Chapter 130

[Third-Person’s POV]

Isabella was in a sour mood since the staff had delivered the morning paper along with her typical slew of magazines and gossip columns. Being able to find out what the news fashion trends were along with the hottest celebrity rumors was one of her favorite pastimes.

Having the chance to flip through her many magazines had always been one of the few pleasures in her life—especially when things were getting stressful.

However, when Isabella had been given that morning’s pile, her eager excitement had all but evaporated into dust.

Spread across nearly every single cover were photos of Alexander and Evelyn. Isabella couldn’t believe what she was seeing. In her mind, she couldn’t begin to fathom why anyone would want to photograph Evelyn or her husband.

Her husband—who just so happened to be back in his wheelchair...How interesting.

She figured that perhaps it was because of the stylish outfit Evelyn had been wearing at the time. Yet, once she got over glaring at the pictures, Isabella finally started to read some of the headlines. Her eyes grew wider and wider in sheer disbelief.

“What the actual hell?!”

There was simply no way that a single word of what she was reading was true. How on earth did Alexander and Evelyn have Michael, Caroline’s son, sentenced to a life in prison?

She’d made sure to read over the first few sentences of the article to ensure that she understood what was going on.

At first, her mind was racing frantically as she searched for any potential reason as to why Michael had been imprisoned. What were the charges that were being held against him? Her nerves were spiraling when she thought back to that frantic night.

Perhaps something had happened between him and Evelyn and Alexander’s way of handling it meant sending his own sibling off to jail. Her heart slammed in her rib cage. If that was how the man treated his own family, there was no telling what he could end up doing to her.

After all, she was the one who slipped Evelyn the aphrodisiac in the first place. Perhaps, this was Alexander wanting to get even.

Isabella continued to read through a majority of the columns to search for any particular clues that could link to her involvement. But, on the contrary, what she found was something a bit more shocking.

Now, granted, even Isabella knew that a majority of what she would read in these columns was pure nonsense and hardly factual. But one journalist had included a direct quote from Alexander, himself.

“Michael Kingston is and has been a threat to the general public ever since he tried to have me assassinated several months ago.”

An assassination attempt?

Another cold chill raced down Isabella’s spine while an unsettling wave of nausea pooled at the bottom of her stomach. Once more she was quick to compare her situation to this unexpected development. If any of this was remotely true about Michael trying to go after Alexander, then that didn’t make her situation much different either.

Yes, she tried to kill Edward—or, at the very least, ensure that he would never wake out of his coma.

Her nerves twisted and coiled with anxiety.

Evelyn was many things in her mind—annoying, odd, impaired when it came to fashion, unpredictable, and irritatingly different from the vast majority of others her age.

However, the one, major thing that Evelyn wasn’t was stupid. The moment she caught wind of her brother’s health taking a massive slip, she immediately began reversing the effects of the toxins Isabella had administered.

Not only that, but she was certain that Evelyn even knew that it was her who had been behind the whole scheme. Isabella feared that somehow this stunt would land her in the courtroom and potentially behind bars.

Unfortunately, ever since she discovered that Edward’s rooms were being guarded twenty-four-seven, she still hadn’t been able to resume her own plans. Soon the toxins would be completely out of his system, if they weren't already, which meant that the Silverwood Alpha was on his way back to a full recovery.

It still made Isabella’s blood boil with bitter disdain.

The only saving grace that helped ease the older woman’s worries was that Evelyn had no physical proof of the incident.

But that wasn’t to say that the crafty girl wouldn’t find another way to incriminate her.

Isabella couldn’t let that happen.

A shrilling, whiny voice broke out through the air. “Mother?! Mother, where are you?!”

The older woman clenched her jaw and pinched her features in aggravation. Samantha came storming into the dining room with her own copy of the latest gossip columns clutched in her hands.

She looked as angered and infuriated as Isabella felt.

“Samantha,” she drawled. Her voice was dripping with sarcasm that more than likely would go over her daughter’s head. “What an unexpected pleasure to see you here.”

For the last couple of weeks, Samantha’s presence around the house had become a lot more prominent. It shouldn’t have come to anyone’s surprise that she had failed in using the aphrodisiac on her husband. Isabella didn’t know the specifics, nor did she care to, but somehow Liam found out about the whole matter and refuses to even be around Samantha now.

Samantha claimed that she tried to make amends but to no avail. Knowing that her marriage was already on thin ice, this was truly her last chance to make things better between them. And it had ultimately blown up in her face.

Samantha slammed the magazines down on the table. “Have you seen the newest issues?” she asked incredulously. “Tell me, how on earth did she manage to get on the front covers of nearly every current news article?!”

Isabella refrained from rolling her eyes. “Have you actually read any of the articles, dear?”

“Not really,” she admitted. “I’ve been wrapped up in the fact that certain celebrities are referring to Evelyn as a fashion icon for her choice of clothing.”

Isabella let out a long breath. “Perhaps, if you actually read the articles instead of just gawking at the photos, you would know that Evelyn and her husband had just been coming out of the courthouse,” she informed her. “Michael Kingston has just been sentenced to life in prison for having tried to kill Alexander.”

Samantha’s eyes widened in utter shock. For a moment she studied her mother’s pale look and narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

“You seem freaked out by this...Care to tell me why?”

“If Evelyn and Alexander are willing to go after their enemies, then who’s to say that they won’t try and come after us?”

Samantha’s whole body went still. “Us? Why the hell would they do that?”

Isabella pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. “Because I may, or may not, have tried to put an end to Edward’s life as well as slip that same aphrodisiac I’d given you into Evelyn’s tea.”

Samantha gaped at her mother and demanded to hear the whole story. Over the next hour, Isabella went into great detail about her devious plans to win back control of the pack as well as attempt to ruin Evelyn’s image.

By the time she was finished, Samantha was both impressed but greatly disappointed that nothing worked out as it should have. She didn’t like the fact that her Stepsister had managed to luck out so well in her own marriage and now she was gaining positive publicity.

“So, what do you plan to do now?”

Perhaps, it was just the fear that one day Evelyn would come after Isabella for all she tried to do. But she wasn’t about to take that chance. Something had to be done before she’d be the one to end up in court.

“There’s only one person I know that has to hate Evelyn and Alexander’s relationship as much as we do,” Isabella commented. “I think it’s time we reach out to Caroline.”