Chapter 10 #2
I offered a polite nod to Janice at the reception desk. She didn’t smile back. Weird.
I kept walking, forcing my spine straight, my steps steady, even as the energy prickled against my skin.
The elevators opened on my floor to more of the same. A group of junior designers who normally greeted me with laughter went dead silent when I entered. One of them whispered something under her breath.
Another nudged her and muttered, “Don’t. She’s right there.”
My pulse kicked up.
I wanted to ask what was going on? Why was everyone acting like I was the ghost of a scandal no one wanted to be caught looking at? But I didn’t.
Instead, I went to my desk and logged in for the day. I went to check on Luca, but he wasn’t in his office. Noon came, and he still hadn’t come in.
I texted him.
No response.
I tried to tell myself he was just busy. An important board meeting. Some kind of pack issue. But I felt it in my bones—something was wrong. All my meetings got rescheduled. My team got reassigned.
I texted Luca again. Twice. But it was the same. No response.
By six p.m., I was still at my desk, both boba cups untouched. His line went straight to voicemail when I tried to call him. My chest tightened with every second of silence.
I still had the invite to Vaughn Industries’ anniversary gala that evening.
So, I dressed up. I needed to see Luca, to speak to him, to tell him the delightful news of our pregnancy.
I wore the gleaming silver dress he’d chosen for me. The one that hugged my body like it knew it was meant to impress. The one he’d said would make an unforgettable first impression when I met his father.
As I walked up the marble steps toward the hall where the gala was to take place, I noticed the same hostile stares I’d been getting all day. But I ignored it and presented my invitation to the guard posted at the gala entrance.
He barely glanced at it. Then frowned.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. You’re not on the list.”
I blinked. “That can’t be right. Check again. I was personally invited by Mr. Vaughn.”
He checked the tablet again, more out of politeness than belief. “Your name was removed from the list this morning.”
Removed?
My stomach dropped. “There has to be a mistake. I work here. Luca—Mr. Vaughn—he—”
“You’ll need to step aside, miss.”
“No,” I said firmly, ignoring the guests who stopped to watch the scene unfold. “There has been a mistake somewhere. Could you—”
“There’s no mistake, ma’am,” the guard cut me off, irritation in his voice. “Mr. Vaughn personally ordered for your name to be removed.”
My forehead creased with confusion. Why would Luca do that? What is going on?
Before I could form another word, a hush fell over the entryway. Something shifted in the air, and I didn’t need to turn around to know who had arrived.
He strode toward us with that slow, deliberate elegance that made the world step back. Black tux. Black tie.
I turned to him, relief crashing through me like a wave. “Luca, thank God. They won’t let me in. There’s been some sort of mix-up, I—”
The expression on his face made the words die in his throat. He stopped just a few feet away, jaw hard, voice like carved ice.
“Traitors aren’t welcome at my gala,” he said.
The words hit like a slap.
I stood frozen. “What are you talking about?”
“Leave.”
I tried to reach for him. “Luca, what is going—”
“I said—leave,” he flinched away from my grasp. “Now. Or I’ll have security escort you out.”
I let out a shaky breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding. “Luca, please. What’s happening? Why are you—”
“You really want to do this here?” His voice was low, deadly. “You really want to stand in front of all these people and pretend like you don’t know?”
My heart twisted. “Know what?”
He laughed then. Cold. Flat. It cracked across the marble entry like a gunshot, drawing glances from the nearest guests.
“Unbelievable,” he muttered. “You stole from me. From my company. Over two million dollars gone—and all of it traced back to your credentials.”
I stared at him, stunned. “What are you talking about? I didn’t—Luca, I didn’t take anything.”
“Save it,” he snapped, voice sharper now. “If you’re going to lie, at least don’t insult my intelligence.”
“I’m not lying.” The words came out broken, panicked. “I would never—I would never do that to you. To us.”
Luca’s jaw tensed. His eyes were ice.
“There is no us.”
“I’m not lying. I swear—”
“Stop it, Leila!” His voice boomed through the room, bringing everything to a halt. I flinched at his tone. “I didn’t believe it at first until I saw. Your father is swamped in debt. Thousands of dollars. Gambling. Loans. You expect me to believe you didn’t know? That this wasn’t planned?”
“What?” Planned? My head spun. “Yes—he has problems, but I never—Luca, please. You know me. You know me.” My voice cracked on the last sentence, like I was trying to convince myself more than him that he believed me. That he trusted me.
He shook his head, the features of his face pulled taut and hard.
Those eyes that once held me with love and admiration now looked at me like I was the dirt beneath his shoe.
He dipped a hand into the inside pocket of his suit, pulled out an envelope, and tossed a stack of photos at me.
My gaze followed them to where they landed at my feet.
It was a photo of me. In bed. With a man I didn’t recognize. His arm was thrown lazily over my waist. My eyes were closed. My bare shoulders exposed.
I staggered back. “That’s not—” My voice cracked. “That’s not real. I don’t even know who that is—I swear to you, Luca, I don’t know how—”
“I said enough!” he snapped, his voice rising now, drawing more attention. Heads turned. Gasps fluttered through the atmosphere like feathers in a storm.
“You used me,” he said, his voice cracking around the edges—like the words scraped his throat on their way out.
“You played the role perfectly. The innocent, harmless thing. You wormed your way into my life…into my bed.” He shook his head, jaw tight, eyes glittering—not just with fury, but something deeper.
Something broken. “And all this time,” he continued, softer now, “you were just another performance. A scam.”
I froze.
My throat burned. My eyes stung. A wave of dizziness crashed over me—sudden, suffocating.
It felt like the child growing inside me could feel the weight of his words, too.
Luca looked away for a second, like he couldn’t bear to look at me. Then he forced his eyes back to mine.
“I should’ve listened,” he said, more to himself than to me. “They said you were after the money. That you saw a rich Alpha and latched on. And I—” He stopped, his jaw flexing. “I defended you. I chose you.”
Tears blurred my vision. I wanted to speak, to scream, to beg him to believe me—but I couldn’t push past the thundering in my chest. The pressure behind my ribs. The crowd watching us unravel.
He stepped back, just slightly, but it felt like a chasm opened between us.
“To hell with the Mate bond, Leila,” he said. “I reject you. As my Mate. As anything.”
His eyes met mine one last time. And there was devastation in them as he added. “You mean nothing to me.”
Silence dropped over the crowd like a curtain.
My heart cracked. In front of every single pack member, every Vaughn Industries employee. The rejection echoed louder than any slap ever could.
“Security,” he called, not even sparing me another glance. “Escort her out.”
I didn’t even feel my legs as two guards approached from either side, placing firm hands on my arms. Laughter rippled from the edges of the crowd—soft, malicious, satisfied.
As they dragged me past the stares and whispers, the tears slipped freely down my cheeks. My hands clutched my stomach.
He hadn’t just rejected me.
He’d rejected us.