Chapter 466: The past
Leilani.
For a couple of minutes, I simply sat there, dazed and confused while clutching at the folder in my hands as if holding onto dear life.
I squeezed tighter and tighter until the folder’s spine broke, but I didn’t let go. I couldn’t. Because at the moment, all I felt was the intense betrayal. All I heard was Gavin’s voice on repeat, telling me about how much of a fool I was for believing in Darius even for a fraction of a second.
All I saw was the self righteous look on his face when I asked him if he knew anything about my father’s death and the way he had responded to me as if lied against.
He had said no.
He had lied to my face.
I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt someone shove my shoulder slightly, and blinking, I realized that it was Gavin, and that he was still staring at me with that look of worry in his eyes.
He drawled; "The name sounds familiar, right?"
Yes, it does sound familiar; and yes, I was right!
However, hearing that didn’t bring me any form of peace nor did it make me feel any better. Instead, all I felt was a tightness in my chest, a tightness that will not go away.
My body thrummed with emotions left unchecked and my eyes filled with tears— tears that slowly streamed down my face as I buried my face in my hands and hissed;
"I always knew that he was hiding something. I always suspected that he was not telling me the full truth..."
"He gained too much from your father’s death to not be a suspect..." Gavin murmured softly, "...and now, it is almost obvious why he did it in the first place."
To become Alpha.
To rule the pack, especially as the outcast that he would’ve been if not for my father.
No one needed to tell me that for me to know. But what I didn’t understand was how he managed to go to those lengths just to have Ragnar out of the picture. I also wondered how he had come to scheme with Alpha Zach and Beta Malakai—
"What will you do?" Gavin suddenly asked, once again, snapping me out of my thoughts and this time, I just sighed because truth be told, I wasn’t sure. For the first time in a long time, I had no idea what to do when cornered with a challenging situation.
I shrugged; "I’ll need to meet with that Valemont."
"Which Valemont?" Gavin asked in confusion.
"The man who recently moved to NYC and has been doing business with Frostclaw."
At my words, he nodded, but he could hardly hide the worry in his gaze nor the way it dripped off each word he said next when he drawled; "Be careful."
"I will be," I said, smiling, "thank you, brother."
I watched him rise to his feet and chuckled when he ruffled my hair with his fingers. He then turned to leave but just after taking a step, turned around and called out softly;
"Leilani."
I cocked my eyebrows, looked up at him and snorted; "huh?"
"I have never had the opportunity to say these words to you because I was never sure of how you would translate it, but I sincerely want you to know that I am here for you... always."
"I know..." I said softly but stopped when he continued to speak. He muttered;
"I do not care if you are half Lycan or half the moon goddess herself, you’ll always be my little sister, Leilani, and I will spend the rest of my life making up for all the times I was not there for you."
I didn’t want to react too strongly to his words. I didn’t want to show him just how broken and sore they made me feel... but something about the words he said, and the way he said them made my eyes instantly brim with tears. I shot out of my chair even before I could stop myself, rounded the table in one stride and threw my arms around his neck.
I fell into his waiting arms with a force and buried my burning face into his chest. The tears that poured out of my eyes afterwards were insane. It felt like a dam had broken and that all my emotions were now out in the open.
I do not know for how long I stood there, clutching onto his shirt like my life depended on it; But when I finally came to, I felt way better and the tightness in my chest had loosened. So I smiled, pulled away from him and whispered;
"Thank you, Gavin."
And I meant it.
"You’re welcome." He responded with a grin.
My eyes dropped to the stain on his crisp shirt— the stain that was as a result of my incessant crying— and as soon as I saw it, a blush crept up my face.
I lowered my head in embarrassment and chuckled awkwardly. "I did that." I stuttered shamefully, "...I will have to send you the money for its dry cleaning. I am really sorry."
"I do not want you to pay for it!" He argued back but I could only roll my eyes.
"It is embarrassing enough that I am the reason it’s so dirty. So please, let me pay for it."
"The day you send me that money is the day we’ll quit being siblings. Do you understand me?" he snapped back at me, but seeing the smile tugging at the corners of his lips, I chuckled.
I watched quirky as he stepped back, lifted his chin like there was no streak of dirt in his shirt and walked out of the room with a beaming smile.
"Be careful, princess!" His voice echoed after him as he left.
I also did not know how much I was smiling back until I caught a reflection of myself on the glass table looking all disheveled and confused. I sighed.
"Thank you once again, brother."
Then to my PA who decided to walk in at that exact moment, I said; "Schedule a meeting with Mister Valemont."
"Which of the Valemonts?" She asked in confusion and I almost rolled my eyes as I hissed;
"The one who has refused to be called anything else besides Valemont."
"Okay ma’am."
—
Unknown.
I squeezed my eyes closed as I listened to the bittersweet melody playing quietly in the background while I held onto the stem of my wine glass, savoring the taste of its weird grape-y fermented bitterness in my mouth.
It was sometime around midday when the door to my office was carefully pushed open and I slowly peeled my eyes open to see my PA strutting in with obvious urgency in his strides.
He stopped when he arrived in front of my table, bowed deeply and muttered; "Alpha—"
"I have told you time and time again not to call me Alpha." I drawled, interrupting him.
His eyes widened at my words but he quickly caught himself and rasped; "Sir, I just got word from Frostclaw. Inc."
At the mention of that company’s name, my attention sharpened. I sat up so fast, I nearly toppled to the floor. The sudden shift in my demeanor made my PA frown suspiciously at me, and in a desperate attempt to seem less anxious, I clasped my hands together and asked;
"What do they want?"
"Their new CEO, Miss Sinclair, has asked for a meeting. In the email sent, it appears to be urgent but I cannot understand why that is, especially since we have finalized our deal with them—"
"Agree!" I snapped so fast, he flinched. "Schedule the meeting with them. I have also been waiting to meet her."
A moment of silence passed between us before he finally nodded, and just when I had begun to think that he would go do as he was told, he suddenly lowered his head and asked;
"Why have you decided not to leave the past behind you, Sir?" He asked but I couldn’t bring myself to respond right away. In fact, I didn’t.
I simply let his words sink into my head, but while that happened, only one word stuck to me the most.
The past.
The past.
Goddess, all of this was never my past. They were part of the life I had been forced not to live. Leilani would have been my daughter if I hadn’t been forced into exile and Darius would’ve long since suffered the consequences of his actions if I wasn’t taking my time to rebuild.
Thinking this, a smile formed on my face and I sat up, carefully placed my wine glass on my table, and drawled;
"Nothing about any of this is my past. My daughter is my future."
"But, Sir—"
"Darius has made a move. He ordered my assassination for the second time. Do I let him go Scot free because it’s all in the past? Or do I wait until he successfully kills me for the second time before I am forced to clip his wings?"
My PA stared at me for a moment too long and then he shook his head. "No, sir."
"Now, you’re talking."
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