Chapter 188

[Cecilia’s POV]

If there was one thing I truly couldn’t tolerate, it was being ignored.

Never in my life had I ever been treated so coldly and by my own son, no less.

I’ll admit, I was probably too hasty in my rushing to that damn campus to speak to Arthur. I should have put more thought into creating some kind of plan before bringing it all to his attention.

When I originally went to the school to meet with Arthur, I genuinely believed that he would have shared in my enthusiasm and jumped at the opportunity to bond with Ella Belmont. Instead, I met with his nasty temper that he unfortunately inherited from his father.

It didn’t make any sense to me.

Arthur had clearly expressed interest in the Moon Wolf Pack and was led to believe that they were gone. But I knew better than to ever assume something like that.

But I could still recall the bitter, disdainful tone in his voice as he stood there and denied every word I said to him. I knew that if I tried, I could count the number of times Arthur had ever gotten that upset over something.

Not only had I left Eastwood completely in a sour mood but now I was being irrespectively ignored by my son on all accounts. Ever since our meeting, I’d been trying to talk some sense into him through either a phone call or text and nothing.

That was not the Arthur I had raised. At the very least, he would have messaged me back and told me something viable about calling me later on. But no.

I blame that stupid Belmont girl.

She must have done something, said something, to Arthur to make him turn his back on his own family. She must have somehow gotten inside of his head and distorted his mind.

However, I will say that ever since I uncovered the truth behind Miss Belmon’s identity, quite a few things have altered in my mind. I understood the importance of upholding family values and traditions but if it meant keeping the family’s power in high standing, then some things were going to need to change.

For example, I had already sent a lengthy letter to Olivia’s parents, telling them that the bonding between our children was going to have to be put on hold until further notice. Of course, there was nothing wrong with Olivia, but she didn’t exactly have the ability to enhance my son’s status.

When it came to Ella...Well, I was just going to take great care to make sure that nothing bad would happen to her in the meantime. I had full confidence that Arthur would eventually come around and see sense in all of what I was proposing for him.

And there was no way I was going to give up the opportunity of Arthur becoming an Enigma.

It was easy enough to understand why Aaron’s father would have been so paranoid about such a miraculous phenomenon—especially when it wasn’t likely to fall in your favor.

But that wasn’t the case for us.

A smile unconsciously formed on my face.

“My God, you look like the cat that caught the canary,” a deep voice called from across the room.

I turned my head to see Aaron crowding the doorway with a venomous glare on his face. He slowly approached me.

“I know you were in my study, Cecilia.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t—”

“Spare me. You always were a conniving bitch even before we were married.”

I gave him a devious smile. “It’s why your father adored me.”

“Yes, that would make him the only one. I bet not even Arthur can stand you now.”

Suddenly, my smile dropped and was replaced with a sneer.

“That makes two of us then,” I hissed.

“Perhaps I was too hasty to cast him aside. All he did was remind me of yourself, but it’s been brought to my attention that there may be more to him than I’m aware.”

I was utterly befuddled. “Excuse me? Since when do you think you know more than me about my own son?”

He quirked a brow and went on with an unbothered tone. “That time I checked, he belonged to both of us. And to answer your annoying question, Miss Belmont was the one to point it out to me.”

Ah, there it was. Ella Belmont making another appearance in my life yet again. Why was I not surprised?

I guess I should have been grateful for the fact that this girl was willing to defend Arthur’s character.

“And how exactly does she fit into all of this?”

“She claims that I haven’t been fair in my assessment of Arthur.”

“Are you telling me that you’re willing to give Arthur the role as next head of the family?” I asked with hopefulness.

Aaron all but scoffed. “No. Liam has just as much right as Arthur does in competing for the title.”

I narrowed my eyes with skepticism. “You don’t seem concerned by the fact that he could lose,” I pointed out evenly.

The grin on his face deepened. “That’s because I’m not,” he stated smugly.

I fought to keep the malice out of my voice. Liam may have beaten Arthur during the hockey matches, but there was no way that he was going to pull off another win when it came to academics.

“Arthur’s grades have always been beyond average,” I remarked.

But Aaron, once more, seemed unbothered. He shrugged his shoulders back and glanced about the room with mild interest.

“It doesn’t matter if Liam fails the second challenge or not,” he said squarely. “When he bonds with Ella, he will become the head of the Winslow family and no one will be able to challenge him.”

I plastered on a fake, inconspicuous smile. “And what would Liam bonding with Ella have anything to do with him becoming the new head of the family?”

All traces of amusement left Aaron’s face. His features grew pointed to where he was nearly scowling at me.

“Do not try to play coy with me, Cecilia,” he growled. “We both know that girl is special. I’ll admit to having some doubts, I mean what were the chances of her really being part of the Moon Wolf Pack? But your little stunt, rummaging through my office—going as far as to meet Arthur at the school—you’ve thoroughly convinced me of Ella’s connection.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Shit.

Of course, Aaron would have found out about my meeting with Arthur.

I crossed my arms over my chest and huffed. “Clever. As usual,” I muttered dryly. “Well, what makes you think that Ella will bond with Liam?”

Something villainous flickered across his eyes. “Because Liam and Ella are actual fated mates.”

I was stunned and left in silent rage. Aaron actually had the audacity to chuckle as he made his way out of the room, not even caring about the state he left me in.

No. No, I refused to believe something like that. I was not going to let something like that get in my way.

I reached for my phone and pulled up the number I hadn’t dialed in weeks. I waited for the deep voice to greet me on the other end of the line.

I let out a long, frustrated breath. “I’ve just been told something very interesting...Change of plans.”