82EMILY’S POV.“What?” She asked, angrily, but I continued walking away. She didn’t deserve an explanation from me. It didn’t matter whatever she did. We’d ruin her before she even got a chance to talk or be listened to.If I saw she was about to speak, I would stop her, then her secrets would be blown out, and she wouldn’t even be listened to.I got to the corridor of my room, and saw John leaning against my door. He raised his head, and I gave a little sigh.I walked towards him, and stood in front of him.“Move. That’s my room.”“I know.”“Then move. I need to prepare for dinner. You should too. You reek of sweat.” I said, making to walk past him. He grabbed my hand, and pushed me backwards.“I need answers. What is going on between you and Lucas? Tell me. You still belong to me.”“In your dreams.” I retorted.“Tell me, Emily! I saw you both in the library, laughing. Just the both of you in that library. What were you saying?”“You couldn’t even pick on that? What are your ears fo
83EMILY’S POV.I could feel the shock in the air. It was stiff and tense. Even Lucas had stopped eating. John looked like he had heard news of someone dying. Lady Genevieve stared at Mandy like she was trying to decipher if she was saying the truth of not.Lady Mira’s jaw was open, and Alpha Will and Alpha Raymond were expressionless.“What are you saying?” Alpha Raymond asked her, dropping his cutlery.“I’m saying…”“Wait, wait, wait… you mean what you just said?” Lady Mira asked.“Yes, it is a hundred percent true.” Mandy replied, feeling more confident by the moment.“Mandy, stop spinning lies. It’s not nice.” Katie said, but I knew she only wanted someone to tell her it wasn’t true.“They’re not lies, Katie. Do I look like I would come here, and spill crazy nonsense? I said it because everyone deserves to know the truth.” Mandy replied, and I swallowed.It was over. She had said it before we could play her nasty videos. We were doomed. There was nothing we could do at that junctu
84EMILY’S POV.It felt like something was roaring inside my chest instead of my heart.“Pregnant? Bullshit. Are you pregnant, Emily? Are we expecting a baby bump?” Sadie asked, and I looked at her. Then, it hit me.“No. No baby bump. I’m not pregnant.” I said, like I was just realizing it. I had never been happier to say the truth so sweetly.“Lucas?” Alpha Raymond asked.“You heard her.” Lucas replied.“I can do a test. A pregnancy test.” I said, immediately.“She’s never puked in front of me.” Sadie said.“I don’t think I’ve seen her sick in the morning.” Derel chipped in.“Mandy’s looking for people to drag down. Why would Emily be pregnant for Lucas?” Derella asked, and scoffed.“She didn’t look sick when she picked me up from school.” Jude put in.“I’m not pregnant.”“You are! Sadie said it!” Mandy blurted out.“That was only to lead you on to destruction. Because I hate seeing your annoying face, and wanted you gone. Emily said you can do a test. Why don’t you do it?” Sadie ask
1EMILY’S POV“Ouch!” I withdrew my hand immediately from the oven and saw that my mitten had a hole in it. “This is going to sting.” I remarked, looking at it in anger. Then I turned to the sink and turned on the tap.“Did you hurt yourself, Miss?” Dahlia asked, coming into the kitchen.“Oh, it’s just a little burn.” I replied, although it was obvious on my face that even as little as the burn was, it hurt badly.Dahlia browsed through the cupboards, and in a minute, she had taken my hand and dabbed it in cool honey.“My mom always did this. You’ll heal just fine, but she never hesitated to dab honey on skin whenever it got burned.” She explained, and I watched her. It must have been nice to remember her mother. Dahlia’s mother was long dead and gone, and the only family Dahlia had were her two children.She never talked much about her children, but Dahlia had been more than a mother to me. She kept the house clean, cooked, and never hesitated to listen to me whenever I needed it.Al
2EMILY’S POV.My heart went into a slow beat, and it seemed like everything had stopped. Maybe I was the only one who stopped.John, who smiled like the sun...John, who saw only me...John, who couldn’t wait for us to get married.John, who watched old movies and made cliché statements because I knew I loved them.John, who swore to give his everything to me...John, who was on the bed, groaning and cloaked in the shiny fabric of perspiration, was before me.The girl’s hair shielded her face as she continued to let out soft cries, and it was only when I staggered backwards that they stopped.John pushed her off him frantically, and she rolled off the bed to the floor, grabbing the sheets and covering herself with them.My heart seemed like it was about to explode with each beat.I tried taking deep breaths, but I couldn’t deny the hot tears that wanted to come running down.“Emily.” He called with a cracked voice, and I looked at their clothes on the floor, strewn in different place
3EMILY’S POV.I grabbed his hands and pulled them off, throwing them away from me, and turned to him.“What the heck do you think you’re doing?” I asked, looking at him with surprise, but it felt like a drum hitting my head. I staggered, and he caught me again.“What am I doing?” He asked, and I tried to pry my hands out of his, but he held on to my wrist firmly.“You know what you’re doing. How could you approach me for the sake of doing this? You’re a jerk! A traitor!” I accused him, with my words slurring.“A traitor?”“I thought we were comrades!” I shouted in an uneven tone and swayed on my feet once more, but he caught me by the waist.“Comrades? You’re drunk. I’m only trying to get you to your room.” He said, and in pretense of brushing my hair backwards, he brushed his palm over my breasts once more, and I pushed him away.“I asked what you think you’re doing!” I shouted, but my eyes couldn’t even open properly anymore.“I’m getting you to your room.”“All men are the same. Y
