Hudson’s POV

Beta Dominic entered the room purposefully.

"Alpha Hudson, we’ve identified who’s behind everything. The studio sabotage, the car chase, and the shooting were all coordinated by the same middleman, working for..." he paused, "Genevieve Crawford."

I stared at him, my jaw tightening. "You’re certain?"

Though I knew Dominic was thorough. He wouldn’t bring this to me unless he was absolutely sure.

"Completely. Triple-checked everything. We have a witness too. Should I bring him in?"

I rubbed my throbbing temple, the gunshot wound sending waves of dull pain through my body. "Not now."

"What’s our next move?" Dominic asked, waiting for orders.

"Nothing. Stand down for now."

"Understood."

"And Christina cannot know about this. Not yet."

Dominic nodded once. "Got it, Alpha."

Alone, I picked up my phone, hovering over Christina’s contact. My thumb hesitated over the call button.

Guilt crawled through my chest like acid. Anyone who dared harm Christina would face my wrath. I’d make them suffer. Beyond imagination.

But Genevieve... she was my one blind spot. The one debt I couldn’t escape. All because of what happened years ago.

"Fucking hell," I growled, squeezing the phone until the case creaked.

Lycaon stirred within me. His anger matched my own.

After collecting myself, I finally made the call.

"Thank god it’s you," Christina answered.

"Who were you expecting?"

"Another pissed-off client ready to verbally destroy me."

"Rough day?"

She sighed heavily. "Catastrophic would be putting it mildly. But forget that. How are you feeling? Pain manageable?"

"I’m fine," I lied. Smoothly.

"What’s up?" she asked.

"I miss you," I admitted, surprising even myself with the honesty.

Christina went quiet for a moment. "Oh."

"Don’t you miss me?" I pressed.

"Of course I do," she replied. "But this sweet talk is seriously out of character. Are you sure that bullet didn’t scramble something important? The doctor did warn about anesthesia side effects."

"A man can’t tell his wife he misses her?"

"Sure..." Her voice remained skeptical.

I changed tactics. "Let’s have dinner tonight. Your choice of restaurant."

"You just had surgery two days ago. Should you even be eating solid food?"

I’d overlooked that detail. "I can’t, but you can."

"So you’ll just sit there watching me eat like some creepy restaurant stalker? Plus, you shouldn’t even be out of the hospital. And I’ve still got a studio crisis to manage. Not exactly in the mood for a two-hour dinner date."

"Then I’ll have Geoffrey deliver something to you. What would you like?"

"Anything works. You decide."

After hanging up, I dialed another number. Immediately.

"Hudson! What a delightful surprise!" Genevieve chirped with artificial cheerfulness.

"Genevieve." My voice dropped to an icy, emotioneless tone.

She picked up on it instantly. "What’s wrong, Hudson?"

"I acknowledge my debt to you, Genevieve. But don’t push boundaries. Christina is my red line. Cross it again, and debt or no debt, there will be consequences." Every word came out arctic cold.

I ended the call before she could respond.

Unable to concentrate on work after that, I called Dominic back in.

"Alpha Hudson."

"I need you to arrange something," I instructed him, outlining my plan.

"Right away," Dominic nodded, striding out to execute my orders.

***

Christina’s eyes widened when she spotted me outside her studio.

She jogged over to the car. "Hudson, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Picking you up," I stated simply. "Get in."

"I don’t need a ride." She climbed into the back seat regardless. "You’re supposed to be on bed rest. Doctor’s orders."

"I’m fine."

"Are you really?" She eyed my suit suspiciously, as if x-raying through to my wound. "That can’t feel great."

"Painkillers." In truth, I’d endured far worse.

"Still, you shouldn’t have come."

"I need to take you somewhere specific."

"Where to?"

I gave her the address.

"It’s an old warehouse owned by The Sabreridge pack," I explained.

"You’ll need to spell it out for me." She shook her head. "My brain is fried from apologizing to angry clients all day."

"I found who sabotaged your studio. We’re going to see her now."

"You did?" She straightened immediately. "Who is it?"

"You’ll see soon enough."

When we arrived at the warehouse, Christina practically bolted from the car.

I took her hand as we entered the building. Dominic led the way. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Inside what used to be an office, Dominic stood guard behind a chair.

"You?!" Christina froze when she saw the woman bound to the chair.

Beatrice glared up with pure hatred burning in her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but catching sight of me, her pupils contracted. In fear.

Christina stormed right up to her. "You’re the one who hacked my studio database and screwed with all my orders?"

Beatrice gave a weak nod.

"Since when are you tech-savvy enough to hack anything? And why the hell would you do this?"

Beatrice glanced at me nervously, then sneered at Christina. "I hired a hacker. Money buys everything."

"What about the gunman? The car that tried to run me down? That was you too?"

Another nod.

"Why?"

Beatrice’s smile turned vicious. "Do I really need to spell it out? I hate you. You destroyed everything I had."

I positioned myself behind Christina, watching Beatrice closely. She was following the script perfectly.

Beatrice strained against her restraints, growing more agitated. "If it weren’t for you, Niall wouldn’t have left me. If not for you, my mother would still claim me as her daughter and never discovered I wasn’t her biological child. If not for you, Dad would still be alive. You ruined my entire life! Why should you get to live in luxury while I’m left with nothing?"

Akira growled within Christina. I could feel her rage through our bond.

Christina’s fists clenched tight, but her voice remained controlled. "I always knew you despised me. I just never thought you’d sink this low."

