The Return of the Fallen Luna: Rise of the Heiress-Chapter 24 Erase Her Traces

But there was nothing that Maddison wanted.

Maddison watched it all unfold with cold satisfaction, the slow death of her former mother, the helpless pleas, the unraveling of the woman she despised. To her, this was not cruelty, but a form of retribution.

The woman who had taken her life from her, who had condemned her to eighteen years of misery, was finally paying the price. And as Ashley’s world crumbled before her, Maddison felt something bloom within her chest, which was disturbingly satisfying and consuming.

As Ashley begged—voice breaking, pride long cast aside—she felt a weak hand close over hers, the one pressed desperately against the bleeding wound.

Her mother’s fingers trembled, then gently pulled her hand away, smearing it deeper with blood. Before Ashley could understand what her mother was trying to do, that same hand shifted, pressing Ashley’s hand over her mother’s chest, guiding her to the pendant hidden beneath her mother’s clothes.

With fading strength and pleading eyes, her mother urged her to take it... and keep it, as if that was the only thing she could still ask of her daughter before she dies.

Ashley’s sobs broke into a wail as she leaned closer, her world collapsing in that single, unbearable moment. Then she felt the faint exhale against her skin, fragile and final. No breath followed.

Ashley froze.

And then it hit her.

Her mother was gone.

Her body trembled violently as she clutched her, sobbing uncontrollably, the weight of helplessness crushing down on her until it felt impossible to breathe.

In that crushing moment, Ashley understood a truth she had never been forced to face. The strength she once believed was hers had never truly belonged to her; but instead it had been the weight of her title, the authority of being the Alpha’s daughter. That was what drew fear, and what earned her admiration. Without it, she was nothing. She was powerless.

And because of that weakness... she couldn’t even protect the one person who mattered most.

Her breath hitched as the realization settled deep, sharp, and unforgiving. She had thought herself capable, thought she still held worth even stripped of her title, but now it felt like nothing more than arrogance, a fragile illusion she had clung to. Reality had torn it apart without mercy, leaving her exposed, small, and unbearably helpless.

The pain hollowed her out from within until even breathing felt like a burden. And in that suffocating grief, a single, dangerous thought flickered through her mind: it would be easier... if she simply stopped existing.

But why should she be the one to die? She had done nothing wrong. All she ever did was refuse to surrender and to refuse to let her life be decided in someone else’s hands. Her mother was gone... and with her last strength, she had asked Ashley to live on in her stead.

That alone was reason enough.

No... she couldn’t die. Not like this. No, this would only make Maddison happier.

Ashley drew a shuddering breath, grief still clawing at her chest, but beneath it, something steadier began to take shape. If she had nothing left—no title, no protection—then she would live on her own terms. For her mother. And for herself.

"Oh, what a poor thing... your mother is dead," Maddison murmured, her tone light with mockery as she gave a soft, amused clap. "But don’t worry, your life won’t be any better than hers, so you’d best brace yourself."

Her gaze slid to the warriors at her side, cold and decisive. "Take her. Lock her in that room. And clean this place thoroughly. I don’t want a single trace of her left. Not even her scent. It disgusts me."

Disdain flickered in her eyes as she cast Ashley one final, satisfied look before taking in the broken figure on the floor. Then, after she had enough looking, she turned away with a casual flick of her hair.

With her mood lifted, she stepped out of the villa, already intent on finding Nathan, as though what she had just done was nothing more than a passing inconvenience.

"Yes, Luna!" the warriors answered in unison.

The warrior’s agreement struck Ashley harder than anything else. It told her everything she had failed to see before. These were Nathan’s men, and the fact that they had already acknowledged Maddison as their Luna, even before the mating ceremony, before any mark was ever given.

The change had already taken root long ago... and she had been the only one left in the dark.

A hollow, bitter feeling rose in her chest, twisting into something that pushed her to feel both laughing and falling into tears at once. How had she not noticed? How had everything shifted beneath her feet without a single warning?

But none of it hurt as much as what lay before her. Her mother was just found, only to be lost again. They hadn’t even been given time... not a moment to speak, to hold onto each other, to make up for the years torn between them.

And that absence, more than anything, broke her.

"Don’t touch me, let go!" Ashley roared as the warriors seized her arms and tore her away from her mother. She clung desperately, fingers digging in as if sheer will could keep her there, but a brutal yank broke her hold, dragging her back and leaving her mother’s body abandoned on the cold floor.

In that last, frantic moment, Ashley managed to rip the pendant free from her mother’s neck, clutching it tight even as she struggled, twisting and fighting to break loose. But two hands could not stand against eight.

And now, stripped of her title, she was nothing to them.

Where they had once held back out of respect, out of pretense, there was no restraint left now, only indifference. Their grips were merciless, their strength unyielding, and in her broken state, she couldn’t match them at all.

In the end, no matter how hard she fought, Ashley was dragged away, pulled up the stairs, farther and farther from the one person she couldn’t bear to leave behind.

While she struggled, the two warriors dragged her up the stairs and into a room she knew far too well, knew in ways that now made her skin crawl. The moment she saw it, she froze, a sharp, disorienting shock running through her.

This was her bedroom. The one meant to be hers and Nathan’s.

So when Maddison said to lock her in that room... this was what she meant?

A bitter, nauseating realization settled in. Was this another way to break her? To force her to face what had already been defiled and make her remember that they had sex right here?

The sheets were still tangled, the space in disarray, and the air... the air was thick, clinging, reeking of sweat and cum. It hit her all at once, invasive and suffocating, as she could still feel the echo of what they had done here. Her stomach twisted violently, bile rising sharply in her throat.

She wanted to retch.

But the warriors gave her no time to fall apart. They dragged her forward, past the bed, toward the half-length mirror at its foot. The familiar table stood there, just as she had once arranged it, decorated with a vase of flowers, a few books, and a row of delicate figurines.