idris turned towards the sound. Their eyes scanned the area, but they couldn’t find anyone there.
Aiden’s brows furrowed, his gaze darting instinctively —then froze.
Idris caught the shift in his expression, his frown deepening. "Arwen? Where did Arwen go?"
Aiden didn’t wait to answer. He broke into a run, searching frantically through the garden. But even after looking everywhere, she was nowhere to be found.
Emyr returned after checking the surrounding areas, his face grim. "Sir, I have searched around. Madam isn’t here."
Aiden’s fists clenched, and something dark and dangerous unfurled in his eyes. His voice thundered through the night. "I want Selene. Now."
The sheer force of his roar silenced even the soft rustle of leaves.
Emyr flinched at the intensity and immediately turned to leave. But before he could take another step, a staggering figure appeared from the shadows. He paused and recognized her at once.
Margaret.
Her head was bleeding, one hand clutching the wound while the other struggled to keep her upright. She stumbled toward them, her face pale and eyes wide with fear.
"Save ... save Arwen," she gasped, her voice barely above a whisper.
Aiden’s heart stopped for a split second.
Emyr rushed to support Margaret as she swayed on her feet.
"Who did this?" Idris demanded, gesturing for someone to bring water.
Margaret shook her head as though denying to answer that unimportant question. Her gaze turned to Aiden, urging him desperately. "Save Arwen, save her before they drug her again."
Aiden froze. Idris and Emyr were confused, not understanding what drug was being mentioned, but Aiden knew it very well. His face hardened immediately as he heard her.
"Who was behind it?" he asked again. His voice laced with clear desperation. He had wanted to find the culprit all this time, but he couldn’t. He wanted to force Brenda to tell him about it, but she didn’t. But today, he had no patience to hear anything else but the name of the person who had been behind it all the time. "I asked who has been behind it?"
Margaret flinched in Emyr’s supporting arms. Swallowing, she closed her eyes, knowing that she couldn’t hide it for long. Not when Arwen was in such grave danger.
"Ms. Davies !" She finally said, and Idris frowned, not understanding why Catrin was suddenly being mentioned like this.
"Catrin?" he asked with a frown of confusion between his brows. "What did she do? And what drug are you speaking about?"
Margaret turned to him briefly, not knowing how she should explain everything. She never thought she would be the one to let this all out. But given the situation, she could no longer avoid it.
Closing her eyes once more, she tried to gather her strength. Then, opening them back, she revealed, "Ms. Davies had always wanted to make Arwen fall under her control. But Arwen was rebellious by nature. She loved her mother a lot, but when it came to following her orders, she had her own mind. She wouldn’t simply surrender to her instructions. And that troubled Ms. Davies. She felt she was failing to discipline her."
"Hence," she paused briefly, struggling to continue, "she decided to do something that would allow her to shape her again. Shape her the way she wanted."
Idris frowned. He remembered Catrin complaining about Arwen’s rebellious nature, how Arwen always deliberately broke the rules she set for her. But every time he would explain to her that it was normal. Over time, as Arwen grew up, she would be better.
"Arwen grew better later. She started understanding Catrin and started following her of her own will. What does that have to do with this?"
Margaret shook her head. "Arwen didn’t willingly change," she said, her voice breaking. She was trying her best to ignore the pain she was feeling. "She was forced to change. Forced to forget her true nature just so that she could be shaped the way Ms. Davies wanted her."
"What do you mean?" Idris asked, his brows drawing tighter. A dread was creeping into his heart.
"Ms. Davies has drugged Arwen so that she forgets everything she has ever learned. Her nature, her behaviour —everything that made her what she was. She made her forget herself just so that she could control her."
Aiden’s finger curled tighter while Idris’s couldn’t bring himself to believe it. He knew Catrin was obsessed with control. But he never thought to this cruel extent.
"No, she wouldn’t do that. Arwen was our daughter. She couldn’t be that cruel to her."
Margaret didn’t have in her to explain more. So she just went on with what she felt was important. "The drug she had used on her back then was quite a dangerous one. It had no cure. Madam had to go to a great extent to find it. Arwen has finally been able to recover from it; she wouldn’t be able to take the same drug anymore. She won’t survive it again. So, please ... please save her before it’s too late."
She swallowed with the last bit of strength that she had in her. "While they were taking her, I heard them talking. They are planning to inject her with the same drug again. She won’t be able to survive it this time. Save her before it’s too ... too late ..." Her words trailed off as she collapsed.
Emyr held her so that she wouldn’t fall. When he saw that she was unconscious, he glanced up at Aiden and said, "She ... she needs a doctor."
"Send her to the hospital," Aiden said, and Emyr quickly nodded before taking her away.
Idris was still trying to wrap his head around everything. But when he saw Aiden wasn’t at all surprised, he asked, "Have you known it all this while?"
Aiden didn’t answer. He just turned ready to leave. He had no time for explaining.
"Aiden!" Idris called when he saw him leaving.
Aiden’s steps paused. However, he didn’t turn to look back his way. Just turning his head slightly, he said, "I don’t know just how much you loved your wife to not care about your daughter. But I know I love my wife ... my Moon ... enough to not think twice before killing anyone and everyone who dares to harm her under my watch. And just now, your ex-wife sealed her fate. I am not going to let her have another chance after today. If you want to hold me accountable, you are most welcome."
Idris flinched at his words. But before he could say anything, Aiden had walked away.
————
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city —
Arwen was in an unconscious state. She wasn’t at all aware where she had been taken.
The men who had kidnapped her brought her and carefully put her on the chair, tying her to it.
"Be careful," Catrin’s voice came as though she was scared. "She is my daughter. If she is hurt even a little, you all would have to pay tenfold."
The men’s movement turned cautious. Once they secured Arwen to the chair, they glanced at Catrin and said, "We did as you have asked us. We expect to have our payment now."
"You all can leave," Catrin dismissed them with a wave of her hand. "Your payment would be wired to your account the moment you step out of here."
The men exchanged glances before nodding and leaving.
However, just as they were about to step away, Catrin stopped them. "Wait," she said, turning back to them. "I want a group of you to stay back here to make sure no one comes to interfere."