Chapter 476

Olivia

The soft music playing in the gymnasium was muffled through the door as I stood in front of the bathroom mirror, smoothing down my skirt and picking lint off of my sweater.

“Still no call from Nathan?” Angela was sitting on the counter next to me, picking at a sugar cookie she had stolen from the banquet table outside. She eyed me warily as I picked up my phone.

“Nope.” I let out my millionth sigh for the day as I checked my phone and realized that there were still no notifications, and slapped it back down on the sink. “Nothing.”

I returned my attention to primping myself in the mirror. I had been so excited to show off my new skirt and sweater, and my hair looked perfect. My nails, red with pink hearts, even matched my skirt perfectly.

But I wasn’t so excited anymore. The gala was supposed to start in just fifteen minutes, and Nathan still wasn’t here. I hadn’t heard a peep from him all day, except for the single text he had sent me in the morning.

“Headed to my meeting now. Keep you updated. Can’t wait to see my beautiful wife.”

Then, nothing.

“He’ll show,” Angela said gently, hopping down from the counter to come up behind me. She held her cookie out to me, offering me a piece, but I shook my head. I had no appetite today. In fact, I felt a little nauseous, and it wasn’t because of the pregnancy.

“What if something happened to him?” I asked softly.

Angela sighed and wrapped her arms around my waist from behind to meet my gaze in the mirror. “If something had happened, you would have gotten a call already,” she said. “That jerk Dan probably just got him caught up in some more bullshit. But he’ll come. He’s probably on his way now.”

“I want to believe you.” I paused my cathartic primping to press my hands into the counter. “But…”

“I know.” Angela took a step back and gave my shoulder one last squeeze. “After he missed your last appointment, it’s not so easy to regain your trust.”

“Bingo.”

“Well, look. Picking every little hair off of your beautiful sweater isn’t going to make you feel any better,” Angela said. “Let’s go out there and get the party started, at least.”

“But what if he doesn’t—”

“The show must go on.” My friend leveled me with a stern gaze. I felt my shoulders slump—she was right. This was a charity gala, meant to help our local school. If Nathan didn’t show, I could be as mad as I wanted to be, but the fact of the matter was that his appearance wasn’t what tonight was all about.

That didn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt like hell, though.

Angela and I pushed out of the bathroom and into the main part of the gymnasium, where the staff and a few early birds were milling around.

Everything was as it should be: the pink and red streamers swayed slightly in the warm air coming in through the vents, the lights were dimmed with a Valentine’s-themed disco ball casting heart-shaped shadows on the dance floor, and soft music played from the DJ booth.

Then there was the food: the local bakery had provided us with beautiful heart cookies and pink frosted cupcakes, the local liquor store had set up a small bar with wine tasting for the adults, and the local bistro was preparing wood-fired mini pizzas that smelled so good it made my mouth water.

“See?” Angela put her arm around my shoulder and gestured around with her half-eaten cookie. “You did this.”

“Well… The PR team and I did this,” I laughed. “And you, too.”

Angela shrugged. “Still. This is amazing, Olivia. And it’s for a good cause.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. I guess you’re right.” I checked the clock then, and felt a slight chill of anticipation run up the back of my neck. “Speaking of which… I think it’s time.”

Angela nodded, and together we made our way over to the front doors. Outside, in the parking lot, excited guests were already gathering; now, it was just up to us to unlock the doors.

“Ready?” Angela asked.

I nodded. “Ready.”

Together, we pushed open the large double doors. The guests began to flood in, oohing and ahhing over the decorations and the delicious food. Teen couples took each other’s hands and flocked to the dance floor, younger kids made a beeline for the sweets, and older guests gathered around the tables, chatting excitedly about the highly-anticipated party.

But Nathan was not among them.

…

I lingered in the doorway, letting the cold February air bite at my skin as I watched the parking lot longingly.

The gala was in full swing—inside, I could hear the sounds of all of the guests laughing and talking, dancing and eating and enjoying the night. It was everything that I had hoped it would be.

Well, almost everything. Nathan still wasn’t here.

I checked my phone again, although I knew there would be nothing. Nothing except for my last text to him, sent half an hour ago: “Nathan, where the hell are you? You promised you would be here…”

“God dammit.” I cursed under my breath and slid my phone back into my skirt pocket, leaning back against the door frame.

Of course he didn’t come. Probably Alpha Dan convinced him to stay somehow, waved another check under his nose to make him compliant. The first check was nice, but…

As I glanced over my shoulder at the donation booth set up in the hallway, where a long line of guests had already gathered to leave their donations, I was beginning to wonder if these checks from the Alpha association were even worth it.

Maybe they weren’t. After all, we were on the road to success all on our own.

But then, as I stood there, different thoughts began to float through my mind: just how deep did Alpha Dan’s claws reach? How long would it be until those concubines…

The very thought of it made my eyes mist over with tears. I quickly blinked them away, shaking my head slightly. No, I wouldn’t cry over hypotheticals tonight—especially not when I had worked so hard on my makeup.

And yet, the thoughts wouldn’t entirely leave my mind. I couldn’t help it; I kept thinking back to that dinner party, back to all of those prostitutes and the way that one woman sat on the arm of Nathan’s chair, her fingers inching toward the back of his neck.

Nathan had been innocent then, I knew that much. And I knew he loved me.

But at the end of the day, I couldn’t help but wonder how far Dan would go to mold Nathan into a miniature version of himself.

Into a man who would cheat on his own wife for the sake of power.

Suddenly, the sound of screeching tires and the scent of burnt rubber ripped me out of my reverie. I snapped my head up, my eyes widening as I saw a familiar black car speeding into the parking lot at breakneck speeds.

The car whipped into a parking spot in an impressive maneuver, then came to a screeching halt. Then, with a jolt, the driver put it into park.

The door opened, and out stepped a handsome man in an all-black tuxedo—but the tuxedo was nothing compared to the sight of his tousled dirty blond hair and his beautiful blue-green eyes as he ran toward me.

“Liv…”