Chapter 71

Third Person POV

The look Ethan had on his face when Judy left the party with her father did not go unnoticed by Irene. There was a look of longing; almost like he was a lost child, and it made Irene’s heart ache. She bit her bottom lip, refusing to cry in front of Ethan’s family. She had already made a good impression on them and didn’t want to ruin it.

“Irene, darling, don’t let that awful woman bother you,” Meredith said, giving her a gentle smile. “She’s just a nobody.”

“Yeah, my brother loves you. The thought of him being with her again makes me sick,” Kelsey muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

Something she had said struck Irene’s interest and she narrowed her eyes at her future sister-in-law.

“What did you just say?” Irene asked, her heart weighing heavier in her chest.

Kelsey glanced up at her with a frown.

“Which part?” She asked.

“You said the thought of them being together again makes you sick. What do you mean by again?”

Kelsey opened her mouth to reply, but her mother stopped her. She grabbed Kelsey’s arm and squeezed it tightly, making her whimper in distress.

“She didn’t mean anything by it. It was a slip of the tongue,” Meredith said with an obnoxiously loud laugh. “She must be exhausted,” she added, giving Kelsey a pointed look.

Kelsey’s cheeks flushed and then she nodded.

“Yes, I didn’t mean anything by it,” she murmured, glancing at Irene apologetically.

Irene, however, was not convinced.

She glanced across the yard at Ethan who was still staring longingly in the direction Judy had left. She pressed her lips in a thin line and turned to face Ethan’s mother and sister.

“It was very nice to meet you ladies. I hope we can get to know one another even more soon. Perhaps we can have brunch?” Irene suggested.

Meredith and Kelsey both lit up.

“Yes, we would love that,” Meredith answered for the both of them.

“Excellent, I’ll get your contact numbers from Ethan, and we can go from there. Perhaps we can meet at the Silver Crescent Country Club later this week or next week,” Irene said. “If you’ll excuse me, I should be going.”

They both nodded eagerly; the Silver Crescent Country Club was for the most elite wolves, and you couldn’t get in unless invited by a golden member. Being invited by Irene Landry herself was a huge honor and they wouldn’t pass up the opportunity.

Before either of them could say another word, Irene was already walking in the direction of Ethan. He was too lost in his own thoughts to notice her approaching; that is until she put a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m very tired, Ethan. Can we go somewhere and rest?” She asked.

He was still lost in thought and barely heard a word she said. He almost looked sad and that made Irene even more furious.

“Ethan, I’m speaking to you,” she said firmly, folding her arms across her chest.

Her harsh tone of voice was enough to snap Ethan back to the present moment.

“I’m sorry, what?” He asked.

“I said, I’m tired. Can you take me somewhere to rest,” she said again, her tone dry.

He narrowed his eyes at her and examined her face. He realized she was upset, but he was upset too and could hardly care about her mood. He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath.

“Yes, you can rest in my room upstairs,” he told her. “I need to stay here a little longer so we can’t leave just yet.”

She nodded, already assuming this.

He guided her into the manor and up the winding stairs until they reached his bedroom. She had never been in this room before and she wasn’t sure what to expect. She only ever spent the night in his house, never in his family’s manor.

She was surprised to see that his room was very boyish; it was clear that this was his childhood room. He had trophies on his shelves and video game posters. It honestly warmed her heart a little and made a smile tug at the corner of her lips.

If only she wasn’t so upset with him, she might indulge the setting a little.

“I have to get back to my family. You can rest here, and I’ll come back later,” he told her.

She nodded, wrapping her arms around her body as she watched him leave the room. Her stomach tightened once she was finally alone. She sat on the bed, glancing around at all the stuff. It was a typical boy room, not many personal pictures but he did notice a picture on his nightstand that looked as if someone was cut out of the frame. She frowned as she stared at the picture; Ethan was standing beside someone, but the other person wasn’t there.

Her brows furrowed as she ran her fingers down the frame. Whoever was in this photo seemed to be cut out of his life. Could it have been Judy?

The words of Kelsey continued to play in her mind; it almost seemed as if Ethan and Judy had a previous relationship, but they had both told her that they only knew of one another because they’ve been a part of the same pack for most of their lives. Why would they lie to her?

