KESTER.
The silence in my office was a strange land of loud. Even with Lance droning on about the weekly updates, every word felt like a whisper slipping through a fog
It was becoming increasingly difficult to stay even a second without being around or seeing Kasmine.
Fuck.
It was all getting to my head, and 1 didn’t know how much longer I could deal with this distance she was forcing
011115
My heart kept beating at an unhealthy speed, and, fuck… I needed her like an antidote. I was gradually losing my
shit
“So the farmers are requesting Keliud fertilizer to the previous one we used before,” Lance finished a sentence he made that practically flew over my attention.
I nodded slowly, rubbing the heel of my palm against my brow. “Get it for them.”
He paused. I could feel his gaze on me, like he was waiting for me to actually engage. But I didn’t have the strength to fake it today.
Hell, I hadn’t slept properly. Not since I walked out of her room last night with her voice still echoing in my ears.
“I could never love you…”
Right
“About Karina…” Lance began after a brief pause, getting my attention, “Now that she’s in the pack under the guise of having issues with her mate, don’t you think she’s posing more threats?”
I leaned back in the chair, exhaling a breath I had been holding… Probably to see how dying would feel… Maybe it would save me from this heartache.
My fingers found my temple again, circling slowly as if I could somehow massage away the dull throb that had taken root behind my eyes.
Lance had a point. He was smart, young and intelligent. And sometimes, one would wonder why he wasn’t my close friend. Truly, he was sharp enough to earn my trust but too damn principled to ever be my friend. He worshipped the gods of discipline, honor, morals, and doing the right thing. He was the kind of man who’d burn the world down before crossing a line.
Which is exactly why he could never know I’d already crossed mine. Over and over again.
Imagine his reaction if he ever found out that I was fucking my stepsister and wanting her like a sin.
Lance would rip his own head off.
“Karina’s not a threat,” I said finally, “She’s under control
Lange didn’t respond right away. I could feel him still watching me, probably trying to read the reason I sounded like I was one breath away from falling apart.
“I actually hope she stays a little longer,” I added, eyes fixed on a meaningless spot on the wall.
The room fell quiet again. Lance had either run out of words or decided to let me stew in my own silence. He was still standing across from my desk, arms crossed while his posture was stiff with confusion or concern–I
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couldn’t tell which, and I didn’t care enough to ask.
My phone buzzed on the table.
I didn’t look at it immediately. The vibration skittered across the surface like an insect, and it irritated me to my
core.
I already knew who it was. This was the sixth time this morning I was getting a text.
I finally dragged my gaze to the screen to see what she had said this time around.
June: What should I wear for dinner tonight? I’m thinking that blue dress your mother said made me look respectable…..
My jaw ticked. I didn’t answer.
She was talking about the dinner my parents had planned–one of those performative family gatherings to make June feel like she was already part of the family legacy. A pre–engagement, pre–dowry, pre–prison celebration. It felt more like a funeral with wine and fake laughter because that’s all it would be for me.
The phone buzzed again.
This time, she was calling.
Lignored the call with a hiss
It rang again immediately like she had been poised with her thumb above the call button, ready for my rejection.
This time, I snatched the phone.
“What the fu “I was halfway to unleashing the venom when I caught the name on the screen.
Alfred.
I exhaled and answered the phone,
“Alfred.”
There was a pause on the line. Then the voice came through, oily and very cautious.
san
“Alpha. Good morning.”
I leaned back in the chair, phone pressed to my ear, rubbing my temple again. “Yes?”
Alfred cleared his throat. “I have… updates.”
I straightened slowly. Lance was still standing there, and I waved him off without looking, “We’ll talk later.”
He hesitated, then nodded and stepped out.
“Go on,” I said into the phone.
Alfred paused again as though swallowing a lump the size of his conscience. Or maybe it was just fear. I hoped it was fear.
“It’s done,” he finally said. “Just like you planned.”
I tilted my head, a faint curl at the edge of my mouth–somewhere between a smirk and a snarl. “You gave him the bait?”
“Yes, Alpha. I told Alpha Kex that the company’s internal accounts were bleeding and that your liquidity had dried
- up.
He took the hook. Hard.”
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A beat passed. The satisfaction settled into my bones llloe whiskey. Slow, warm, and dangerous.
“How hard?” I asked.
“Very,” Alfred breathed out. “He put in a massive short last night–millions. His traders believe your firm will be bankrupt in under two quarters. He’s expecting the announcement by the end of the week. He even told his investors you’re on the verge of collapsing. They’re backing him.”
My lips parted slightly, then pressed together as I leaned forward, elbows on the desk. “And the acquisition?
Alfred chuckled nervously. “He’s making a bid for Elvric Systems today. Full–on takeover. He’s confident you’re too broke to match it.”
I could’ve laughed, but I didn’t. I only stared at the far end of my office where the glass pane reflected my silhouette–one man sitting in a high chair, quietly waiting for the flames to catch where he’d already poured the gasoline.
Kex was going to burn himself trying to steal from a house he thought was collapsing.
Good.
I let the silence linger a little longer before I spoke again. “You’re sure no one else knows?”
“Only me and his head of finance, and she’s too afraid of him to question the financial decisions he’s making, And I’ve already deleted the trail linking it back to us.”
I nodded to myself. “You did well.”
Alfred didn’t reply immediately, like he wasn’t sure if that was praise or the calm before his execution.
“I need this to stay between us,” I added, “You breathe a word of this, even in your sleep, and I’ll know.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“I don’t care if the walls around you start whispering–keep your fucking mouth shut.”
“Yes, Alpha.”
I paused for a second before speaking again. “The Elvric team can proceed now.”
“Yes, Alpha. They’re ready to move forward.”
I nodded slowly, a smirk pulling at the corner of my mouth “Make sure they do a perfect job. No traces. Kex won’t know what hit him.”
I let another small pause breathed into the line, then added, “And Alfred?”
“…Yes?
“You’re not doing this for me.”
He hesitated.
“You’re doing it because when you betrayed me the first time, I spared your life. This is your atonement. You don’t get to feel clever for doing what I told you to.”
“…Understood.”
I hung up.
No need for goodbyes. Goodbyes were for people who’d earned them.
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Chapter 131
I tossed the phone down on the table and dragged my hand over my face. The rush was brief–like biting into something sweet and sour at the same time. There was pleasure in it, but it left my mouth dry.
Kex would bleed.
Whenever he sees me, he would see the devil he once underestimated.
The phone buzzed again.
June.
I picked it up and typed three words. “Wear anything black. I hit send.
Because grief looked good in black
And I was about to start a funeral.
