Chapter 66

Aria

I stared at the employee points board, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things. Lily’s name was gone—completely erased from the board as if she had never been there at all. My heart skipped a beat, a knot forming in my stomach. Lily always saved up her points like her life depended on it; why would her name be missing?

Without hesitating, I headed straight to her desk. She was hunched over her keyboard, typing furiously, her pink bunny mug steaming beside her.

“Lily,” I said, stopping beside her desk.

She looked up, her eyes meeting mine briefly before flickering back to her screen. “Oh, hey,” she replied neutrally.

“Did you notice that your name is missing from the points board?” I asked. “It looks like someone erased it.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m the one who erased it,” she said matter-of-factly, not even pausing her typing.

I blinked in surprise. “You... erased it? Why would you do that? You were so close to saving up enough points for another nail salon voucher.”

She sighed, finally taking her hands off the keyboard and turning to face me fully. “Because I realized there’s no point in keeping it up there anymore.”

“What… why?”

She crossed her arms and shrugged one shoulder. “Aria, let’s not pretend that everything is fair here anymore. It’s not. It hasn’t been in a long time.”

I frowned. “I don’t understand.”

She took a deep breath. “Look, Mr. Avarise gave you a day off yesterday, right? Without any PTO hours saved up and without enough points?”

I felt a flush rise to my cheeks. “What are you implying?”

“I asked Tracy if it’s true,” she admitted. “I wanted to confirm what I suspected. And I did.”

“So you asked Tracy about my time off?” I said, not really sure if I believed what I was hearing.

“Yes, I did,” she replied unapologetically. “And she told me you didn’t have any PTO hours, but Mr. Avarise gave you the day off anyway.”

I clenched my fists at my sides. “Lily, that’s my personal information. Why would you—”

“Because it’s not fair, Aria!” she interrupted, her eyes flashing that faint inhuman glow that I had only seen from Darren and Liam. The sight made me step back a little, recalling the night that Liam had chased me down in his wolf form all too well.

“The rest of us have to earn our time off, save up hours, plan in advance,” Lily continued. “But you—you get special treatment.”

“Special treatment? This again?” I retorted, my heart pounding. “I didn’t ask for the day off, Lily. Darren suggested it because he… he thought I needed a break.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Exactly. He just handed it to you, no questions asked. Don’t you see how that looks to the rest of us?”

With that, before I could answer, Lily turned back to her computer. This time, she grabbed her headphones and jammed them over her ears, turning them up loud enough even for me to hear the music.

I just stood there for a moment, stunned. The others were looking by now, too, curious eyes peeking over their cubicles. Finally, I’d had enough.

Determined to get to the bottom of it, I headed toward Tracy’s desk. She was just settling in, adjusting her planner and logging into her computer.

She looked up as I approached, a warm smile spreading across her face. “Aria! You look well-rested.”

I stopped beside her desk, unsure of how to begin. The others were still watching, although they were trying to hide it, so I lowered my voice. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Sure, what’s up?” she asked, setting her pen down.

I took a deep breath. “Did Lily ask you about my PTO hours yesterday?”

She tilted her head slightly. “Yes, she did. She seemed concerned.”

“Concerned?” I echoed. “Tracy, that’s personal information. I’m just wondering why you shared it with her.”

Her eyes widened slightly. “Oh, Aria, I’m so sorry. I thought you two were close friends. I didn’t realize it would be an issue…”

I hesitated. “Well, we are—were—friends, but... it’s just that now she thinks I’m getting special treatment.”

Tracy frowned, genuine concern etched into her face. “Oh no, that wasn’t my intention at all. I just thought she was checking in on you, maybe worried about your workload.”

I sighed, once again feeling at a loss for words. Tracy seemed genuinely apologetic, even if it was unprofessional of her to share my personal details. Werewolves were… different from humans, after all. Maybe telling Lily about my PTO was a pack thing, something that she didn’t even think was overstepping.

But before I could say anything, Darren appeared beside me, coffee cup in hand. He looked between us, taking note of the reddened color of my face and Tracy’s apologetic expression.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to tell him what had happened, but then shut it again. The others were still glancing at me—and Lily had removed one of her headphones, clearly eavesdropping. If I tattled now, then it would just make matters worse. Perhaps it was better to just let this nonsense fizzle out.

“No,” I finally said, taking a step back. “No, we were just wrapping up.”

Darren turned to me with his eyebrows raised. “Oh. Everything okay?”

I forced a smile. “Yeah, everything’s fine. Just a minor mix-up.”

He looked like he wanted to say more, but I quickly excused myself, just wanting to keep my head down and get my work done today. No more drama, please.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on. I buried myself in my work, trying to ignore the lingering tension coming from the cubicle beside me. Lily remained distant, and every time I glanced in her direction, she was either engrossed in her tasks or chatting with Brandon and Melissa.

I should have been used to it by now. It had been weeks, after all. But I just felt… tired. And heartbroken.

Lily was a friend to me, no matter how briefly. And I didn’t know how to even begin to make her see that I wasn’t her enemy now, other than staying out of her way and avoiding more drama.

By the time the clock neared five, I felt drained. Deciding that I needed a break, I headed upstairs, finding Lucas playing with Liam in the ‘playroom’. As soon as I saw that chestnut mop of hair, I felt a smile tug at my lips.

“Mommy!” Lucas exclaimed as soon as I walked in. He rushed over, wrapping his small arms around my legs.

“Hey there, buddy,” I said, scooping him up into a hug. “What are you up to?”

He grinned as he gestured to a mish-mash of sticks and rocks over by a tree, where Liam was currently leaning with his hands in his pockets. “I’m building a spaceship! Come see!” He tugged at my hand, leading me over.

I knelt down beside him. “Tell me all about it.”

As he launched into an enthusiastic explanation of his creation, complete with sound effects and grand gestures, I felt some of the day’s stress melt away. Being around Lucas always had that effect on me, even with Liam watching from the sidelines.

But just then, the elevator doors opened, and Darren stepped into the forest clearing. I felt my smile fade just a little, although I tried to hide it.

“Daddy!” Lucas shouted, jumping up. “Look at my spaceship!”

Darren walked over, examining the mess of sticks and rocks with an appraising eye. “Impressive work. Maybe you’ll work at NASA someday.”

Lucas beamed with pride.

“Hey, Lucas,” Darren continued, crouching down to his level, “why don’t you and Liam go downstairs? We can have a movie night tonight.”

“Ooh… with popcorn?” Lucas asked eagerly.

“With popcorn,” Darren confirmed.

“Yay!” Lucas darted toward the elevator, Liam on his tail, but paused to give me a quick hug. “Bye, Mommy!”

I managed a smile, but inside, I felt like curling up into a ball and dying. If Darren wanted to talk to me alone, then it meant one thing and one thing only: he wanted to address my little… outburst the other day.

And, right on cue, Darren turned to me once Liam and Lucas were gone.

“Let’s talk,” he said, gesturing to a nearby log.