Chapter 168

Lucas POV

My father had decided to hold Victoria and I's engagement party at an elegant rooftop restaurant downtown that Victoria's parents owned.

Instead of glowing golden chandeliers, the stars in the sky were the highlight, creating a lavish setting.

Even though my father said that he wanted this to be a small gathering of people, I'd never seen so many people before in my life.

It didn't help that I hardly knew any of them.

A sea of well-dressed Alphas mingled, their snotty and obnoxious conversations filled the air. The conversations only surrounded topics of business, status, and connections.

It was typical of them to continue to network, even at a more personal event such as this. This was to be expected.

As much as I hated events like this and how fake everyone was, I had promised my father that I would be on my best behavior tonight. I didn't want to embarrass him in front of all of these people.

It was one thing to do it in the private of our own home, but I didn't want to make a bad impression on myself. One day, if I choose to stay in the business, I need to be on these people's good sides.

I still couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted to do. Was this life for me, or was it not?

My father had made it very clear to me that I needed to remain next to Victoria throughout the entire evening. He wanted us to appear as if we were inseparable, which couldn't be further from the truth.

Scanning my eyes over her, I noticed that Victoria was just as uncomfortable as me. Her eyes were silently judging everyone within our vicinity.

Our seats were positioned perfectly in the center of the room, allowing us a full view of all the guests. As painful as it was, a small part of it was entertaining to some degree. Every smile, every gesture, every word or look felt scripted. Like a movie.

"How long have we been here already?" Victoria asked without looking at me. Her eyes were trained on a group of older businessmen standing to the left of us.

"An hour and twelve minutes," I said, quickly checking my watch. "We only have a short three hours left."

Victoria groaned for only me to hear, reaching over the table to grab a flute of champagne. Technically, the two of us weren't supposed to drink, but nobody here seemed to care. We could do whatever we wanted.

"I guess we better keep drinking then to get through this."

"That's already your second glass," I commented, picking up my own glass.

"And?" Victoria turned to me with a raised brow. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Not at all," I said, fighting a smile at her defensive tone. "I don't even blame you. Whatever it takes, right?"

Suddenly, Victoria's mother, Mrs. Convington, approached our table with a very tight smile. Her exhaustion was evident, and I wondered if that was because this party was so last minute.

My father had asked Victoria's mother to do the bulk of the planning and I could only imagine how draining it had been for her to prepare everything on such short notice.

"Well, the two of you look very cozy," she commented, looking between the two of us as if trying to catch any lie. "Keep it up."

"We're just being ourselves, mother." Victoria finished off her glass and then returned it to the table.

Mrs. Convington's eyes tracked her daughter's movements with a blank expression, but she didn't say anything on the matter. "I hope the both of you are enjoying the party. I've tried very hard to make everything absolutely perfect. I'd say, it turned out pretty well."

"It's a nice party." I nodded my head, wanting to give her some sort of acknowledgment. The party was nice, but all the Alpha parties were nice. It was a perk of being well-connected and rich.

"Well, if the two of you would have gone through with your engagement the first time, I'm sure the party would've been much more splendid and extravagant."

Victoria and I were silent right as the words left her mother's mouth. Of course, she couldn't resist bringing up the past. It was as if she was trying to prod me with a dig to get a reaction out of me.

I wasn't going to go off on her today. I actually wanted things to run smoothly tonight...

For Shana. That's what I was doing this for. I had to keep reminding myself of that whenever it felt like I wanted to snap.

Just remember what you're in this for, Lucas, I told myself.

I forced myself to smile and offered the nicest response I could muster. "It's a beautiful party, Mrs. Covington. We appreciate all your effort. I'm sure it wasn't easy to prepare all of this."

"Thank you, Lucas." She eyed me suspiciously as if testing me. "You know, we girls dream of things like this. This engagement party means a lot to my Victoria. I need everything to be perfect for her."

It was like a silent threat... hurt my daughter and I'll hurt you.

With one last look at the both of us, she moved away, continuing to schmooze with other guests.

Victoria leaned in close to me and whispered, "I'm so sorry about my mother. She can be... direct. And don't worry about her comment. I never thought too much about marriage or parties when I was younger."

I shook my head. "I understand her reservations. She doesn't trust me after the last time. I can't blame her for that."

"She means well," Victoria said with a sigh. "But damn, she can be exhausting."

I gave Victoria another tight smile. "You don't say?"

"Hey!" Victoria's eyes shined with humor. "Only I can say things like that about my mom."

I held my hands up in mock surrender. "Apologies."

As both of our smiles died down, a pang of guilt began to rise in my chest as I surveyed all the guests and listened to their insincere praises and well wishes.

This all felt wrong. If this was us solidifying our lives in this world, would it always be this way? Fake? Without any of our friends present?

It made me wonder whether or not we were doing the right thing.

I couldn't shake the feeling that we were just two young wolves caught in a play orchestrated by our families. We had no other choice; we had no escape.

Even if I wasn't doing this for Shana, I felt like my father would find a way to trap me back into this world.

Turning to Victoria, I asked her softly, "Do you think we're doing the right thing?"

She met my gaze with an expression that mirrored the same uncertainty I felt. Her eyes held onto a haunted quality, revealing the burden we both carried. Our thoughts were in the same place.

She didn't need to say anything because the weight and realization of our shared emotions hung in the air between us.

Her lack of response made me question myself again... was I doing the right thing?