Chapter 457

Olivia

The imposing iron gates of Dan’s sprawling estate swept open, allowing our car to drive up the winding driveway to the front doors. My breath caught in my throat as I took in the sprawling columned veranda and flickering lanterns that dotted the finely sculpted gardens, which somehow still seemed verdant and lush despite the January weather.

“Wow,” I breathed as I peered out the windshield at the multi-story brick home, which looked as if it had been taken right out of a scene depicting a manor in the English countryside. “This place is beautiful.”

“Sure is.” Nathan leaned forward from the driver’s seat, following my gaze as he guided the car along the pebbled driveway. He let out a low whistle as he took in the towering cupolas. “I think I prefer our little villa, though.”

I grinned. “So do I.”

We pulled up to the front door, where a row of other cars was parked. Each one seemed to be more expensive than the last, from foreign sports cars to electric vehicles that must have cost a fortune.

As we drove past, I caught a glimpse of someone sitting in the front seat of one of the cars, and another person leaning against the outside of another car as he smoked a cigarette. Personal drivers.

I could practically smell the cash from here.

Finally, we parked at the end of the row. Nathan got out and came around to my side, opening my door for me. But as I climbed out, I hesitated, pausing to look up at the towering rooftops.

Nathan, noticing my hesitation, gave my hand an encouraging squeeze. “You okay?” he murmured.

I nodded slowly, my hand resting on my belly. It wasn’t necessarily that we had just driven two hours to get here and my legs felt a little weak; it was that, inside this house, was a different world than the one we were used to. I was, after all, the daughter of a coal miner.

“I just never thought I’d wind up in a place like this,” I said quietly, chuckling a little.

Nathan smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist. “Just be your usual, charming self,” he said softly. “And you’ll be fine.”

I attempted a weak smile despite the butterflies swarming more intensely with every inch that we came closer to the door.

Before we could even knock on the massive front doors, they swung open. A smartly dressed butler greeted us in the doorway with a polite smile and a bow. As he straightened, his assessing gaze swept my frame.

“The noble Alpha Nathan Ford and his… wife, I presume?” His pause made the words sound foreign, almost… vulgar. “Please do come in. May I take your shawl, Mrs….?”

“Olivia,” I said, slipping my shawl off of my shoulders and handing it to him. “You can just call me Olivia.”

“Ah. Olivia.”

I bristled at the butler’s thinly veiled disdain, but didn’t have the chance to dwell on it before Nathan was suddenly steering us towards the music that was drifting from a cavernous ballroom.

My earlier courage wavered as I saw the space overflowing with impossibly elegant people, each more fabulously dressed than the last. No wonder Nathan had been so insistent on this custom-made dress fashioned out of expensive French silk.

Perhaps fitting in was more important here than I had expected after all.

“I thought this was a dinner party, not a damn gala,” I whispered, leaning into Nathan as we entered the room.

Nathan swallowed, seemingly as taken aback as I was. “So did I.”

“Nathan! So pleased you could attend.” Dan’s booming voice carried over the din as he approached, grinning broadly—which was surprising, given his history.

But then, there it was; his grin faded upon seeing me, his hungry eyes sweeping over my gown.

“And… Luna,” he said, bowing slightly. “I don’t believe I caught your name.”

I felt myself seethe at his words. Of course he knew my name.

“We’ve met, Alpha Dan,” I said, a bit more coldly than I intended.

Nathan’s arm tightened around my waist, a warning to watch my tongue around these people. “My beautiful wife’s name is Olivia,” Nathan corrected him.

“Ah. Olivia,” Dan echoed. He held his hand out for me, and I hesitantly took it, feeling a cold shiver run down my spine as he kissed it. “Ravishing.”

His heavy lidded appraisal instantly intensified my discomfort. Several other Alphas looming behind Dan wore similar expressions on their faces, sending prickles down my neck. I knew these sorts of looks; hungry looks.

Their pretty companions, however, eyed me with unveiled curiosity. These must have been the other Lunas Nathan had mentioned.

“A pleasure,” I managed finally. “You have a beautiful home, Alpha Dan.”

Dan smirked. “Thank you,” he said, pausing to grab two champagne flutes off of the tray of a passing waiter, and handed them to us. “Please, eat, drink, and be merry.”

