Chapter 5

~THALIA~

I looked back and I saw Julian following me.

"Because it's already late."

"But I can book a room for you to sleep till tomorrow morning."

"Oh no, don't bother. There's still time. I'll just go home."

"But I really want to talk to you about something."

"Oh, that's not a problem. We can talk on the phone," I assured.

"I will just sit with you in the taxi. By doing that I will be able to discuss with you and also see that you get home safely."

I hesitated, then nodded. "If you insist."

Then he waved a taxi down and we both entered. I gave the driver my address and he began to drive.

"So," I asked, breaking the silence, "what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Hmm…I just want to ask you to be my girlfriend," he whispered. "I've liked you since high school," he added.

I blinked"Julian, you've always been a sweet guy back then in school and you'll definitely pass to be my boyfriend but I'm married. I had a really private wedding a few years ago when I clocked eighteen."

"Are you trying to decline without hurting me?"

"No, it's the truth."

He went silent after that. He didn't say another word until we reached my place. I waved at him as the taxi drove away, taking him back.

As soon as I alighted, I saw Aunty Jasmine standing outside. I quickly rushed over to her.

"Aunty, are you standing here because I didn't come back early?" I asked, feeling remorseful.

"Thalia, why are you back so late? I've called several times but you didn't pick up. And you even drank alcohol!Alpha Cassian will be furious." She spat those words out, her worry clear.

"But he's not around or…is he?"

My voice trailed off as I realized that he was back.

"Yes. He's back. He arrived just a few minutes after you left. He wasn't happy that he didn't meet you at the mansion."

Seeing that I was standing there in a daze, Aunty Jasmine quickly pulled me inside. "Hurry up and go meet him upstairs. I don't want you to be in trouble."

I stopped at the door. I clenched and unclenched my hands at my sides repeatedly before taking a breath and pushing the door open.

He was sitting on the sofa with laptop on his lap.

I took a nervous breath. "Welcome Alpha."

He lifted his eyes and looked at me from head to toe. I bet he was glaring at the short sleeveless gown that I wore.

"You've grown taller than since I last saw you," he remarked.

"Yes and I probably became even more beautiful," I teased to calm the stiffening atmosphere but he didn't smile.

"Did I say you could wear something like that outside?"

~ALPHA CASSIAN~

The smile from the joke she had told earlier was no longer on her face.

Her head was immediately lowered, her hair fell forward, and it covered half her face.

She stood there like a person awaiting a sentence.

I knew by the way her hands clasped together that she knew she was already in trouble.

"No. You didn't. The dress looks beautiful, that's why I wore it," she murmured.

The words grated against my nerves.

I dropped the laptop, stood up, but walked calmly, took a cigarette from the minibar, and sat back down again, not taking my eyes off her, watching her like a prey.

I took a long drag from my cigarette, and then exhaled it slowly after it filled my lungs.

The lights in the bedroom were dim, deliberately so. I wanted her to feel uncomfortable, to feel every breath she took when she was around me.

"Do you know what time it is?" I asked fiercely.

She nodded.

"You have certainly grown bold," I went on, my voice light, but with an edge to it. "Drinking, and coming home this late."

I chuckled, the sound dripping with coldness.

"Tell me, how do you think you should be punished?"

Her fingers shook by her sides.

"I don't think I deserved any punishment," she went on, her voice barely above a whisper. "It was my school reunion, and…our class governor's birthday, you know. Everyone was drinking. I only had a little, and it was fun, and I forgot the time."

She paused, then went on, her voice still very soft, "Besides, I did not know you would come home. You could have called me."

I knew what was feeding her ego. She was certainly calculating the days she had left in her head, the days she had thought she would get away from me.

Only three months remained.

My eyes narrowed ever so slightly.

If only she knew.

Those years, those months, my absence, my silence, did not count. They never had, no matter what I had told her, no matter what I had promised her, no matter what I had told her I had planned to do, I had changed my mind.

The contract had not really started back then. It had just been on hold.

Now, everything was about to start over.