4EMILY’S POV.I sat opposite John on the sofa in his house, with my heart beating wild. He stared at me with those intense, deep sea-blue eyes of his, and none of us talked.Then a lady came down from the stairs, wearing a bikini top and pants. How could she come down with just that when the fiancée of the man she was having an affair with was sitting right there in front of her?“What is all this, John? What have I ever done to you?” I finally asked as the lady made her way to him, sitting on his lap.“I should also ask you that.” He returned, and I furrowed my brows until someone sat next to me. I turned sharply and saw a man whose physique looked oddly like the man I slept with. “Didn’t you sleep with him?” John accused me, and I got to my feet.“I… wait. You have to listen.” I turned to the man, who had come out of nowhere. He was smiling, and I felt disgusted and scared.Then John came to stand next to me.“So, how about we bury this and not make any noise?” He asked.“No! Yeste
5LUCAS’ POV.My eyelids fluttered open slowly, and my eyes hit the white, unfamiliar ceiling. Everywhere was cold, and I looked to my side for evidence that a steamy night had really happened between me and a total stranger.The bed was empty. I was the only one in it, but I couldn’t fool myself into thinking that nothing had happened the previous night. Her scent still lingered on the sheets, and the lotion she had used on her hair seemed to be stuck directly in my nose. I sat up in my bed and thought hard, running my hands through my hair.Why had I suddenly done such a horrible thing? The night had been fast, and everything was so rushed that I had been caught up in it. At first, I had tried to resist, but she was so alluring, and I couldn’t take my eyes off her.She had just triggered me in ways I had never been triggered before.Maybe I needed to admit it, but the moment she walked into the bar, I was taken by her beauty. Her beauty was simple yet enchanting. Till she took her s
84EMILY’S POV.It felt like something was roaring inside my chest instead of my heart.“Pregnant? Bullshit. Are you pregnant, Emily? Are we expecting a baby bump?” Sadie asked, and I looked at her. Then, it hit me.“No. No baby bump. I’m not pregnant.” I said, like I was just realizing it. I had never been happier to say the truth so sweetly.“Lucas?” Alpha Raymond asked.“You heard her.” Lucas replied.“I can do a test. A pregnancy test.” I said, immediately.“She’s never puked in front of me.” Sadie said.“I don’t think I’ve seen her sick in the morning.” Derel chipped in.“Mandy’s looking for people to drag down. Why would Emily be pregnant for Lucas?” Derella asked, and scoffed.“She didn’t look sick when she picked me up from school.” Jude put in.“I’m not pregnant.”“You are! Sadie said it!” Mandy blurted out.“That was only to lead you on to destruction. Because I hate seeing your annoying face, and wanted you gone. Emily said you can do a test. Why don’t you do it?” Sadie ask
83EMILY’S POV.I could feel the shock in the air. It was stiff and tense. Even Lucas had stopped eating. John looked like he had heard news of someone dying. Lady Genevieve stared at Mandy like she was trying to decipher if she was saying the truth of not.Lady Mira’s jaw was open, and Alpha Will and Alpha Raymond were expressionless.“What are you saying?” Alpha Raymond asked her, dropping his cutlery.“I’m saying…”“Wait, wait, wait… you mean what you just said?” Lady Mira asked.“Yes, it is a hundred percent true.” Mandy replied, feeling more confident by the moment.“Mandy, stop spinning lies. It’s not nice.” Katie said, but I knew she only wanted someone to tell her it wasn’t true.“They’re not lies, Katie. Do I look like I would come here, and spill crazy nonsense? I said it because everyone deserves to know the truth.” Mandy replied, and I swallowed.It was over. She had said it before we could play her nasty videos. We were doomed. There was nothing we could do at that junctu
82EMILY’S POV.“What?” She asked, angrily, but I continued walking away. She didn’t deserve an explanation from me. It didn’t matter whatever she did. We’d ruin her before she even got a chance to talk or be listened to.If I saw she was about to speak, I would stop her, then her secrets would be blown out, and she wouldn’t even be listened to.I got to the corridor of my room, and saw John leaning against my door. He raised his head, and I gave a little sigh.I walked towards him, and stood in front of him.“Move. That’s my room.”“I know.”“Then move. I need to prepare for dinner. You should too. You reek of sweat.” I said, making to walk past him. He grabbed my hand, and pushed me backwards.“I need answers. What is going on between you and Lucas? Tell me. You still belong to me.”“In your dreams.” I retorted.“Tell me, Emily! I saw you both in the library, laughing. Just the both of you in that library. What were you saying?”“You couldn’t even pick on that? What are your ears fo
