Chapter 139

Fiona

Two days turned into four days, and now he’s back.

I watch him through the window as Ethan talks on the phone with someone. When I came into the office an hour ago, he was sitting behind his desk. I thought he would call me or at least let me know he was back, but I was incredibly surprised when I walked in to find him there.

He didn’t even look up when I walked to my desk, and I know he heard me.

The blatant disregard of my presence hurt, and the longer I sit here, watching him, the more I realize he’s not going to acknowledge me. Something bad must’ve happened while he was at home, and I want to ask, to see if there’s anything I can do to help, but I keep my place.

A sliver of doubt creeps in. How could I help him?

Ethan hasn’t come to me, which would hint that he doesn’t want my help or might think I can’t help him.

Part of me wants to charge into his office and demand to know what happened, but the other part of me says to wait. There’s another, more emotional part of me that wants to confront him about Angela.

I ignored her this morning when I saw her in the lobby, but I couldn’t help the little bit of fear that also came into me. Remembering how she threw me so easily down the stairs, the pain that still makes my body ache, and her words that taunt me in my dreams.

He doesn’t want you.

You’re not enough.

You’re weak.

I shake my head and take a deep breath to steady myself.

Glancing down at the time, I find another hour has passed, and I haven’t gotten anything done. I do have a list, but I can’t find the energy or motivation to do anything.

My desk phone rings, and I jump, grabbing it and thanking the God above for the distraction.

“This is Silverclaw Company, Mr. Montgomery’s office. How can I help you?”

“Direct me to Ethan,” a harsh, loud male voice growls. A shiver runs down my spine, and I swallow the nerves.

“Mr. Montgomery is currently on a call. Can I take a message?” I ask, hoping whoever the man is doesn’t get angrier, but of course he is.

“I will talk to my son right now. There’s nothing he could be doing that’s more important than keeping his family together, so get him on the phone,” Ethan’s father growls before shouting, “NOW!”

My eyes find Ethan, and I breathe a sigh of relief when I see he’s putting his phone down.

“Yes, sir. I’ll connect you n—”

“Wait. Are you that human girl he’s obsessed with my son?” He asks but doesn’t give me time to reply. “Let me tell you something, little girl. Stay away from my son. He has more important things to deal with than pandering to a ridiculous human. The Lycan world isn’t…”

Closing my eyes, I rub at my temples as he drones on and on about how I’m not part of their world and how I’m distracting Ethan from his true path. He says something about the marriage, but I don’t have the energy to listen as I lay my forehead on my forearm.

Does no one have anything better to worry about than me? I wish they would just leave me alone, him and Angela.

“Sir, I’ll transfer you now,” I announce then click the button to send the call to Ethan’s phone. There’s too much sound and not enough at the same time, and the loud ding of the elevator only makes my heart jump inside my chest.

And then she walks out, smirking as she struts right past me and into Ethan’s office. Is he finally going to deal with her?

I hope so. She deserves to be punished, and over the last few days, I’ve thought about going to the police since no one around here seems to be doing anything. If Ryan could find the video, I’m sure they could too, and I could also have them talk to the doctor who treated me.

There is plenty of evidence to prove Angela assaulted me, but I want to believe, after everything Ethan said about being with me and wanting me, that he will take care of this issue.

However, when he stands and follows her out of the office without even looking at me, I realize there’s a chance I’m wrong. He wouldn’t be leaving calmly with her like this if he was going to punish her, would he?

I expected some yelling, or at least major protests from Angela after Ethan dealt with her, but this? My lungs grow tight, making me gasp for air. Them walking out together was not an option in my mind.

Angela smirks at me again as they walk into the elevator, and I look at Ethan. His eyes are firmly planted on the floor, like he refuses to look at me, and I’m sure it’s because they’re together.

I try to keep the shock and hurt off my face, but with the way she’s smirking, I know Angela sees exactly what I’m feeling. There’s no hiding it.

Something definitely happened while he was home. Ryan said Ethan was dealing with issues, but I thought he said it was with the elders. I guess it could still be about the mating issue, though, and it raises questions in my mind.

Did someone change Ethan’s mind about marrying her? Are we back to square one where we can’t be together?

Groaning, I let my head fall to my forearms that are on my desk. I don’t know how much of this I can take if we have to start this all the way over again. We just got to a good place, and now we’ve been shot back to the beginning.

Over and over.

There seems to be a world of problems at the beginning, then there’s a small break before all the problems begin again.

Is this a cycle we’re doomed to repeat until we separate?

If the answer is yes, I’m not sure how long we’ll last.

My chest tightens, and I have to force myself to breathe through the pain. I don’t want to give up on Ethan, but these past few days and his actions today have blurred the line between us, and I don’t know what to do.

The phone rings and rings and rings until I realize it’s my cellphone and not the desk phone.

Sighing, I lift my head, pick my phone up, and answer the call.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Bowen. I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time,” my lawyer says.

“No, Mr. Adair. Is there something wrong?”

He clears his throat and the sound of papers shuffling reaches my ears. “No, nothing wrong. I am merely calling to remind you that the inheritance hearing will be in two days, on Friday. I will need you at the courthouse by nine in the morning.”

I look at the date at the bottom of my computer and blanch. I’d been so busy and worried about work that I didn’t even realize how fast time was moving.

“Thank you, Mr. Adair. I’ll be there.”

I smile a little as the call ends, the tiny bit of good news brightening me up.

Now, I just need to figure out what is happening with Ethan.