Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 406

The room was filled with a suffocating silence as Margaret Winters’ sharp gaze swept over her husband. She squared her shoulders, her expression unreadable.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to imply,” she said coolly, her tone sharp and unwavering.

“But I’m looking at my husband, Thomas Winters, right now. There’s nothing off about him.”

Ryan’s breath hitched. His gaze flickered between his mother and Steve, waiting for some kind of reaction—a hesitation, a flicker of doubt. But Margaret remained completely convinced that nothing was wrong.

Steve smirked, shaking his head slightly. “Well, Philip,” he said, his voice laced with amusement as he looked at Thomas. “Are you going to start confessing? Or should I spill the truth myself?”

A brief shadow crossed Thomas’s face—a flicker of confusion.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he snapped, his tone edged with irritation.

But Ryan caught something beneath it. Fear.

Steve sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets. “You’re really going to play dumb?” He chuckled, shaking his head. “Fine. I’ll lay it all out.”

His voice hardened.

“I’m Ryan’s father.”

The words slammed into Ryan like a freight train. He felt the air leave his lungs, his body locking up as the world tilted beneath him.

He stared at Steve, his supposed father, unable to speak.

Margaret’s lips parted slightly, her composed features paling.

Ryan barely had time to process it before Steve continued, his voice cutting through the thick silence.

“And the man you all know as Thomas?” Steve’s eyes darkened. “His real name is Philip.”

Ryan’s gaze snapped toward Thomas—or rather, Philip.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Ryan growled, his pulse pounding against his skull.

Philip flinched for a split second, but it was there.

Steve took another step forward. “Philip Winters,” he said, his tone sharp, “was my younger brother. Years ago, he was disowned by our grandfather and cut off from the Winters fortune.”

Ryan clenched his fists. “Why?”

“Because he was greedy,” Steve replied coldly. “He believed he deserved everything. So when he was thrown out, he came up with a plan.”

Ryan’s throat tightened. “What plan?”

“To take my identity.”

The room felt like it had dropped ten degrees.

Ryan’s heartbeat thundered in his ears.

Steve’s gaze was locked onto Philip. “You planned an accident,” he continued. “A fire. You burned my face beyond recognition so I’d be forced to undergo surgery. Meanwhile, you had your own surgery—to take my face.”

Margaret staggered back a step, her hand gripping the railing of the grand staircase.

Ryan clenched his jaw. “And the real Thomas?”

Steve exhaled, his gaze dark. “You’re looking at him.”

Ryan felt as though his entire world had just crumbled.

This man—this stranger—was his real father?

Margaret’s voice was hoarse when she finally spoke. “I don’t believe you.”

Steve’s eyes flickered toward her. “Of course you don’t. Because Philip was smart. He made sure you’d never question him. He changed just enough, gave you just enough of what you wanted, but never too much. He made sure no one would ever suspect him.”

Margaret swallowed hard, her entire body rigid.

Ryan’s breathing shallowed. His mind was spinning.

Philip shook his head violently. “This is ridiculous!” he snapped. “You have no proof! You’re just trying to confuse them!”

Margaret straightened, regaining her composure. “If you’re really my husband,” she said slowly, her voice trembling slightly, “then prove it.”

Steve tilted his head. “What?”

Margaret took a deep breath. “Tell me something only my real husband would know. Something no one else could say.”

A slow, knowing smirk crossed Steve’s face.

“You want proof?” His voice was quiet, confident. “Fine.”

His eyes softened slightly, and when he spoke next, his tone was different. Not the cold, calculating voice he had been using—but something else. Something… familiar.

“Do you remember our tenth wedding anniversary?” Steve asked softly.

Margaret stiffened. “Of course I do.”

Steve chuckled. “No, you don’t. You always say you do, but you always get the details wrong.” He took a small step forward. “We were supposed to have dinner at the Grand Lux, but we never made it. It rained that night. You were wearing a red dress, and your heel snapped on the sidewalk. I laughed because you swore at it, and I had never heard you curse before.”

Margaret’s breath caught in her throat.

“You wanted to go home, but I said no.” Steve’s eyes softened further. “So we ended up at that little diner on 5th Avenue instead. You were furious because you thought it wasn’t special enough. But when we walked inside…” He paused. “That was the first time I ever saw you cry. Because you realized it wasn’t about the restaurant. It was about the person you were with.”

Margaret’s lips parted, her eyes wide with shock.

Because he was right.

She had never told anyone that story.

She covered her mouth, her entire body trembling.

Philip’s face had gone deathly pale.

But Steve wasn’t done.

His gaze shifted to Ryan. “You want proof too?”

Ryan didn’t speak. Couldn’t.

Steve exhaled. “You were five the first time I took you fishing. You whined the entire time because you didn’t catch anything, but then you hooked the biggest fish of the day.” He chuckled. “You were so scared of it that you ran off and made me reel it in for you.”

Ryan’s stomach twisted.

Because he remembered that.

Philip had never taken him fishing. But someone had.

Ryan’s throat tightened.

Margaret gasped. Her knees buckled.

Before anyone could react, she collapsed.

Ryan rushed forward just as his mother crumpled to the floor, unconscious. “Mom!”

“Get a doctor!” one of the officers shouted.

Philip took a desperate step forward, but the police grabbed him.

“You’re under arrest,” the officer said firmly.

“No!” Philip thrashed against their hold. “You can’t do this! I built this family! I built this empire!”

Steve’s smirk was gone. His face was like stone.

“You built nothing,” Steve said coldly. “You stole.”

Philip let out a strangled cry of rage, but it was useless. The officers forced him toward the waiting police car.

Ryan, meanwhile, was kneeling beside his mother, gently shaking her. “Mom, wake up.”

Margaret’s face was pale, her breathing shallow.

“She’s in shock,” Steve said, kneeling beside them. “We need to get her to a hospital.”

Ryan nodded quickly. “I’ll take her.”

The officers helped lift Margaret’s unconscious form into one of the cars.

Ryan turned one last time, watching as Philip was shoved into the police vehicle.

The man he had called his father for a long while without realizing he wasn’t his real father.

And as the car door slammed shut, reality crashed down on him.

Nothing would ever be the same again.

“What other truth is out there? Now I understand why he could fuck Kate!”