81EMILY’S POV.I scrolled upwards to a safe place where they had talked about Katie, and took my hand off Sadie’s eyes.“What was on it?” She snapped.“I guess your eight-year-old brain can’t guess.” George teased, and she made to scroll, but we both swatted her hand away.“Something really dirty. Something like what you saw him doing in the garden.” I said, and her little fingers flew to her mouth.“She is so screwed.” She said, excitedly, and screamed in happiness. “We have to copy everything onto a flashdrive. You have one, George?” She asked.“You know how to use it?” He asked, and she stuffed her hands into his bag.“Don’t joke with me.” She replied.“Wait, shouldn’t we just threaten her with this, and send her away quietly?” I asked.“Going soft? You’re free. I never go soft. She’s going to get double. She was disrespectful to me, and gloated about Derella being gay. There’s no way I’m letting her off easily. If she could show John her body, then it won’t be that embarrassing t
80EMILY’S POV.“Mandy!” I called sharply, getting up from my chair to chase after her. “Mandy!” I called, grabbing her arm, and turning her just before she opened the door to the foyer.“Let go.” She said, wringing her hand out of mine in disgust.“Okay, just calm down, okay? Let’s talk.”“We already talked, but you didn’t wait to listen to everything I wanted to tell you, did you?” She asked.“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Just wait.”“I spoke to Lucas yesterday, and he hurt my pride.”“I’m sorry about that, but you need to think about this. We’re both going to go down if you do this.”“You should fear the people who have nothing to lose. Yesterday, he reminded me I have nothing to lose. I have no influential family, or an image I’m trying to uphold, so I guess I’m fine with whatever happens. Let’s go down together.” She said, turning away, but I turned her back again.“Wait! Okay, wait, you seriously need to think about this. They’re not people you mess with just like that! Hear me out. H
79EMILY’S POV.“You’re going to destroy who?” Lucas asked, “Emily?”“Yes. Because no one gets in my way. I get what I want. She crossed me.”“Who are you? Some rich Alpha’s daughter? Is your father known?” He asked, acting clueless. “I thought you were just some secretary John pitied and picked up because you opened your chest?”“What?”“I’m asking what you can do compared to what I can do. Are you that fearless that you have no regard for how the life of a woman like you can end quickly when she crosses the wrong person?” He asked, and Mandy took a step back, although I was pretty sure she didn’t intend to do that.“What?”“No one gets in your way, well, no one gets in mine too. I get what I want, and if you decide to cross me, then you’ll be destroyed too.”“Now unveiling your true colors?” She finally asked, getting her tongue.“I never hid it. Did I ever speak softly to you? It was there in plain sight for you to see. Jail is always open for women like you who don’t mind their bu
78EMILY’S POV.I stared at the photo with my throat feeling like it was bringing back all the things I had eaten. It was definitely Mandy, who had sent it through an unknown number.What was her deal? Why was she so obsessed with making sure she pulled me down? Did she want to get married to John or Lucas, which one of them? I only barely escaped the elders’ meeting. They said they’d be putting an eye on me to see that I didn’t disgrace their family, but she was there, busy trying to make me rot in jail, without committing a crime.Lucas got up to scan the area, but I knew it was no use. She’d have taken the picture minutes ago, gotten back to safety, then settle to send the picture, so she wouldn’t get caught.Lucas returned after a while, and by then, I was already thinking of whatever I could be framed for doing. Seducing a Granger? Causing trouble for the family?“Whoever sent it will ask for something before using it. We should know who took it then.”“It’s Mandy.” I said, stari
77LUCAS’ POV.I wondered what Emily would probably be going through.“Can’t you just do this by yourself? I have to check on someone at home.” I told Tray, who had pranked me to come to his house, so we could work together.“Nope. These days, I’ve been doing all the work. You have all these documents to look over. Appointments, contracts, requests, reports, employment… They’re too much for me to handle.” He said, without looking up from the document he was going through.“I know I’ve been a little distracted lately, but I really have to check on someone at home.” I said, feeling desperate.Emily was probably going to be scared out of her wits, and Sadie was no help. I doubted Sadie would say anything that would be useful to Emily. What if my siblings found a way to pry the truth of her mouth?What if she confessed that we did sleep with each other once? Will was good at cornering people. She wouldn’t know when he managed to force the answer from her lips. Except he wanted to keep obs
76EMILY’S POV.Why couldn’t I speak? Maybe I was just so terrified by their looks, and awfully aware that if anything went wrong, I was in trouble.It felt like just sitting there watching them would give me a panic attack.“You are sleeping with him.” Lady Mira said in horror, and I shook my hands and head immediately. It was only then that the words came pouring out.“Why would I sleep with him? He’s John’s uncle. I can’t forget that. John would be so mad, and if the news gets out, we’ll be in trouble. I can’t do that to the family. Lucas and I are just friends. There’s nothing going on between us. If you ask Sadie, she’ll tell you. She was the one who wanted us to be friends in the first place. I’m not sleeping with Lucas. He also can’t do that to John. They’re like brothers. I’m engaged to John. That is impossible. I don’t want you thinking I have something sexual to do with him.” I blurted out, breathing faster.“Then why didn’t you say a thing when we asked you?” Alpha Raymond