Chapter 17
[ 491 words ]
Chapter 17:
Ivy, ever the diplomat, feigned understanding. “Let it go. Lianne doesn’t look well. Don’t push her.”
“That won’t do,” Oscar countered, his gaze shifting to me. “Ethan, don’t you agree?”
I looked up, my eyes meeting Lianne’s.
Her hand, clenched tightly at her side, betrayed her struggle to maintain composure.
Just as my resolve faltered, a man appeared in the doorway.
It was the man from the parking lot. When he saw Lianne, he reached out instinctively to take her arm.
“Lianne, let’s go,” he said.
Something inside me snapped.
W𝘩at 𝗲𝘷е𝘳𝘺o𝗻e i𝘴 𝗿𝖾𝗮𝖽𝘪n𝗴 о𝗇 gа𝗅n𝘰v𝘦𝘭𝘴.𝖼𝘰m
My authority was being challenged. My mate, the one who should be mine, was about to walk out with another man.
Without thinking, I grabbed the wine bottle, poured a small amount into a glass, and thrust it in front of Lianne. “Lianne, do this for me. Toast to Ivy.”
As the words left my lips, even I was taken aback. I knew she couldn’t drink alcohol. Yet seeing that man by her side, remembering their connection, stirred something dark and possessive within me that drowned out all reason.
“You’re unwilling?” I added, my tone carrying a clear, menacing edge.
Lianne stared at the glass in front of her, her face paling as she locked her gaze onto it.
For what felt like an eternity, she finally reached out, grabbed the glass, and raised it toward Ivy. She drank it all in one swift motion.
The liquid hit her hard, and she immediately broke into a violent coughing fit, her eyes red from the effort.
Without another word, she reached for the arm of the other man, and without looking back, they hurried out of the room.
A thick, uncomfortable silence fell over us.
“Tsk. What’s with Lianne?” someone muttered under their breath. “She’s gotten so arrogant with those big endorsements.”
“Yeah, throwing a tantrum right in front of Ethan. How childish.”
In an attempt to win favor, Jimmy Smith, a man eager to please, leaned in with a suggestion. “Ethan, a secretary like her is nothing but trouble. She’s so pretty. Why not marry her off to someone random? Get her out of your way, and save her from being a burden to Ivy.”
“Marry her off?” I repeated the words slowly, the darkness in my eyes becoming palpable.
In one fluid motion, I drove my foot into Jimmy’s knee. The sickening sound of his bone snapping filled the room, and his painful scream echoed loudly.
As he howled in pain and crumpled to the floor, I towered over him. “Don’t ever utter those words in my presence again. My staff is not for you to dictate.”
I turned to Ivy, my voice frosty. “The driver will take you home.”
Without giving her a chance to respond, I stormed out, the weight of betrayal and jealousy choking the air.
Lianne’s sweet scent still lingered in the room, now tainted by the presence of that other man. It was maddening, unbearable.
Lianne was mine. Even if I didn’t want her, I would never allow anyone else to take her away.
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