Page 125 of Sinful Pleasure

I nodded.What else could it be? Everything in our world is built on those three pillars. Mikael Romano let out a laugh that made me want to wipe the smug grin off his ugly face.

“Your old man didn’t tell you anything, did he?” his laugh was cold, dragging on his cigarette. “Trying to turn you against me, saying what? That I’m doing all this for entertainment?”

I clenched my jaw, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a response.

We both knew the kind of man Mikael Romano was. He didn’t need a reason to start a war with the other families.

“You really think that if I wanted to harm your family, I’d aim that low? Some random girl with no value to you?” he raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with mockery. “I know your weak spots. I can do better than that.”

“Then why?”

It was time this bastard spilled the truth.

Mikael exhaled another cloud of smoke, his eyes narrowing.

“Your father wasn’t honest enough with you, so I’ll do the fucking work for him.”

He crushed the cigarette out with an almost violent gesture, leaning forward and crossing his arms on the table.

“Allyn is my daughter. And your useless father took her from me, trying to marry her off to your worthless excuse of a brother.”

The venom in his words hit me like a slap. I was left frozen in place, my mind scrambling to process what he had just said.

He must be fucking playing with me, right?

“You don’t believe me?” He raised an eyebrow, his gaze darkening. Heslid a black folder across the table toward me. ‘’See for yourself.”

My throat went dry. I looked between the folder and Mikael’s deadly serious face.

I finally grabbed the folder—each page more damning than the last. The further I went, the darker it all became, each picture and document driving the point home. I paused, trying to connect the dots, but the more I thought about it, the more twisted it sounded.

Then, I saw it.

A photo of Mikael holding a baby in his arms. The little one’s eyes stared back at me from the image, and that’s when it hit—like a bolt of lightning tearing through my chest.

I’ve been played for a fool all these years.

I wasn’t even halfway through the stupid folder when I slammed it shut, taking it with me as I stormed out of the room.Rage surged through my veins like wildfire.

Mikael yelled something after me, but I didn’t hear it—my own thoughts and fury drowning everything else out.

This wasn’t just about me anymore. It was about Allyn.

They had made me look like a damn idiot, but worse—they had stolen her right to know the truth about herself.

I couldn’t shake the thought. I refused to believe that my father could be involved in this twisted mess— he can’t be.

But one way or another, I’d find out.

I barked orders at my driver once I got in the car.As the engine rumbled to life, I opened the folder again, my eyes scanning the pages, each word sinking me deeper into this nightmare.

I was so wrapped up in between the pages that I didn’t evenrealize we’d reached our destination.The Delgado family’s house sat before me—grey, sterile, and uninviting as ever.

The guards, who knew me well by now, let me in without hesitation.Inside, I found Alicent —sitting at the dining room table, her eyes lost in a book while she sipped tea—utterly peaceful.

I stepped in, the weight of the folder still heavy in my hand, my mind spinning with the implications of what I’d just learned.

She looked up when she realized she wasn’t alone anymore.

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