Chapter 95

When Andrew walked into the room, I felt as though the entire world started moving in slow motion. He sauntered across the tiled floor, dress shoes clicking against the gloss.

My first thought was to run to Ethan. I wasn’t sure if it was to hold Ethan back from making a spectacle of his presence, or for my own peace of mind and assurance that if Andrew were to do anything, I’d have Ethan by my side.

I approached Ethan, gently running my hand down his back to get his attention. He turned, his face lighting up when he saw mine, but that expression quickly extinguished itself when he saw the look on my face.

“What is it?” He asked, eyes narrowing to read my own.

“It’s Andrew,” I gestured to the entrance of the ballroom with a quick look over my shoulder. “He’s here.”

Ethan’s entire body stiffened and he puffed his chest out as he regarded the older man walking freely amongst our guests and chatting with them amiably.

“I see him,” He murmured, his gaze sweeping over my head and watching Andrew’s figure.

“What do we do?” I murmured, “Should we get security involved and escort him out?”

Ethan continued watching Andrew, “No.”

“No?” I asked, a little surprised at his reply.

“No, we don’t need people to ask questions or think that we are unwelcomingly towards anyone,” Ethan explained, finally looking down at me. “Some of Andrew’s allies are in attendance. I intend to win them over, but if they see an obvious quarrel between Andrew and I, they will definitely side with him before I can persuade them to support me.”

I nodded along to Ethan’s explanation. It made sense, I supposed. Ethan needed to keep face and prevent causing a scene, but I felt sickeningly exposed just knowing that Andrew was in the same room as us. Knowing what he did to Ethan’s parents, what he tried to do to us; he was a villain by any means.

The nastiest and most vile person I had ever come into contact with.

Ethan and I approached Andrew to greet him. I didn’t want to at first, Ethan even told me I could stay back if I needed to, but one of us needed to greet and welcome him. We were greeting and welcoming every other guest, we could not make any obvious exclusions.

People would notice.

I went with Ethan, though. I wanted to support him as much as possible.

We walked over to Andrew, he had garnered a small crowd around him as he recounted some humorous anecdotes to some of the other partygoers. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat from the anxiety, and put on the most cordial smile I could muster.

“Andrew,” Ethan’s voice chimed loudly over the little group, gathering the attention of everybody that was focusing on Andrew before. “So glad you were able to make it, thank you for coming to support the children.”

Andrew looked at us, a smug grin on his face as he held out his hand for a handshake. With no hesitation, Ethan grasped his palm and gave it a firm shake. I watched beside him quietly. I didn’t know how he handled facing a man like that. How he could just shake his hand like it was nothing.

In that moment, I realized how brave Ethan truly was.

“I wanted to be here for the orphanage - in fact, I’m donating a hundred thousand dollars today for their care.” Andrew proudly exclaimed, his eyes were set on me. I was uneasy and did my best to look anywhere else.

The little crowd around Andrew oohed and awed at him. They were so impressed at his high donation, that several others started loudly claiming how much they were willing to give to the children. It was impressive how much of an influence Andrew truly had.

I understood why Ethan wasn’t so quick to throw him out or ban him from events.

“I’m glad to hear it,” Ethan smiled appreciatively. “Now Ava and I have some more people to attend to, but please enjoy the party.”

Ethan and I walked away, I joined Olivia and Mars who were talking to each other on the side of the ballroom. Ethan said he needed to take a moment to advise the security team to do a perimeter sweep and check for any rogue wolves or any devices that may be used to track or spy on any of us.

Ethan was not convinced that Andrew simply came to prove a point. He was sure there was an ulterior motive, and he needed to find it.

I agreed, of course, and stayed in the ballroom to keep an eye on Andrew myself while security was brought up to speed on the situation.

As I spoke with Olivia and Mars, I felt as though I was being watched. I could sense a pair of eyes following my form everytime I moved, and I didn’t know who or what would be so focused on me.

I trailed my eyes across the room and stopped when my golden irises met another pair of golden eyes.

Andrew watched me with an expression of interest. I worried that he was attracted to me at first. It was a little self absorbed to have that be the first thing on my mind, especially considering he tried to have me killed, but the way he was watching me wasn’t of malice.

If he wasn’t looking at me as though he wanted to kill me, then why would he be watching me at all?

I finally got enough of the staring after an entire hour of being watched. Ethan was still securing the perimeter with the security guards, and Mars and Olivia were dancing. I took that as an opportunity to approach Andrew on my own and demand to know what he wanted.

I wanted to ask why he was even here - the real reason why. I needed to know, after everything, I just had to.

I walked over to him while he was lingering near the entrance of an adjacent hallway.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, not bothering to hide the accusation in my voice.

“I’m here to make a donation,” He said with a sarcastic smile, “I told you I want to take care of the children.”

“Why do you keep watching me? What, are you mad that you didn’t finish the job before you wanted to try for yourself in person?”

Andrew had the gall to actually laugh at my snide comment. He regarded me as though I was a miffed kitten, not an angry Luna. To him, I was no threat.

“I know who your mother is,” He told me all of a sudden, that smug grin still on his face.

“So?” I asked and shrugged my shoulders. What on Earth did that have to do with anything?

“I know your father, too,” He said. The look in his eyes was purposeful, as though he was hinting at a secret we shared, but I had no clue what that secret was.

“You know Liam?” I asked for clarification. No one besides Ethan and I knew that Liam was not my real father. I didn’t need that sort of information getting out while Ethan was trying to become alpha chairman.

“No, Ava,” He grasped my hand and held it tightly in his weathered palm, “I’m your father.”