Chapter 66

Carol’s POV

“How is it possible that they already know about this?” I ask, my heart feeling heavy in my chest.

Aiden takes my phone and rewatches the video; when the video ends, Aiden looks furious as he hands me back the phone.

“I’m going to make some phone calls,” he mutters as he stands to his feet.

I try to grab his hand to settle him down, but I miss and nearly fall off the couch in the process.

“Who are you calling? What are you doing?” I ask.

He doesn’t answer, he walks into his bedroom and shuts the door behind him.

I feel all sorts of dizzy as I stare down at my phone, reading the article that came along with the video. Fiona texts me again, breaking me out of my thoughts.

Fiona: Is true? Did you take that money?

Me: Of course, I didn’t take that money, Fiona. I’m being framed. How did the news station already know about this?

Fiona: You are famous now. They have eyes and ears everywhere.

I stare at the message on my phone, trying desperately not to cry. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I know that Fiona is right. I am famous now and that means I have zero privacy in my life. Everybody in this world is waiting for me to screw up and now it seems they finally got what they wanted. Accept I didn’t actually do anything wrong.

I know for certainty that I’m being set up, but I have no idea why.

My phone chimes again and I look at the screen to see that Fiona left another message.

Fiona: What are you going to do?

Me: I’m not sure yet. But I need to do something fast.

I sigh and put my phone back into my purse. I can hear Aiden arguing with someone on the phone.

I feel sick to my stomach.

When Aiden resurfaces from his room, he looks just as pissed as he sounded.

“Who was that?” I ask.

“My father,” he mutters. “I called him to ask if he knew anything about this.”

“And did he?”

“He claims no,” he says, shaking his head. “But I don’t know if I believe him.”

“Why would your father withdraw $100,000?” I ask. “Isn’t he, I don’t know… stupid fucking rich?”

“I wouldn’t pass him to do something like this to get to you,” he admits.

I hate the idea that Aiden’s family would do something this low. The next few days, haven’t been much easier. Multiple different news outlets have been broadcasting the same news story about me being a thief and stealing money from the company. Many online have been dragging my name through the mood claiming that I’m a gold-digger and I only wanted to get in with the team so I could steal all their money.

I can’t even go to the grocery store without someone shaming me and without people giving me dirty looks. It got to a point where I couldn’t leave the house. I don’t feel comfortable walking on the streets when everybody thinks I’m a thief.

Aiden has been on and off the phone with his family for the last few days, trying to get them to admit to something that could prove me innocent, but the conversation always seemed to go the same.

“She’s obviously a criminal, Aiden. As the future Alpha, you shouldn’t be associating with someone like her,” I heard his father saying.

I sat in bed while Aiden sat on the edge of the bed; I had my knees pressed to my chest and my head lowered. Things had gotten so bad and there was no hope of finding out who actually took the money and who was trying to frame me.

“She’s my mate,” Aiden said through his teeth. “Don’t speak about her like that.”

“She stole money from your hockey team. It’s clear she only wants our fortune. I won’t have that criminal near my family.”

“I’m not convinced that you didn’t have anything to do with this,” Aiden said in a growly tone. “And I’m going to find out the truth.”

“You can investigate us all you want, but I assure you, if we wanted her out of the picture, we don’t need to steal money to do so.”

On that note, the line went dead, and Aiden growled with frustration.

“Don’t get worked up over me,” I tell him, lifting my head and staring at him through my tear-filled eyes. “I’m not worth it…”

Aiden whips around to face me, his eyes filled with sorrow. He crawls onto the bed and closer to me. He puts his hands on both sides of my face and forces me to look at him.

“You are worth everything to me, Carol,” he tells me in the most serious voice. It sends a warmth throughout my body, and I can’t help but smile at him though I know it doesn’t fully reach my eyes. “When are you going to learn that?”

I shrug one shoulder.

“It’s still very surreal to me that someone can care about me this much,” I whisper.

He leans in and kisses my lips gently.

