Marriage with my daughter's father: Darling please be gentle - Chapter 257

Chapter 257: Chapter 257:Because they believe they’ve been wronged by your family

“So you mean to say Alexander and Eric are working together to destroy the Greysons?” Winter asked, her voice unsteady, her eyes locked on Kalix’s.

“But why?”

Kalix’s reply came without pause, his tone smooth and cutting, like a blade through glass. “Because they believe they’ve been wronged by your family.”

The words struck her like stones cast into still water, rippling through her chest until they sank heavy into her bones. Winter wanted to deny it, to argue—but the truth clung, sharp and undeniable.

Her thoughts twisted toward the shadowed name that rose unbidden, the one that had always lingered at the edges of every whispered family scandal.

David Greyson.

Who else could it be?

Her father’s greed had never known limits. Reckless choices, selfish ambition, alliances built not on loyalty but on convenience—David had carved fractures into the Greyson legacy. Fractures that time had only widened. Even Bryson, as steady as stone, had questioned his son’s integrity.

Now those fractures felt like fault lines. Perhaps Eric and Alexander’s rage wasn’t born of her, but of him.

Her lips pressed together, the file trembling in her hands. What if this isn’t just about me? What if it’s about David Greyson’s sins?

“You’re too quiet.” Kalix’s voice slipped into her thoughts, low and steady, cutting through her silence. His gaze pinned her, sharp as though he could see the conclusion forming in her mind. “You’re already piecing it together, aren’t you?”

Winter swallowed hard. “If my father made enemies… then it isn’t just me they’re after. It’s the Greysons as a whole. They don’t just want to ruin us—they want to dismantle everything.”

Kalix inclined his head, as if he’d been waiting for her to say it. “Your father’s greed left cracks in your house. Cracks men like Eric and Alexander are all too eager to split wide open.”

Winter lowered her gaze to the folder again, but the text blurred, her pulse a roar in her ears. All this time I thought Eric’s obsession was personal. But this is bigger. This is war.

Her fingers tightened on the file until her knuckles blanched. “Then tell me, Kalix… how much worse is it going to get?”

For a long moment, silence stretched between them, deliberate and heavy, as if he were weighing whether she was ready for the truth. When he finally spoke, his words were quiet, unflinching.

“Worse than you think. They’ve already secured shares in Greyson Enterprises, struck deals in the shadows, siphoning control piece by piece.” His eyes glinted with dangerous calm. “I’ve combed through every project, every partnership—even the ones your father buried. Eric isn’t the pawn David thought he was manipulating. Eric is orchestrating the board.”

Winter’s stomach dropped. The world tilted under the weight of his words.

“And what about the threats?” she pressed, voice thin. “Why mislead Eric? Why provoke him?”

Kalix leaned back on the couch, crossing one leg over the other in a movement both deliberate and predatory. A slow smile curved across his mouth, cold and lethal.

“Because that’s the thrill. I want Eric to believe he’s pulling your father’s strings… when in truth, it’s me moving the cards.”

Winter’s breath caught. The air seemed heavier, darker. In that moment, Kalix wasn’t just her reluctant husband—he was death cloaked in shadows, ruthless and unyielding. And that smile… it was a warning.

“But we still don’t know who killed Diana,” she said, tossing the file onto the table and leaning back.

Kalix’s expression hardened. He gave a short nod.

“That’s still the question. And I doubt it was Eric… or David.”

Her brows furrowed. “What do you mean? You think someone else is involved—someone we haven’t considered?”

Kalix’s jaw flexed. Silence hung as his mind worked through the gaps. There were still too many holes in the picture, too many threads that didn’t align. He wasn’t ready to put a name to the shadow behind it all. Not yet.

***

Later that night, as they made their way toward the bed, Winter’s steps slowed. Her hand brushed the doorframe, her voice low, hesitant.

“Today… I met Dorothy.”

Kalix stopped mid-step, turning toward her. His gaze sharpened, assessing, the weight of it pressing on her until her breath hitched.

“And?” His tone was clipped, guarded.

Winter hesitated, almost wishing she hadn’t spoken, but the truth pressed forward. “She said Agnes is missing.”

Silence fell between them, heavy, suffocating. Kalix’s arms folded across his chest, his stance rigid. When he finally spoke, his words were measured, edged with steel.

“And she thinks it’s Eric.”

The name cut through the air like a knife. Winter’s pulse quickened, her chest tightening. The implication sank deep, settling like frost in her veins.

If Dorothy was right, Agnes’s disappearance wasn’t an accident. It wasn’t just another piece lost in the chaos. It was a move. Calculated. Deliberate.

And Eric had made it.

“You think he’s planning something?” she asked, her voice smaller than she intended.

“Maybe,” Kalix replied, his eyes narrowing. “But holding Agnes hostage can only mean one thing—she knows too much.” His tone carried a certainty that made her skin prickle.

Winter’s throat tightened. “But what if he tries to hurt her?” Her words rushed out before she could stop them, dread thick in her chest. “You know what he wanted before—he tried to use poison, to get rid of the baby. What if he…” Her voice faltered, the thought too dark to complete.

She swallowed hard, her arms folding protectively across herself as her mind conjured the image.

Agnes might have been many things—deceptive, cruel, complicit—but the baby… Winter’s chest ached. The thought of a child being dragged into Eric’s schemes was unbearable. She hated Agnes, yes, but the innocent life inside her had no part in this war.

A mother could never ignore that.

Kalix’s gaze lingered on her, unflinching. For a moment, his expression softened—just barely—before hardening again. His silence wasn’t comforting; it was damning.

Eric wasn’t just playing games anymore. He was raising the stakes.

“Then it’s time to make a move.” Kalix voice pulled Winter out of her thoughts.

They continued to hold their gaze as if silently communicating, and Winter didn’t question but blindly agreed.