Chapter 170

Who the hell are you?" James asked Edwin, furrowing his brows in confusion.

James turned to me and in a low voice he whispered, "Is it just me, or do his eyes look strangely familiar?"

My pulse raced as I stared at Lucas's mysterious cousin, his presence sending shivers down my spine. I couldn't shake the eerie feeling that he had some ulterior motive for being here.

Fear and panic rushed through my body as I stared at Lucas's cousin. Had he followed me here? Was he actually crazy after all?

If he was mentally insane then James and I weren't safe right now. I had no idea what Edwin was capable of, and suddenly, I remembered how he wanted to seek revenge on the Busch family.

What if he was going to hurt me? What if I was a part of his plan for revenge?

I grabbed onto the side front door, attempting to shut the door in Edwin's face, but he stopped me.

"Wait!" Edwin shouted, putting his hands up on the door, resisting my efforts to close it. "I know how this looks—"

"You know how this looks?" I shrieked, feeling my panic bubble up to the surface. "You're stalking me!"

"I'm not stalking you; I swear!"

"Then how did you know I was here?"

"Well..." Lucas's cousin paused. "Okay, maybe I followed you here—but that's it, I promise!"

"Shana," James interrupted the two of us, his eyes going back and forth between Edwin and me like he was watching a tennis match. "Who the hell is this guy?" James turned his attention to Edwin with vengeance. "And why are you stalking her?"

"He's Lucas's cousin, Edwin," I answered for Edwin. "He's Lucas's only other living blood relative on his father's side."

James seemed astonished as he stared at Edwin with intrigue. "Dude, has anyone ever told you that your eyes look exactly like—"

"Like Kendrick and Lucas? Yes, I know." Edwin rolled his eyes as if he'd been made aware of that fact for his entire life.

Eye color aside, I wanted to get to the reason why Edwin was here. "What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?"

"If you've been messing with Shana, I'll have you know that you need to get through me first," James protectively stood in front of me, shielding me from Edwin.

"No." Edwin hardly looked afraid of James's intimidating tall presence.

James looked like a giant compared to Edwin. I was surprised that he wasn't shaking in his boots.

"I have nothing against Shana, in fact, I think the two of us are on the same side," Edwin looked at me for confirmation.

"Come again?" I asked, unsure of where he was going with this. I didn't necessarily see the two of us as friends.

Honestly, I thought that Edwin was a little socially awkward and weird. He gave me a bad feeling.

"I'm here to reveal something that I think will interest both of you," Edwin confessed, reaching a hand back to his pocket.

I panicked, hiding myself further behind James. Was he going to pull out some kind of weapon?

James's thoughts must've gone to the same place because he started to close the door again, but Edwin stopped the door with his foot.

"Calm down!" Edwin warned us with a shake of his head. "I'm not going to do anything. Okay? I promise."

"What do you have back there?" James asked, pointing to whatever was in Edwin's pocket. "How can we trust you?"

"Just look." Edwin reached his hand back and showed us a white envelope.

"An envelope?" I asked, feeling more confused than before.

"Open it." Lucas's cousin regarded us both with a serious expression, his intense blue eyes locked onto mine. "I'm here because I've seen what they're trying to hide."

"What who's trying to hide?" James asked, confusion and suspicion clouding his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Victoria and Lucas."

As Edwin spoke both of their names, James and I stood up straighter. Oh no...

"What are Lucas and Victoria hiding?" I asked, feeling skeptical. Could we really trust Edwin?

"Read what's inside the envelope and you'll see the truth." Edwin urged me, gesturing to the envelope in his hands.

My fingers trembled slightly as I took the contents. Upon opening it, I found an elegant invitation inside, inviting us to an engagement party... for none other than Lucas and Victoria.

"Oh, that must be some kind of mistake," James said with a light laugh. "Victoria and Lucas were engaged a few months ago, but they called it off."

"Uh, James..." My heart plummeted as I read the date for the engagement party on the invitation... tonight.

I exchanged a look with James, the hurt and betrayal instantly mirrored in his eyes.

It was like a cruel punch to the gut, knowing that the two people we trusted the most had kept such a significant secret from us.

Victoria's absence from James's life suddenly made chilling sense. She was busy, but she was busy lying and celebrating her engagement to Lucas.

I felt shame and embarrassment wash over me as I thought about the date Lucas and I had just had yesterday.

Was he only being nice to me this past week because he knew that he was having an engagement party with Victoria?

And when the hell had the two of them decided to get engaged again? Was everything a lie? Did they even ever end their engagement? Or was that also a lie?

I didn't know what to believe anymore. I didn't know what was true or what was fake.

James clenched his jaw, as he snatched the envelope from my hands, rereading it over and over again.

"I know, it's pretty awful, isn't it?" Edwin asked, watching both of our reactions.

I had a feeling he was loving how distressed we were, and it only made me angrier.

"You got what you wanted?" I asked him. "We're pissed off. You succeeded, okay?"

I knew I was just letting my anger out on him, but I couldn't help it.

"Shana, I find no satisfaction in seeing you get hurt. I am only satisfied that justice will be served. Lucas, his family, and Victoria—all the elite alphas do is lie. They lie, and they hurt people and they don't care about the consequences," Edwin explained. "I'm sorry for delivering this bad news, but I thought the two of you should know."

"Edwin?" James still held the envelope in his hands with a tight grip. "Thanks for letting us know. It seems like Victoria and Lucas would've never come clean."

Edwin nodded slightly, before backing away. "If you ever need anything, you're always welcome to contact me."

With that, Edwin walked away, and my heart only crumbled more and more.

I wished none of this was real. I wished that it was all a lie.

My body felt overcome with emotion, and I started to shake slightly.

Oh no... was I about to lose control again?

"What do we do, Shana?" James asked, but when he noticed my strange mood, he became concerned. "Shana, are you all right?"

I wrapped my arms around James, feeling the need to ground myself to this moment. I needed to distract myself somehow. I needed to push my feelings away, but it was all too much.

I squeezed James tightly and felt tears flowing from my eyes.