"It seems that you and Isabelle are indeed hiding something from me, Frederick." Matthias replied. The uncomfortable gesture he made indicated his deepening suspicion of us.I, who was close beside him, felt alarmed to death. I wanted to prevent Frederick from saying anything more in front of Matthias, but what if that made him even more suspicious of us?It felt like I was trapped in a thorny bush that entangled my steps, and had nowhere to go."What are you hiding from me that you can bring Estella's name here?" he continued. Matthias had now risen from his seat, and was walking slowly towards where his friend was."Just what are you hiding from me, Frederick? Is it something so big that you dare to challenge your own friend?" he asked persistently. He didn't let Frederick out of the corner of his eye, nor did Frederick.They exchanged cold expressions as if one of them blinked, they would lose."Then you, what are you doing here?" Frederick asked back, not answering Matthias' quest
"Please don't meet me again, Matthias." After saying that, I asked Frederick to take me away from here.Once again, Matthias seemed very insistent on holding my hand and even wanted to pull me from Frederick's arms. Of course I didn't let that happen. I pushed his body roughly as I refused his request with my scarred face.I stared at him like I was disgusted by this whole charade.Matthias, how can you be this gentle with me when you never thought of me yourself? You are the one who has forgotten that night, and you are the one who has trapped me in this unwanted pregnancy.Yet now, you act as if you are the victim. And what's even sadder is myself. I still can't get over my feelings despite Matthias always playing with my heart.___________"Are you alright?" Frederick came to me with a change of clothes that he had just bought at the market.We were currently in the centre of the city, an elite inn reserved only for the Alpha nobility. Frederick was able to secure a room on the hig
"Forget Matthias and accept me as your Alpha, Isabelle." His voice touched something deep in my heart. It was like a poem written from the strands of love.His face reminded me of the many Alphas who had rejected me in the past. How this was the first time an Alpha came and loved me first. And Frederick looked at me longingly. As if I was a very special Omega in his heart.And it was as if he had forgotten that I was an Omega slave and trash who had already slept with another Alpha. Frederick makes me feel special. He made me forget my true identity.And yet, still. At the stab of his gaze that was so warm, I could only see Matthias in my eyes."Can you just for one day—no, one second, just one second forget Matthias and look at me, Isabelle?" he asked so softly. It was as if the weight of the whole world was clasped on his shoulders. "Matthias is an Alpha who will never make you happy. Instead, he'll only think of you as a puppet. Because there is only Estella in his heart."His cold
"Are Frederick's sex skills so bad that you're running away from him like this?" he chirped in a playful manner.Then I threw him the glass I was sipping from because I was annoyed by his words."Don't talk rubbish," I said irritably. "He's not an Alpha bastard like you. Whatever Frederick does, at least he's better than the four of you."Arthur jokingly giggled because he had managed to annoy me. Then he quipped again which once again made my blood rise to a fever pitch."The four of you?" he said. "Isn't it just the three of us? Since Matthias never touched you, he's not part of the mate contract. Unless ... Unless he has slept with you without our knowledge."My eyes widened as I heard him provoke me again. "I know you talk like that just to make me angry. So, congratulations. You've succeeded in doing so.""Hahahaha!" his laughter made me feel even more annoyed. He seemed to really enjoy the agonised expression I made after he deliberately nudged the secret I was harbouring."So?
"He threatened to hurt you if I didn't marry Anastasia," he said.For me, his words were like making half my world fall apart. All kinds of bad premonitions as well as the picture of Arthur's personality in my mind that I had already scribbled, turned into a confusing grey pseudo.As soon as I learnt what made Arthur reject me in favour of marrying Anastasia, my heart turned to mush.So, all this time Arthur was protecting me?"You're not lying, are you?" I said in disbelief. He only glanced at me briefly before throwing his gaze back to the front, as if he could already guess what I was going to say after this."Whether you believe me or not is up to you," he said with a long sigh. "One thing's for sure, I didn't want it to come to this. And you should be careful with Gabriel, Isabelle. He's not just any Alpha. You may not know that he's—"/Knock. Knock. Knock./We both simultaneously turned our heads to the door of this room which was shaking thanks to someone rudely knocking on it.
"William. Let her go. You have no right to accuse her when we haven't got any evidence here." Matthias interrupted us after the medics had taken Arthur from this place.He blocked William who was locking my movement with his hand. And from his gaze alone I could see the seriousness he had. His hands pulled my body roughly to get me out of William's grasp.Which made William furious with his casual attitude."Wow. Since when do you care about other people?" he sneered. "I didn't know you cared so much about Isabelle. Ah, don’t tell me. You are the one who kill Arthur and throw it to Isabelle?""William!" I snapped at him for talking out of turn. "You know I hate it when you bring other people into my business. If you want to accuse me, just accuse me! Don't bring anyone else!"He looked at me very sharply. His alpha aura was so arrogant that it smelled rotten to my nose. His gaze squinted at me in disgust as his sharp smile showed abuse."I hope you didn't really kill Arthur, Isabelle,
'Crap! How could you say that to him, Isabelle! How stupid! Why does your mouth always slipped up like this in front of Matthias!' I cursed myself for blurting out something I shouldn't have."What are you insinuating for if I've never touched you?" he said again. He leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets. He expressed his confusion and suspicion through a gaze that I could not return."Unless ..." He paused his words. Waiting for the reaction of me who had turned pale in front of him. "Unless I did touch you somewhere. Like that dream I've been seeing, where you come to my room every night-""ENOUGH!" I snapped with all my strength. I covered my ears, which were stinging with every word she uttered."Please stop this," I pleaded in a low, shaky voice. "You're wrong, Matthias. I never came to your room. And the Omega in your dream was not me. Moreover, you never touched me either. So stop making idle speculations like this."My breathing was made even more labored as I real
"Telling me to leave?" chirped Matthias in displeasure. "For what, so you can be alone with Isabelle and abuse her again?""Matthias!" I snapped at him as he smiled mockingly, provokingly at Frederick. "Don't make a scene here! Do you want to add to my list of troubles? I'm already a murder suspect here. And don't let them suspect me even more because you're here."My words succeeded in making both of their anger subside. However, Frederick was still at his original intention. He wasn't afraid of Matthias and blatantly pulled my hand to make me fall into his arms."Isabelle," he whispered in my ear, but his eyes were fixed on Matthias as if he wanted to turn the heat up on him. "How about we go to my chamber now? There's a lot I want to discuss with you and certainly not in front of this insolent Alpha."I sucked in my breath deeply at the audacity of Frederick stoking the flames of discord in front of his best friend. Everyone knew Matthias was a temperamental Alpha. Provoking a comm