Ethan was supposed to be someone she trusted most, and Judy was someone she considered a friend. But when she saw them pressed against a tree yesterday… her entire world shattered. She could still feel the crack in her heart from the betrayal she felt.

She stood up from the bed, unable to truly rest. She walked over to his drawers and started to mindlessly rummage through them. There wasn’t anything in them besides some clothes that most likely no longer fit him. She sighed and went to his nightstand to rummage through that as well.

There wasn’t much of anything in it besides a box of condoms and some medicines.

Feeling frustrated she walked into his attached bathroom; she had no idea what she was looking for. Maybe a sign that Judy had once been there. The only thing that could potentially be a sign was an old shampoo bottle that she knew didn’t belong to Ethan because this wasn’t his brand. There was also a stick of lavender deodorant she knew didn’t belong to Ethan was well.

Her heart hammered in her chest; could these things belong to Judy? Admittedly, she had no idea what kind of shampoo Judy used. She wished she had paid more attention to these types of things.

It was obvious the bathroom has been cleaned recently because there wasn’t a single hair or a speck of dust in sight. She groaned and walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

As she walked back to the bed, she froze when she saw a strap under the bed. She reached down and pulled the strap, revealing a laptop bag. She raised her brows at the sight.

She remembered Ethan had a laptop with him earlier and then he put the laptop somewhere. Why would he put it under his childhood bed? Was he trying to keep her from seeing something.

She sighed and put the bag on the bed, taking the laptop out of it’s holding. It was a newer brand laptop, and it weighed a ton. As soon as the laptop screen lit to life, she bit her lip, anticipating what she was going to find.

It was a key pin protected.

She tried Ethans birthday and when that failed, she tried her own birthday.

That also failed and she couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

She tried the day they met and that failed as well. Tears welled up in her eyes, making her vision blurry. She sniffled, wiping away at some of the tears that fell down her flushed cheeks. She had one other date to check, and she was dreading typing it in.

She tried Judy’s birthday.

When the laptop unlocked, Irene’s heart cracked a little more. Tears spilled down her cheeks and she sniffled, chewing her bottom lip to keep from sobbing. Her suspicions were confirmed… something had been going on between Judy and Ethan. They both lied to her.

How could they do this to her?

She wiped the tears away and straightened her posture. She had to find out how deep their relationship was. She needed to know the truth because it was obvious she wasn’t going to find out about either of them.

She went through each of Ethan’s documents on his computer; there was a lot of business type stuff and Alpha related forms, but nothing that raised suspicion. Then, she came across a hidden file, labeled private.

It was passcode protected. She felt sick to her stomach, knowing she wasn’t going to like what she found. Once again, she used Judy’s birthday, and the file opened right away.

Her heart shattered into a million pieces when she saw the photographs that were hidden in the file.

They were nudes of Judy!

She was laying in Ethan’s bed…

This time, she did let out a distressed sob as she went through each photo. Some of the photos Ethan was with her, kissing her neck and Judy was smiling widely with her arms wrapped around him.

Bile rose up in Irene’s throat.

They had been sleeping together. How long had this been going on for? Why would they lie about their relationship? Did it start after or before he met Irene?

She had all these questions in her mind, and she could hardly see straight. She needed to find the answers to her questions, or she was going to drive herself crazy.

She went into his web browser to see his recent searches and she noticed a tab for his social media. She clicked on it; she was already following one of his socials, but she wondered if he had others.

She gasped when a social media site popped up that she didn’t even know that he had. It was listed as a private account and his picture wasn’t used as the profile; his name was even abbreviated, so if she were to come across it, she wouldn’t have known it was him at first glance. She wasn’t following this account and wouldn’t be able to look at the page because of it’s security settings, but because she was on Ethan’s computer, she was able to see everything.

Pictures of him and Judy were everywhere. There were pictures of them holding hands, and pictures of them kissing. Judy had tagged him in certain posts, but it seemed to have stopped around the time he met Irene.

It also looked like since then Judy disabled her own account.

As she scrolled through the images and posts, something caught her attention and Irene’s entire world shattered in a heartbeat.

It was a caption that Judy made under one of the photos of her and Ethan.

“Got to spend the day with my fated mate! I couldn’t be happier!! I love you so much, Ethan!”

His comment read: “You and me forever babe! Love you more!!”