Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 56: No sense.

Leilani.

By Monday, I resumed at work as if everything that happened over the weekend never did. Like I never had to face my idiotic mates who refused to reject me. Like I never had to undergo the unnerving torture of living through them fucking another woman only hours later.

Ha!

That’s a lie!

I was still stewing from all the happenings of the weekend. Still mad at the stupid triplets I was cursed to be mated with. My skin was still blistered in places I’d scratched in desperation, while I tried to fight the searing ache burning through my skin, and the anguish spreading through my veins like fire.

And as clapback, I spent all of Sunday perfecting the programming language prototype I’ve been pushing off for a while now. The software that had all the features their recently acquired one; ’TRAGUS’ did and more.

Wayyy more.

Since I couldn’t fight them physically and legally, then maybe financially, I could. Maybe I could steal all of their investors, bring them over to Frostclaw— a lot of them were already begging to partner with us in the first place— and then release a storm into the market. Like the kind I’d just created.

I bounced through the halls in good spirits, and if I must say so myself, my smile was as blinding as the fluorescent lights shining above my head.

I ran into Jarek as soon as I got into the elevator, and when he saw me, he froze for a second, his eyes roving over my body cautiously, as he asked;

"You came?"

"Of course, I would!" I answered lightly.

Between Jarek and I, a lot of unanswered questions still remained. Feelings which were left unchecked still hung between us. But since he doesn’t wish to speak about it, I wouldn’t either. I drawled; "I created something."

And at that, Jarek’s ears perked up. He glanced at me, his expression soft, something akin to admiration slipping into his gaze before he coughed and straightened his suit.

"You always create groundbreaking stuff, Leilani. What did you do this time?"

The comment washed over me warmly. It made my cheeks flare with heat. I ducked my head shyly, suddenly too embarrassed to meet his gaze. "Let’s go to your office first."

We got off the elevator moments later and strolled into his office. By the time we passed by Yvette’s desk, she smiled at us, and winked at me, a blush staining her face.

"Welcome Ms Sinclair, welcome Alpha Frostclaw."

I turned to Jarek after we were out of ear shot, my voice dropping into a whisper as I said; "I think she thinks we’re a couple."

"Everyone thinks we’re a couple." He answered without batting an eyelash, and for a moment, I froze.

My eyes widened in shock as I regarded his stoic face. I shook my head. "And you’re not bothered by it?"

"Why should I be?"

Now, I was bothered. I snapped; "Because first off, we’re not a couple!"

"I know. But if people think I’m with an amazing woman like you, then so be it. I’m not going to go around and try to debunk the news when I should be proud of it."

That was a first.

And it had my words dying in my throat. I blinked away my tears as I looked up at him in confusion, my heart squeezing tight. My chest felt heavy and suddenly... too suddenly, the lips I’d applied my Rhode lipgloss on earlier suddenly felt dry. I quickly licked it and Jarek’s eyes trailed my action.

While the fact that he looked at me like I was his next meal unnerved me, it hurt that this was all we could ever be; A rumor.

An office gist, and nothing more.

I shook my head against the thought and turned on my iPad. "If you say so." I muttered. And with that, I began to explain everything I could about my newly acquired TRAGUS 2.0 which I had I named CUSP.

Jay listened to me talk about it for a few minutes before he sighed and leaned away, his eyes shining with glee and something else... something that almost looked like hunger.

Or satisfaction.

Or a mixture of both.

I looked away. "What do you think about it?"

"I think it’s splendid." He said truthfully, his smile contagious. "I think everything you do is splendid."

I smiled. "You flatter me."

"I also know you’re doing this to get back at the Stormborn brothers, but you fully have my support, Sweetcakes. I’ll inform the technical team to hold a meeting with you. And we can go further from there."

My eyes widened in surprise, shock washing over me that he’d accepted my idea just like that even though he knew it was more about me getting back at some people for selfish reasons.

A chuckle slipped past my lips before I could hold it in, and then I did something really crazy. I flung my arms around his neck and hugged him so tight whilst burrowing my face into his neck as I whispered;

"You’re the absolute-motherfucking best!"

I felt Jay stiffen beside me. But slowly... very slowly, he wrapped his arms around me as well and smiled. "Now, you flatter me."

I dashed out of his office before I could become embarrassed for hugging him and as soon as I arrived at mine, I slammed the door behind me and pressed my body into the wall, exhaling shakily when I noticed that his perfume still clung to me.

"Goddess, this man would be the death of me."

—

Work closes by 5:00pm but today, due to how busy I’d been ever since I stepped into this building this morning, I was stepping out by a quarter past eight.

And Godddd, I was exhausted.

My body ached in places I never knew was possible, and one of which was my conch. I mean how’s that even possible?!

I trudged towards my car, my eyes glued to my phone as I scrolled through an instagram post’s comment section where Hailey Bieber’s and Selena Gomez’s fans were going at it, until I clashed into something.

No, not something. Someone. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

My head whipped up. And I frowned, my good spirits dissipating when Chalice flashed me a lopsided grin.

"What are you doing here?"

Chalice glanced around us like she wasn’t the one I was talking to, and then she turned to me, a flicker of confusion on her face as she asked; "Me?"

"Yes, you," I drawled, sidestepping her to continue my journey to my car. "It’s late. If you were waiting for Alpha Frostclaw then I must tell you that he’s absent. He’s gone home a while—"

"And who told you I am here to see that scum you have wrapped around your fucking finger?!" She snarled, interrupting me, and gods, the venom in her voice had me stopping mid walk.

I turned to her, cocking my eyebrows at her disheveled state, save for the Louis Vuitton fur coat wrapped around her body.

"You made him refuse to give me that job!" She seethed and I could only watch her without saying a word. "I don’t know what you told him, but one minute, he finally decided to hire me, and the next, he was calling to tell me that I wasn’t fit for the job anymore! A whole me, isn’t fit?!"

"Yes, you aren’t fit." I answered coldly, and with that, I turned away only to stagger when she pushed me from behind.

"I am talking to you, don’t walk out on me!" She screamed.

Something about the maniacal look in her eyes made me frown. I crossed my arms over my chest and drawled; "I have nothing to say to you."

"But I do, Leilani." She spat. "I’ll ruin you. She said slowly. I know you’ve been perching around Kael, Zevran and Caelum these days, but I’ll ruin you before you get to them. Trust me!"

"They’re all yours!" I rolled my eyes. "I never needed them. Now say something else."

At that, she flashed me a smile, one that was so dark it sent shivers running up my spine. "I’ll come for Frostclaw. And I’ll get him... I’ll come for your job as well. And I’ll get it."

"Dream on."

"Yeah, call me a dreamer. Or maybe... just maybe it’s the pregnancy hormones talking."

It took a moment for her words to settle in my head, and when it finally did, I glanced up at her quickly, my eyes wide in apprehension.

"Y-you’re pregnant?"

She smiled. "Yes, and that’s my ticket to everything you own."

That didn’t make sense. None of everything she just said made any sense. But I knew Chalice well enough to know that I needed to get the hell out of here quickly.

And that’s exactly what I did.