Chapter 9

Olivia’s POV

Olivia had started to pull her cell out of her purse when she heard the healer ask the question. She slipped her phone away again, listening intently for Julian’s reply.

At first, he didn’t say anything. The silence grew along with Olivia’s simmering irritation. Why wouldn’t he answer? It wasn’t a hard question.

“No,” Julian said at last. “At least she was a devoted wife.”

Olivia bristled. A devoted wife, he’d said. He could only be talking about one person.

Why was he still thinking of her? Olivia had done so much work to rid Julian’s mind of that human whore. She’d gotten pregnant.

She’d orchestrated Amber’s death.

Even after all of that, after five years, was Julian still hung up on her?

Olivia whipped around towards the door, disgust twisting her face into a sour expression.

All she saw was Healer Amanda coldly shutting her office door in Julian’s face. He stood there, looking at the door, as if he was unsure what had happened or how he’d arrived there.

He turned toward her. As soon as Julian noticed her, his face stiffened back into the impenetrable expression Olivia was so used to.

“How dare she speak to an Alpha that way?” Olivia demanded, instinctively wrapping her precisely manicured fingers around Julian’s arm. “The absolute disrespect.”

“She seems not to believe what I said.” Julian shrugged, shaking his head. “Don’t know why. But they say geniuses have odd temperaments. Maybe it’s true.”

Olivia held back a scoff. If she had the power of a Luna, she wouldn’t stand to be spoken to the way the healer had just spoken to Julian. She didn’t understand why he’d always had such a hard time accepting that his status demanded special treatment.

Olivia tried to make eye contact with Julian in the car, but he stared out the window, ignoring her. Julian’s description of Amber rang through her mind. A devoted wife.

“Would you like to eat at my house tonight, my darling?” Olivia asked Julian, reaching out and stroking his knee.

Olivia hated that she had to invite Julian over for dinner this far into their relationship. She hated that they didn’t live together yet. He still hadn’t fully dedicated himself to her.

He still hadn’t made her Luna.

Julian had never even allowed Olivia to enter the large house he’d shared with Amber. After her death, he’d kept the place stuck in time, as though keeping all her shoddy housework in tact would keep part of her alive.

He’d bought Olivia her own house, a new house with modern features that at first Olivia had taken as a sign of Julian’s infatuation with her. She thought he was displaying a desire to move on from Amber, to have a separate, independent relationship with Olivia without the memories of his life with that whore seeping in.

Then, he hadn’t moved in with her. He never stayed the night. He hadn’t been intimate with her since Amber’s death.

It made her furious.

“Can’t,” Julian said, still gazing distractedly out the window. “I’m working late tonight.”

Olivia seethed. “You’ve used that excuse so many times. Remember, that’s the excuse you used the night I decided to bring you dinner. It was pouring outside, and I ended up in that terrible car accident.”

Julian’s posture sagged the tiniest bit, guilt softening his armor just as Olivia intended it to.

“I lost our baby in that accident, Julian. You must remember, don’t you?”

Olivia knew the reminder of her miscarriage would hurt Julian. That’s why she brought it up.

It had been just a few months after Amber’s death, and Julian had been distant despite all of Olivia’s attempts. When she’d phoned the office to see if Julian would be over for dinner, he’d told her that he’d be working late. Again.

She decided that, if Julian wasn’t going to play the game the way she wanted, she would change the rules. She put together a lavish basket with steak and potatoes, prepared by her private chef, of course. Then, she got in the car and headed to the office.

Olivia told her driver she felt like driving herself that night.

“But, Miss Olivia,” the driver had protested, “it’s pouring outside. Don’t you think it would be safer if I drove you tonight?”

Olivia had peered out the window at the steady rain and smiled. “No. I like to drive in the rain.”

In truth, she wanted Julian to see the effort she was personally putting into their relationship. She didn’t want him to think that she delegated all of her care to the hired staff that surrounded her.

Olivia had gotten in the sleek, black car, sliding the key into the ignition and turning it. She hadn’t driven herself in years at this point, but her muscle memory kicked in as she felt the familiar roar of the engine awakening.

The road from Olivia’s new house to company headquarters was dark with minimal streetlights, as part of it was a private road. Olivia doubted she’d come across anyone else in the rain, and she was eager to surprise Julian with his meal, but she maintained the speed limit.

When Olivia came to the first public intersection on the road, the traffic light turned from green to yellow and she’d tried to slow the car. However, the car had hydroplaned, skidding across the slick, rain-coated road instead of stopping. She’d spun into the middle of the intersection just as another car came through on the crossing road and rammed into the passenger side of the car.

The force propelled her car to the edge of the road, all of the airbags expanded inside. Metal and glass from the collision had cut Olivia’s skin in places, but thankfully her face was unharmed. The airbags were tight against her protruding stomach, and she immediately knew that something was wrong with the baby.

Then came the unbearable pain.

Olivia located her cell phone, calling Julian first out of instinct.

“Please, Julian,” she cried. “I was on my way to bring you dinner and I got into a wreck. I think the baby – I think the baby’s gone.”

Julian had practically rushed out of the office before he had time to respond to her call, wracked with guilt.

Later, when they were at Thorn Pack Hospital and the baby had been passed and confirmed as a miscarriage, Olivia turned to Julian.

For the first time of many, she told him, “If you’d been at my side tonight, I wouldn’t have gotten into the accident. I wouldn’t have lost my child.”

She could see the heavy guilt sinking into Julian’s face. After the death of his child with Amber, he had lost another.

Julian’s face bore the familiar expression now as he replied, “I’ll come see you after I finish work.”

Olivia threw herself into Julian’s arms and cried. She felt Julian’s muscles tense under her touch, but he didn’t push her away.

Amber's POV

My heart leapt at Julian’s words. A devoted wife. It was exactly what I had been, five years ago, in a different life.

I took a deep breath, trying to steady all the feelings that had risen up inside me. I still had a whole day’s work to get through at this new hospital.

A rapid knock on the door ripped me away from her calming exercises. The knocker came in before I had a chance to reply. He was a young, spry man, full of excitement.

“It’s such an honor to work with you,” he said. “I’ve always admired you. I’m Noah—your assistant here at the hospital.”

It appeared that Noah was already hard at work managing my appointments. He enthusiastically thrust a long list of bookings into my hands.

“You’re insanely popular,” he said with a smile. He continued, a bit of timidity in his voice. “Would it be alright if I watched one of your surgeries?”

I saw his enthusiasm and remembered my first days of medical school, when I’d had the same idealistic excitement for the craft.

“Of course,” I replied. I skimmed through the list of names and ailments. Some of the nobles only had minor issues, but others were in critical condition and truly needed my help. I used my red pen to mark those cases first.

Still, my mind was elsewhere. Julian’s words from earlier kept replaying in my head. A devoted wife. Was he satisfied with everything I’ve done?

What if… what if he had been telling the truth?

I smiled apologetically at Noah, telling him there was business I needed to attend to, and headed out into the hospital to find Julian.

I ran through the lobby, pretended to be calm, but my eyes anxiously searching around, my heart soaring when I noticed Julian’s car still parked outside the entrance.

All my hopes crashed back down as I realized that, in the back of the car, Julian and Olivia were holding each other in a tight embrace.