Chapter 30

Judy’s POV

“Return the favor?” I asked, my heart falling deep into my stomach. “What are you talking about?”

He cleared his throat and straightened his posture; the soft expression he wore for most of the day was gone completely and now it was a cold look that sent a chill down my spine. I instinctively took a step away from him, not wanting to be anywhere near him.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, Judy,” he said, his brows furrowed in my direction. “I want you to be my mistress. Do what I ask, and I’ll make sure your mother is well and that your father comes home by the end of the night.”

My heart was bleeding at the man that I once loved more than anything in this entire world. At one point, I would have done anything for him. Now, as I stared at him, I saw nothing but a stranger staring back at me. His eyes were cold and unfamiliar; his lips were pressed in a thin line as he glared at me.

No matter how many times he asked me, I still couldn’t believe what he wanted me to do. He wanted me… his fated mate… to be his mistress while he married another woman. A woman who didn’t deserve to be treated this way. Irene was a sweet girl, and it was clear that she loved Ethan more than anything. It hurt knowing that another woman felt this way about my mate, but I also knew that the heart wanted what it wanted, and her heart wanted Ethan.

“How could you ask such a thing from me, Ethan?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. “Did our two years together truly mean nothing to you?”

His expression softened for the briefest of moments.

“Of course, it meant something to me,” he said, stepping closer to me. “That’s why I can’t let you go, Judy. You are my mate… you belong to me, and I will have you in any way that I can get you. Wouldn’t you rather be with me in secret than not be with me at all? Think about your wolf. Do you want to end up like your mother?”

My wolf had been quiet this entire conversation; I could feel her silently observing this interaction and I knew it pained her, the kind of things Ethan was saying to us. She didn’t want to be a mistress either, but she also didn’t want to let her mate go.

“And your wolf is okay with making his mate a mistress?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at him.

Ethan shrugged casually.

“He knows what needs to be done. That’s the qualification of being an Alpha,” he said simply.

“You aren’t an Alpha yet,” I murmured.

“I have the Alpha blood and the Alpha traits. Soon, thanks to Irene, I’ll have the official title as well.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“You make me sick,” I murmured.

He smirked at me and took another step closer, nearly closing the gap between us. I was too tired to continue walking away from him and he had beaten me to the ground with his words. The only thing I could do was stand there and stare up at him, willing my tears away.

“We’ve always been so good together, Judy. Don’t break us because you are too selfish to see what needs to be done,” he said in a low tone as he reached his hand up to touch my cheek.

As he grazed his fingers down the side of my face, it was as if his touch burned my flesh. I flinched away from him, glaring at him with fire in my eyes. I was furious that he was even putting me in this position. That he would use my poor mother as a way to get me to do what he wanted. I was sickened by him, and I would never forgive him for what he had done to me and my family.

I clenched my fists at my side and took a large step away from him.

“Don’t touch me,” I said through my teeth. “You have no right to touch me ever again!”

“You are mine, Judy!” He growled, reaching out to grab my arm but I flinched away from him once again.

“Correction, I was yours. You lost every right you had towards me the moment you decided on another woman. The moment you got down on one knee and proposed to someone else in front of my face. You didn’t even tell me about her, Ethan. You let me find out the hard way and I will never forgive you for what you have done. Not only to me but to my family as well. I can’t exactly prove it, but I know you had something to do with my father’s business going bankrupt.”

He smirked at me and folded his arms across his chest.

“Exactly, you can’t prove anything,” he said, his tone filled with pride as if he was proud of himself and his actions. “It’s your word against mine and guess who everyone is going to listen to?”

At that moment, Ethan’s phone started to ring in his pocket. It wasn’t the first time it had rang this evening, but he hadn’t answered a single call. He sighed and grabbed his phone from his pocket, frowning at whoever was calling. I thought he would finally answer the call because whoever it was, must be important if they were trying to reach him as urgently as they were.

