Chapter 227

ANDREW DUBOIS/CRYSTAL BLANCHARD RELATIONSHIP ON THE ROCKS

It’s official! Inside sources close to the couple reveal that Alpha King Andrew Dubois and wedding planner Crystal Blanchard are no longer an item.

Yesterday, Crystal Blanchard rocked the werewolf world with her shocking posts announcing her engagement to financial lawyer Noah Bernard. What was initially suspected to be a hoax has now been confirmed: Crystal Blanchard has been seeing the financial lawyer, likely while she was dating Alpha King Andrew Dubois. However, she’s not the only one guilty of infidelity in this relationship.

Alpha King Andrew Dubois has been making waves himself recently with his supposed relationship with Princess Aurora of the human world. What started as a diplomatic friendship seems to have blossomed into something much greater—perhaps in retaliation for Crystal Blanchard’s affair?

Andrew went over this tabloid article excerpt repeatedly. He could not believe that, even after what he had said on Good Morning, Day-Walkers!, that people still thought that he had cheated on Crystal with Princess Aurora.

Yet even that paled in comparison to the larger truth that was still hitting him: Crystal Blanchard had left him for Noah Bernard. She was now pregnant and engaged, lost to him forever.

“Father, you really must stop reading those tabloid articles,” Lisa said, taking Andrew’s cell phone away from him. “They’ll only depress you.”

“Listen to her, Your Highness,” Head Wolf Antoine said. “Those tabloids don’t know anything about the truth and will only warp your own perception.”

“And as the Alpha King, you must have your head on straight,” Michael added.

Lisa and the two men had joined Andrew in his home office after he had refused to come out even for lunch. Since Parker had also claimed to witness him arriving home the night before nude and bloody, Lisa had been concerned for her father’s physical and mental well-being and had insisted that Head Wolf Antoine and Michael help her assess him. So far, they had seen nothing but melancholy in the Alpha King—and no sign of what had happened the night before.

Andrew played with the Newton’s cradle on his desk, but he did not respond to their comments. He watched the balls bounce back and forth, thinking of all the times that he had sat in this very office with Crystal, talking, arguing, kissing…

“Father, it’s all right if you still have feelings for her,” Lisa said, “but pining for Crystal when she’s already moved on is not going to bring her back to you. I mean, isn’t it what they say, that it’s better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?”

Andrew cringed, more at the cheesiness of Lisa’s statement than the sentiment behind it.

“I really think that you aren’t looking at this the right way, Andrew,” Head Wolf Antoine remarked. “It’s for the best, really. Crystal was only a distraction.”

Andrew’s glare cut right through Head Wolf Antoine’s head. His arm muscles tensed, and his hands clenched into fists.

“Care to say that again, Head Wolf Antoine?” he growled.

“What Head Wolf Antoine means,” Michael interrupted, holding up his hands placatingly between the two men, “is that that particular relationship did not leave you a lot of time or resources for your duties. Now, you can focus on what’s important for the werewolf community.”

Andrew did not appear any happier, nor did his arm muscles relax. However, he did unclench his fists and sat back in his chair.

“Perhaps you are right,” he said, “and there is one way in particular that I have neglected my community’s needs.”

ALPHA KING AND EX-GIRLFRIEND CAUGHT IN STEAMY WEB OF LOVE

Yesterday, wedding planner and majority share owner of Ever After Weddings Crystal Blanchard made it official: she and Alpha King Andrew Dubois are no longer together. In fact, Crystal has moved on and gotten engaged to financial lawyer Noah Bernard. According to insiders, there might even be a baby on the way.

When asked what could have brought the happy couple to such an incendiary end, inside sources point to potential infidelity on both sides of the aisle. While Crystal might have been having a tryst with Noah Bernard, it’s no secret that Alpha King Andrew has been seeing sparks with Princess Aurora of the human world.

Could this mean that a new level of human/werewolf relations is on the horizon? Or will they be further destroyed when Alpha King Andrew casts Princess Aurora aside as well?

I hadn’t thought that the backlash for breaking up with Andrew would be this grand. I especially hadn’t thought that the tabloids would try and drag Andrew down with me. There was nothing I could do, though, except press forward with my plan and hope for the best, for everyone.

While I could ignore the online comments, I could not ignore the texts that I was receiving from employees at Ever After Weddings. They were all nasty, and many threatened to quit if I didn’t step down as majority shareholder. One in particular I could not let slide:

You are a piece of shit. I hope you die. Why are you even still involved with Ever After Weddings? I can’t believe I have to work for you. I quit! Good luck getting work done w/out me.

I wasn’t heartbroken that Miranda quit. I didn’t even take what she said personally. The fact that others had sent messages so close to hers, however, stung, and I was not going to stand for it.

After visiting Noah at the hospital, I swung by Ever After Weddings. The moment that I stepped into the building, everyone froze, except for Terri. She smiled broadly at me and rushed up to give me a hug.

“Oh, honey! I heard about the breakup,” she said. “I would say that I’m sorry, but I also heard that you’re engaged to Noah now?”

“I am. I’ll explain it all to you later, but right now, I would like to call an office-wide meeting,” I announced loudly enough for everyone to hear.

The other employees glanced at each other nervously, but everyone shuffled back into the employee lounge.

I stood at the head of the table, Jeffrey right behind me. Terri sat to my right, and the rest sat as far from me as they could, eyeing Jeffrey and me wearily.

“Thank you for joining me today,” I said, looking at each employee in turn. “I’m sure that you noticed that Miranda did not show up for her shift today. She quit.”

Murmurs broke out. Terri’s eyes widened, but she did not turn her attention away from me.

“When she quit, she sent me a particularly nasty message,” I continued. “In fact, many of you have sent me nasty messages regarding my character and my recent breakup with Alpha King Andrew Dubois.”

The murmurs suddenly died out, leaving deafening silence behind.

Good, I thought. Maybe they feel guilty on some level.

“I want you to know that I will not stand for such disrespect. What happened between Andrew and me is between Andrew and me. If anyone has a problem with that, you can follow Miranda out that door.”

As I pointed at the door, three employees—two female and one male—stood up and walked out. I waited to hear them exit the front the door, then turned back to the remaining employees.

“Anyone else?” I asked.

Everyone shook their heads.

“Good. Now, back to work.”

Everyone dispersed.

“Are you all right?” Jeffrey asked after the last employee left.

I pulled my shoulders back and held my head high.

“Yes. I know I did the right thing, and that’s all that matters.”