Beatrice let out a sharp, hysterical laugh. "My only regret is not doing it sooner. And that the shooter missed his true target."

She glanced at me again. Her expression a mixture of fear and defiance.

Christina turned, reaching for my hand. "Let’s go."

I exchanged a look with Dominic. He gave a single confirming nod.

Christina remained silent until we were outside. "What happens to her now?"

"What would you like to happen?" I asked, studying her reaction carefully.

She just looked drained. "Turn her over to the police."

I nodded.

Chapter332Trust in Question

Christina’s POV

I spent the entire night tossing and turning in bed, my mind racing with doubts.

Beatrice was behind everything?

Something felt off. A part of me refused to believe it completely. It wasn’t because I harbored any sisterly feelings toward her—those died long ago. It just didn’t seem like her typical style.

Beatrice was catty and vengeful, no doubt about that. She wasn’t above dirty tactics to hurt me. But her usual weapons were rumors, backstabbing, or sabotaging my relationships. I’d more readily believe she’d try seducing Hudson than hiring a professional gunman to kill me.

Where would she even find people like that? And the resources to pull it off?

But Hudson’s network was far more extensive than mine. I had no reason to doubt what his men had uncovered.

Besides, Beatrice had confessed, right in front of me. With that cold smile on her face.

"What do you think?" I whispered to Akira.

"Something doesn’t add up," she growled within me. "Our sister is cruel, but this feels different."

When the alarm finally rang, I dragged myself out of bed with a groan. Against both the doctors’ advice and my pleading, Hudson had checked himself out of the hospital and returned home.

I’d insisted we take separate bedrooms. I’m a restless sleeper; I toss and turn constantly. The last thing I wanted was to accidentally kick him in the stomach and tear his stitches.

Still, waking up alone felt strange. I’d gotten used to his warmth beside me, the steady sound of his breathing.

Back in the guest room I’d first stayed in when I moved into his mansion, I sat on the edge of the bed, still groggy when my phone rang. I groped for it and answered without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Christina, it’s me. Please don’t hang up. I have something important to tell you." Niall sounded rushed, anxious that I’d cut him off the second I recognized his voice.

"What is it?" My tone went instantly cold.

"I know about the attempt on your life, and what happened at your studio. Do you know who was really behind it?" Niall asked.

I frowned. "Thanks for your concern. I know exactly who did it. My husband has already investigated, so you don’t need to bother."

"Christina, I know you hate me, and you don’t want to talk to me, but this isn’t what you think. Hudson is lying to you. It wasn’t Beatrice," he said, his voice deadly serious.

My stomach dropped. "What are you talking about? If it wasn’t Beatrice, then who was it?"

"Do you really want to know? I’ll be outside your studio at lunchtime. Meet me, and I’ll tell you everything. I promise you won’t regret it. Hudson didn’t just get it wrong; he did it deliberately. He already knows who wanted to hurt you. He’s protecting them by using Beatrice as a scapegoat."

"That’s not possible." His words made my chest tighten painfully. "Hudson wouldn’t lie to me."

"Maybe not about other things. He treats you well, protects you, would probably give you anything to make you happy. But in this case, he really is lying to protect someone else. Don’t be naive, Christina. Don’t trust him blindly. He might be laughing at how easily fooled you are."

Akira growled, angry at his accusations. I felt her fury coursing through me.

"How dare you say that? I don’t believe a word coming out of your mouth," I snapped, flustered and angry.

But inside, I felt a tiny seed of doubt take root.

"I have proof. If you want the truth, meet me for lunch. I won’t try anything suspicious. I just want to see you. I miss you." Niall hung up before I could refuse.

"Could it be true?" I muttered, my brow furrowed. "Hudson... who would he protect over me?"

I shook my head, scolding myself. "No way. Hudson wouldn’t do that. Niall must be lying."

I got out of bed and started pacing the room.

"I won’t go. I won’t meet him," I decided firmly.

But then a nagging thought crept in: what if I was just deluding myself?

"Damn it, what should I do?" I sighed heavily. "Fine. I’ll go hear what Niall’s up to. See what so-called proof he has."

Over breakfast, I casually asked Hudson, "How exactly did you find out it was Beatrice?"

He looked up from his coffee. "I put Dominic on it. He reached out to contacts in the police force, plus—" he paused. "You remember Kylian and Olivier?"

I nodded. They were Hudson’s old wolves who now ran Titanova Corp, primarily from Europe.

"They made some calls, and traced which organization the gunman worked for. From there, it was straightforward."

"So everything points back to Beatrice?"

Hudson nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious. What about the studio sabotage? How’d she manage to hire a hacker? She claimed she paid for one, but I can’t figure out where she got the contacts, or even the money. From what I understand, Niall left her with almost nothing after their split. Last I knew, she was leaving Highrise City with... with Caroline."

Hudson set down his fork, then looked at me directly. "She did leave, but that was a while ago. I didn’t mention this before, but they—Caroline, Beatrice, and Serenna—moved back to Highrise City last month."

I pressed a hand to my temple. "Right! I forgot. I saw Serenna at the party. I should’ve been more surprised. It completely slipped my mind."

"Dominic has compiled everything—all the evidence, names, dates, payments. If you want, I can have him send you the full file."

I shook my head. "No need. I was just wondering."

Hudson held my gaze for a long moment, his expression unreadable.

I looked down at my plate, suddenly not hungry.

The morning dragged painfully slowly. When noon finally arrived, I practically bolted from the studio.

There, parked not far away, was Niall’s familiar car.