But instead of answering the call, he shoved it back into his pocket, letting it ring. The ringing soon stopped, and my frown deepened.

“Why do you keep ignoring that person?” I asked.

“It’s not your concern,” he murmured, his eyes dark.

Then, a thought occurred to me, and I found myself feeling paralyzed.

“Was it Irene?” I asked him. “Has she been trying to reach you, Ethan?”

“As I said, it’s not your concern,” he said slower.

I realized I was right; it was Irene. I remembered she mentioned earlier that Ethan was busy with a meeting and she was upset that she couldn’t see him this evening. Had he been ignoring her all night because he was here with me?

He was already turning me into the other woman, and I hadn’t even agreed to be his mistress. I felt completely sick to my stomach.

“You should go,” I said, folding my arms across my chest and turning away from him. “You don’t want to keep your precious Irene waiting any longer. She might lose interest, and you might not get what you truly want.”

He stepped behind me; he was so close now that I could feel his warm breath on the back of my neck.

“You think we are so different, but in reality, we are the same, Judy,” he went on to say. I furrowed my brows, not sure where he was going with this. I didn’t bother to turn and face him; I kept my stance. “I marry Irene to get what I want, and you spread your legs for Gavin to get what you want.”

My face drained of blood from his words.

“It’s not like that,” I told him, my voice wavering slightly.

“Don’t lie to me!” He growled, his hands gripping my hips and holding them so firmly that it was most painful. “I know exactly what you are doing. Why don’t you spread your legs for me and get what you really want.”

I felt his hardness pressing into my backside and I quickly stepped out of his grip, whipping around to face him.

“You need to get out,” I told him, my eyes burning with unshed tears that I refused to let fall.

He let out a dark chuckle.

“Gavin will tire of you, and you will have no choice but to walk away from this job. Once you do, you’ll have nothing and no one. I’ll make sure of it. You’ll be crawling into my bed before you know it.”

“Get out of my house,” I said again, this time louder and firmer.

He turned away, still chuckling darkly as he shook his head.

“You’ll see, Judy. I always get what I want… and what I want, is your pretty little body to be in the house I bought you by the end of the week. I only have so much patience. You don’t want to know what’ll happen once I run out completely.”

“Get out!!” I screamed, not caring if I woke my mother up. Hot tears burned in my eyes as I ran towards him and shoved him towards the door. He barely even flinched, but he did willingly walk to the door.

He paused as the door opened and he turned back to face me.

“I’ll see you soon, mate,” he said, letting out another dark chuckle before he stepped out of the house and walked away, leaving me fuming and my wolf in complete despair.

….

Third Person POV

Ethan was furious that Judy was being so ridiculous. Couldn’t she see that she had to be his mistress so both their wolves would be okay after he married another woman? Judy was still his mate, and he wasn’t going to let her go that easily, even if he was marrying Irene. He was only marrying Irene to get the title of Alpha. He would probably sleep with her and have children with her to fulfill his husbandly duties, but she could never satisfy his wolf the way that Judy does.

They were true mates, and he doubted after he marked and mated with Irene that the mate bond, he felt with Judy would just go away.

The mark he left on Judy’s neck was still evident and it pleased him knowing that it wasn’t going away; that she could still feel him.

As he got to his car, he slid into the driver’s seat and pulled out his phone. There were numerous missed calls and texts from Irene. He was supposed to call her after his meeting earlier, but he never did. He was too preoccupied with getting to Judy and forcing her to submit to him.

He ignored each of her calls and texts.

He brought up his subordinate's phone number and clicked on the call button. Pressing the phone to his cheek, he only waited for two rings before the other line was answered.

“Boss,” his subordinate said in greeting; he had been waiting for Ethan’s call with bated breath, their plan already in action and waiting for Ethan’s confirmation.

“Put the next stage of our plan in action,” Ethan ordered grimly. “It’s time that Judy learned how much she truly needs me.”