Chapter 4

The offer letter and plane ticket from the Los Angeles office arrived soon after.

For the next few days, I barely left the house.

My adoptive mother knew how much I was hurting. She didn't ask questions. She just helped me pack and urged me to leave this place of heartbreak behind as soon as I could.

I never imagined I would run into Edric and Valentina at O'Hare.

They were wearing matching resort-casual outfits. From a distance, they looked exactly like a couple leaving for their honeymoon.

When Edric saw me, his deep-set eyes visibly lit up.

But the next second, his face went cold again, and he walked over wrapped in that arrogant Alpha aura.

"Weren't you sulking? Not even answering my calls?" He looked down at me. "So what are you doing chasing me to the airport? Changed your mind? Decided to come on vacation with me after all?"

I blinked, and then I remembered. A few months ago, to placate me, he'd had his assistant book a first-class couples' package to Miami without a second thought.

He'd said that once the company's quarterly meeting was over, he'd take me to the beach to unwind.

And the departure date on that ticket was today.

Valentina bit her lip, forced a smile, and took half a step back, the picture of wounded heartbreak.

"Since Elena's here, I won't go. You two go ahead."

Edric frowned at once and pulled her back to his side.

"Absolutely not."

"You've been working yourself to the bone with me for months on that ten-billion-dollar merger. You've lost weight. You need this trip to Miami."

A bitter laugh rose inside me.

He felt so sorry for Valentina working so hard that he wanted to take her on vacation.

But he had forgotten that the luxury Miami resort itinerary in his hand was something I had spent night after night last month researching, piece by piece.

He had casually asked me to put together a plan, and I had taken him seriously. I thought it was a trip for the two of us.

I was about to tell him not to bother, but Edric had already turned and hurried to a self-service kiosk to change the booking.

That left just me and Valentina.

All at once, the pitiful act vanished from her face.

"Elena, some class gaps can't be closed just by playing the victim."

"Edric needs a Luna who can stand beside him at the top of New York. Not a useless Omega whose wolf hasn't even awakened, who falls short of him in every way."

She smiled and lowered her voice. "Actually, at the after-party following the gala, I asked him if he wanted to give us a try."

"Guess what he did that night. Did he say no? Or did he press me up against the floor-to-ceiling window?"

My nails bit into my palms hard enough to nearly break the skin, but I kept my voice calm.

"If you like him that much, he's yours. I don't want him anymore."

Valentina's face turned ugly. She bit down hard on her lip.

Edric hurried back with a boarding pass and held it out to me.

"There was only one economy seat left, and it's a red-eye. Valentina has a bad back, so she'll take first class. You can have this one."

He looked at me and added, condescendingly, "You could use a little hardship in economy anyway. Might help you lose some of that softness."

With that, he checked his watch and pulled Valentina toward security in a hurry.

"We're heading out. See you in Miami!"

Valentina looked back at me with a smug, triumphant smile.

I looked down at the printed boarding pass.

Then I crumpled it into a ball and tossed it neatly into the trash can beside me.

And I turned and walked to the gate for my flight to Los Angeles.

A few days after I reported for work in Los Angeles, I flew back to Chicago over the weekend to pick up the last of the things I'd left at my adoptive mother's house.

I had just reached the corner of her street when a familiar black SUV cut me off.

Edric threw open the door, his face thunderous, and strode toward me. He seized my wrist.

"Where's Valentina's hard drive? The one for the headquarters project?"

I winced in pain.

"What hard drive?"

"Don't play dumb," he said coldly.

"The hard drive with the core data for the merger. It was delivered to me yesterday, and now it's gone."

"Who else could it be but you? If you're angry with me, take it out on me! What right do you have to destroy Valentina's hard work?"

I stared at him in disbelief.

Valentina climbed out of the back seat of his car, her eyes red and swollen.

"If you're upset that Edric and I are close, I'll apologize."

"I promise I won't see him outside of work anymore."

She looked at me, choking back tears.

"But please, I'm begging you, give the hard drive back. It's so important! Edric helped me build it, piece by piece!"

My eyes stung with anger. "I didn't take it!"

"I only got back to Chicago today!"

But Edric didn't seem to hear a single word.

His eyes fell on the envelope in my hand. It was the official employment contract from the Los Angeles office.

He snatched it from me.

The color drained from my face. I lunged for it.

"Edric, give it back!"

He held it up high and looked coldly at my red, desperate eyes, as if I were a clown making a fool of myself.

"I'll count to three."

"Hand over the hard drive, or I destroy this!"

I tried desperately to explain.

"I really didn't take it!"

"Three."

"I just got off the plane! You can check the security footage!"

"Two."

"Edric! Please, I'm begging you, that's my contract for Los Angeles—"

Edric didn't hesitate for a second. His fingers tightened, and he tore the transfer contract clean in half. The pieces fluttered down around my feet.

I looked down at the scraps. I was too stunned even to cry.

Just then, the phone in Edric's pocket began buzzing frantically.

He answered it irritably. "What is it?"

The voice on the other end was loud enough that on the quiet street corner, I could faintly hear the estate's butler, frantic.

"Sir! We found it! We found the hard drive!"

Edric went rigid. His voice shot up. "What did you say?"

"Miss Valentina left it in the sofa cushions in the estate's living room herself! The cleaning staff just found it during today's deep clean! All the files are intact. No one touched it!"

The air froze solid.

The veins stood out on the back of the hand holding the phone. Edric turned stiffly to look at Valentina behind him.

Valentina's sobs froze on her face. The color drained out of it, bit by bit. She stumbled back a step, unable to get out a single word.

Edric's head snapped back toward me.

His lips trembled violently. A flash of panic crossed his eyes, and he looked as if he wanted to reach for me.

"Elena... I..."

I didn't wait for him to finish.

I bent down and picked up the pieces of my contract, one by one, clutching them in my palm.

Then I stepped back, turned, and walked into my adoptive mother's house, and slammed the door in his face.

It stayed quiet outside for a long time. Not even an apology.

The next morning, when I opened the door to leave for the airport, I found a first-class ticket to New York slipped under it, along with a note.

In his arrogant handwriting, it said: Come to New York with me.

He had always been proud. He was certain that if he just offered me a way to save face, I would come crawling back, wagging my tail, the way I always had.

But he had forgotten that he was the one who had blocked my application to New York in the first place. He didn't want me in New York. He wanted me following him there.

This time, I glanced at it once, threw it in the trash, and took my suitcase to my flight to Los Angeles.

Two days later, Edric showed up at my adoptive mother's door with Valentina.

He was carrying a suitcase, his tone unusually light, as if nothing unpleasant had ever happened.

"Ma'am, I'm here to pick up Elena. We're going to New York together."

My adoptive mother froze.

"New York?"

Edric frowned slightly, as if he couldn't understand why she was reacting that way.

"I sent her a plane ticket."

"Is she still angry? That's fine. I'll wait while she packs."

Valentina said softly, "Ma'am, does Elena still not want to see us? Then I'll wait downstairs. I don't want to upset her more."

Edric glanced at her without thinking, and his voice softened.

"No need."

"She'll come out once she's done throwing her fit."

My adoptive mother's expression slowly cooled.

She looked at Edric and suddenly asked, "Edric, didn't Elena tell you?"

Edric paused.

"Tell me what?"

She gripped the doorknob and said, one word at a time, "She went to Los Angeles."

"She left the day before yesterday."