Chapter 425: A dead man’s message.

Zyra bounced out of bed, completely refreshed. Looking around the room, she noticed something odd. The room was clean. Not just clean_ it was organized with precise, terrifying perfection. Every blanket fold was straight, and every item on the dresser was aligned at a perfect ninety-degree angle. Even the wedding dress was nicely folded and laid perfectly on the sofa.

It was not exactly how she pictured the bedroom of a couple after their wedding night. Zyra clearly recalled spilling wine on the floor. Bianca had popped champagne near the window which spilled everywhere. Spice had set off a popper with sprinkles which made everyone think they were under attack.

It had been a crazy night, but there was no evidence of that now.

Zyra snorted. "Yup. Hunter definitely did this. Only that man cleans like he’s preparing for a military inspection."

After a long, relaxing shower that left her smelling like sweet vanilla, Zyra threw on a comfy outfit and grabbed her link band from the vanity table. She grinned, ready to scroll through the wild pictures from last night’s party. Achilles had promised to send as many as he took and she wanted to see how much of a fool, she had made of herself.

But as soon as her screen lit up, a notification caught her eye. It was a text message from Samuel, sent right in the middle of the night.

Zyra wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ugh. What does this candidate for worst father of the year want now?" She crossed her arms and sneered at the screen, already predicting the contents. "Let me guess. He’s texting to beg me to save his darling little daughter, Lita, and the rest of their useless family."

The thought of Samuel and his precious Lita shivering, hungry, and miserable in some broken-down, rickety house made Zyra cackle out loud. With everything that she had going on, she had not had the time to think about them. The last news she heard about Lita had come from Loveline who claimed Lita was on the run and hiding in another nation.

She propped herself up against the edge of the bed and tapped the message open, ready to enjoy every single word of his pathetic begging.

"Come on, Samuel, let me see you beg," she giggled, a triumphant smirk spreading across her face as she read the message: Zyra, if you are reading this, then it means I am dead.

Zyra’s smirk instantly froze. "Wait... what?" she muttered.

She blinked once. Twice. Her eyes narrowed into tiny slits as her eyes scrambled down the screen.

Samuel wasn’t begging. He wasn’t apologizing. He didn’t ask for money, food, or a warm house. Instead, the text was a wild, messy confession, spelling out every dirty secret_ including the bomb that Lita wasn’t even his, but Logan’s biological daughter all along.

Zyra’s jaw hit the floor. "Hold on. Hold the phone. What kind of comedic horror movie is this!?"

She rubbed her eyes, half-expecting the text to change into a punchline, but it just kept getting worse. There was no ’I’m sorry, Zyra’, no ’Please forgive me’. Just cold truths and one final, chilling instruction at the very bottom of the screen:

Watch the attached video.

Zyra stood frozen in the spotless room, staring at the little video file icon, her heart suddenly pounding ten times faster than it had with her hangover. Without wasting any time, she tapped the video and watched it straight to the end.

Her jaw didn’t just drop_ it practically fell off her face. The link band slipped right through her fingers and went clatter! onto the floor.

"Oh heavens! This... this..." The words trailed off into thin air as her brain completely short-circuited.

Her mind was swirling like a blender on high speed. She honestly didn’t know which part was supposed to blow her mind more: finding out that Lita was never actually a Frood, or the crazy fact that Logan had straight-up murdered his own daughter. It was like a trashy daytime drama, but ten times worse!

The bedroom door slammed shut so hard the walls rattled. Zyra jumped out of her skin.

Hunter stormed into the room. He didn’t have any breakfast in his hands, and his knuckles were squeezed so tight they turned completely white.

"The nerve of that man..." Hunter hissed, grinding his teeth.

"Hmm?" Zyra made a confused little humming sound, still half-frozen from her video revelation. "What man?"

"Logan Spegger," Hunter snapped, his eyes flashing with fire. "He has some nerve showing up at this house to present you with a gift!"

Zyra blinked. "Wait...again?"

"I developed a deep hatred for him after knowing that he has an interest in you. And quote me right I am not threatened by him in any way, but his wife just died! And I know for sure that he is after you because he knows that you can control beasts or because you could become the divine maiden." Hunter growled, cracking his knuckles with a sound like snapping branches. "I swear, I wanted to reshape his entire face right then and there. He should be glad he came here with Mr. Claw today, because that’s the only reason I didn’t throw him out on his buttocks!"

Zyra’s eyes went wide. She bounced right up from the bed like a cat that just saw a cucumber. "Wait! Logan is here? Right now?!"

Hunter paused, his angry scowl turning into a confused frown as he watched her start frantically pacing back and forth across the room. "Yeah. He brought his clan’s men, plus the Claw family. They’re seated in the visitor’s lounge and grandfather has received them already." He narrowed his eyes at her. "What’s wrong with you? Why do you look like you just saw a ghost? Did he do anything that has made you feel uncomfortable? Say like sexually harass you or anything like that? Babe give me just one reason to start a world war."

Zyra didn’t answer right away. She let out a long, trembling sigh, scooped her link band off the floor, and marched straight toward the bedroom door like a woman on a mission.

"Zyra? Where are you going?" Hunter called out, hurrying after her.

"To take off Logan’s mask!" Zyra tossed over her shoulder, clutching her phone like a loaded weapon. "I do not know why that man came here but, he does not deserve to be the mayor of the capital. He is about to get a taste of oath sap."