I froze as he tried to hand the champagne to me, and shook my head, pointing at my belly. “I can’t,” I said. “I’m pregnant.”

Dan’s eyes flitted down to my stomach, his jaw tightening. “Of course,” he said, placing the flute back down on the tray. “How silly of me.”

“Did I not tell you, Dan?” Nathan asked. “Perhaps I didn’t. Olivia is about five months along now, so I don’t believe she was showing the last time you saw her…”

Dan paused, a strange gaze flickering through his eyes as he took me in. I wondered what it was, why he was looking at me in that… disdainful way, much like his butler. But it was gone as quickly as it came, making me wonder if I was only seeing things.

“I likely forgot,” he said. “Well… I’ve got to make the rounds, but please, enjoy yourself.”

With that, he was gone, whisked away into the crowd as if he had disappeared into thin air. I turned to Nathan, my brow furrowed.

“Was that strange, or am I just being paranoid?” I asked.

“Dan is… a bit abrasive,” Nathan said, “but I think he means well. Come on; let’s go and mingle, and we’ll both get more comfortable. I can introduce you to some of the Lunas.”

I nodded gratefully, taking his arm.

…

I stood off to the side, swirling my sparkling juice around in my glass as I took in the scene around me.

The other Lunas had proved to be nice, but not very chatty—not that I could blame them, of course. I was the newcomer, after all. An outsider. And I was hardly from the same level of ‘high society’ as they were.

I didn’t mind, though; Nathan was off chatting with one of the Alphas, and I had slipped away to get a drink. I had been mingling long enough now that it was a relief to get a moment to myself to just people watch.

“Ugh, how I miss drinking now that I’m expecting,” a voice suddenly said from beside me.

I turned to see a beautiful blonde standing alongside me, who I hadn’t noticed before. She wore an exaggerated pout on her face, her hand absently stroking her still-flat belly.

“This your first little one?” she asked, nodding toward my own stomach.

I chuckled softly, smoothing my dress down over my belly. “Oh, no,” I said. “I actually have twins at home. This is my second pregnancy.”

The blonde’s sculpted brows shot upwards in surprise. “My, you’ve been busy! And at such a young age…”

She paused, her eyes flickering over me. There was something in her gaze that felt a little judgmental, but it was something I had grown used to. People were often shocked to find out that I had been pregnant not once, but twice already at my age.

“Oh, well… happy accidents,” I said with a stiff smile. There was an awkward silence before my curiosity finally got the better of me. “What was your name, Luna…?”

The beautiful girl looked utterly perplexed for a moment, then burst into tinkling laughter. “Luna?” she asked. “Oh, goodness, no! I’m merely here as an… invited guest.” She flashed a coy smile towards the men’s boisterous table.

I nodded. “I see. So you’re the girlfriend of which Alpha?”

The woman laughed again. “I think you’ve got the wrong idea,” she said. “I’m no one’s girlfriend.”

“But you—”

“You’re new here, aren’t you?” she asked.

I swallowed and nodded, feeling a heat creep into my cheeks. But the woman seemed to take it in stride, leaning closer to me as she spoke. “I’m a concubine,” she said, nodding her head toward one of the Alphas, a middle-aged man who I didn’t know the name of. “Most of us here are.”

As she spoke, I felt a sense of unease settle into me. Concubines? It was then that I began to glance around, noticing things I hadn’t before; older woman standing alone to the side, chatting amicably with absent expressions on their faces, while…

The men danced with much younger, much more beautiful women. The way that the men’s hands slipped down the younger women’s backs, the tittering giggles, the stolen glances.

They were all concubines. “I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “I hope I didn’t offend.”

The woman simply shrugged. “Everyone reacts this way their first time, if they don’t know the ins and outs,” she said. “I get paid too much to care what you think of me.”

And with that, she was gone. I was left standing there, clutching my glass more tightly than I would have liked. This new world that I had walked into… maybe it ran deeper than I thought.

Suddenly, glasses clinked, signaling the beginning of dinner. I caught Nathan’s gaze across the crowded room and began to make my way to him, and then I saw her.

A beautiful woman, standing by Dan’s side. She was older than the others, with creases in her forehead indicating a certain elegant sternness about her, her golden hair pulled back into a smooth updo as her hazel eyes coolly scanned the room.

She looked… oddly familiar.