“I care about you more than anything,” he whispers against my lips. “I know you’ve been hurt in the past and your trust in werewolves wavers because of that asshole who broke your heart, but I’m not him and I’m never going to let you down. You have my word that I’m going to find out who did this and I’m going to bring them to justice.”

I nod my head and kiss him.

“I know,” I whisper. “How’s your foot?”

He hasn’t needed his crutches in the last couple of days and I’m not sure if that’s because of everything going on and he hasn’t thought about it, or if it was because his foot is feeling a lot better. Pretty soon, he won’t need his cast anymore and he might be able to start practicing hockey once again.

I had hoped that once we got to that point, my innocence would be proved, and I could return to the stadium with him. But that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon.

Aiden’s phone rang and as he looked at the screen, he groaned.

“Yeah,” he says into the phone. He pauses for a minute and then his face shifts into something I couldn’t read. “Are you serious? It’s hardly a good time.” He pauses again. “Hold on, I’m putting you on a speaker.”

He presses a button on his phone, and I can hear the crackling on the other end.

“Mr. Whitlock, can you repeat what you just told me,” Aiden says.

“I scheduled you to appear in an interview on the Wendy Holms show. It’s worldly broadcasted, and it might help you some. You can defend Carol’s name during the interview and maybe get the limelight off her a little while we continue this investigation.”

“Do you think that’ll help?” Aiden asks, his eyes finding mine.

“It can’t hurt,” Mr. Whitlock answers. “Her name is already being dragged through the mood and I don’t think Carol was responsible for the missing money. I can’t really explain what happened, but that doesn’t seem like something she would do.”

“So, you believe me?” I find myself asking.

“I do believe you, Carol,” Mr. Whitlock is quick to answer. “But my belief doesn’t mean much when I don’t have proof to back up the claims. But don’t worry, we will soon enough. You just need to be patient. I think if Aiden speaks on your behalf and shows the world that he’s still supporting you despite the allegations, it might lessen accusations.”

“Okay, I’ll do it,” Aiden says without hesitation. “Whatever it takes.”

“Perfect. I’ll let the producers know. You’ll be expected to be at the studio no later than 8 am. I’ll be meeting you there with Coach Bower.”

“I’ll see you then,” Aiden says just before he hangs up the phone.

“I really hope this helps,” I murmur. “As of now, I can’t even leave the house.”

Aiden wraps me in his arms and holds me close.

“I’m so sorry…” he whispers.

“It’s not your fault,” I tell him, burying my face in his chest.

“I still have a feeling the Capitol has something to do with this,” he mutters. “I can’t prove it just yet, but I will. I’ve been in communication with Oliver and he’s still looking into it.”

I nod against him.

“I appreciate you for trying,” I say, sighing.

I wish there was more I could do to prove myself innocent. In these last few days, I’ve gotten as far as tracing the bank responsible for the missing money, but they won’t tell me the name of the person who deposited the money just like the company bank won’t tell me the name of the person who requested the check.

However, I did find out that the person who requested the check used my name and my company badge ID, along with my personal ID. I’m not sure how they managed to get all that information but whoever it was, they had some serious connections. That was also how they managed to frame me for this mess.

My stomach tightens at the very thought.

How am I going to prove my innocence when all signs point at me?

Aiden was scrolling through his phone late into the night, and neither of us could sleep. His body freezes from beside me and when I look over at him, his jaw is set and I can see his knuckles growing white as he clutches his phone.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, lifting my head to look at him better.

“It’s nothing,” he mutters, but I don’t believe him.

“Aiden, what is it?” I ask again.

He sighs and turns his phone to face me.

“Katrina,” he mutters. “Apparently she’s been talking to the news outlet.”

I stare at the screen and see that she’s had an interview with one of the newscasters. I press the play button and wait for the video to load.

“I always knew Carol was bad news,” Katrina said, glaring into the camera. “I hope now everybody can see exactly what I’ve been seeing from the second she walked into our lives. She’s a gold-digging whore and she doesn’t deserve someone as great as Aiden Cruz!”