Chapter 34
Violet's POV:
When I mentioned Dominic's offer at Blackwood Dynamics, Daemon nodded once, a curt acknowledgment that told me nothing about what he actually thought of his father's decision to bring me into the family business. "I see," was all he said, and then he was rising to his feet, brushing off his slacks.
"It's getting late," he said, glancing at the darkening sky where the last traces of sunset were fading into deep purple twilight. The temperature had dropped noticeably in the past hour, and I could see my breath misting in the cold air. "I'll drive you back to the manor."
I gestured toward where my motorcycle sat parked near the edge of the lot. "I have my bike," I said. "I can ride back myself."
His jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, and he shook his head with the kind of finality that left no room for argument. "It's too cold," he said flatly, his tone brooking no disagreement. "I'll take you home."
Before I could protest, he was already walking toward my motorcycle with long, purposeful strides. Within minutes, he had retrieved the roof rack attachments from his vehicle and was securing my motorcycle to the top with careful, methodical movements. His hands worked quickly despite the cold, tightening straps and checking stability points with the kind of focused attention he usually reserved for business deals and pack politics.
When he was satisfied that everything was properly fastened, he straightened and gestured toward the passenger door of the SUV without looking at me directly.
The silence stretched again, but I found myself speaking anyway, pulled by some inexplicable need to fill the void. "I used to wait for you every night, no matter how late it got. I would sit in that empty bedroom listening for your footsteps, hoping you would come through the door and actually see me for once. I watched the news obsessively, tracking every mention of your name. When you closed a big deal, I felt proud even though I had nothing to do with it. And when the gossip sites posted photos of you with other women, I cried myself to sleep and then pretended everything was fine the next morning."
I opened my eyes and turned to look at him, expecting cold disdain. But his expression was carefully blank, as if he was working very hard to show no reaction at all. His eyes stayed fixed on the road.
We fell back into silence as we approached the more affluent neighborhoods. I stared out the window, trying to process this strange moment of almost-honesty between us.
An odd question surfaced in my mind, prompted by my encounter with Lily earlier and the weight of her secret pregnancy. I tried to make my voice casual, almost academic. "Hypothetically speaking, if a woman discovers she is pregnant and then finds out her mate has betrayed their bond, do you think the baby would change anything? Would the man reform himself for the child's sake?"
Daemon's head turned sharply toward me. "Are you pregnant?"
I blinked, startled by the vehemence of his reaction. "What? No. Of course not. I took the moonlight herb after that night, and the timing does not even make sense. I was just asking a general question. Something I heard about."
His jaw tightened, and he returned his attention to the road. When he finally answered, his voice was cold and definitive. "A baby would not change anything. If a wolf truly loved that woman, he would not have strayed in the first place. The betrayal itself is the answer."
He paused, then added with brutal honesty, "The child would just become another victim of his selfishness."
---
I had planned to have Sienna and Jade over in the afternoon to discuss the Lily situation, and Ruby had prepared an elaborate lunch in anticipation.
Then Daemon's phone rang at noon while he was reviewing something in his study. I saw him glance at the screen, his expression shifting immediately. He stepped out onto the terrace to take the call, and even from inside the house, I could hear the gentle timbre of his voice as he spoke.
When he returned a few minutes later, his face was set in cold determination. "I have something to handle," he said tersely, already moving toward the door. "Do not wait up."
"Drive safely," I said calmly, not bothering to ask where he was going or when he would return. I already knew.
---
When Sienna and Jade arrived an hour later. We settled into the sitting room with tea, and I pulled out my phone without preamble.
"I have something you need to see," I said quietly, pulling up the video. "It is about Connor."
The footage showed Connor in a parking garage, pressed against a sleek sedan with a blonde woman in his arms. Their kiss was deep and unmistakably intimate, her hands tangled in his hair while his gripped her waist with practiced familiarity.
Sienna's eyes flashed gold, her wolf surging forward. "I am going to castrate that piece of shit," she snarled, half-rising from her seat.
Jade grabbed her arm, her own face twisted with fury. "How dare he? Lily trusts him completely. She talks about him like he is some kind of saint."
I held up a hand to stop them. "There is more." I took a deep breath. "Lily is pregnant. Six weeks along. She is planning to surprise Connor with the news at the bonding ceremony."
The room went deathly silent. Sienna sank back onto the sofa, her face pale. "Oh Goddess," she whispered. "That poor girl."
Jade's expression hardened with cold rage. "I ran into Connor's parents last week at the market. They were bragging about how their son had landed such a catch, but complaining that Lily's sister would eventually split the family fortune. Like he is just there for the money."
"He is scum," Sienna spat. "And his parents are parasites. Lily deserves so much better than this."
We sat in heavy silence for a long moment. Finally, Sienna straightened her shoulders. "We have to tell her. Today if possible."
"Agreed," Jade said firmly. "The longer we wait, the worse it will be. She needs to know before she makes any permanent decisions."
I nodded slowly. "I will support whatever you both think is best. But we need to be careful about how we approach this. She is vulnerable right now."
We spent the next hour planning exactly how we would break the news, then Sienna left to arrange getting Lily to my house under the pretense of a casual gathering.
---
After they left, I found myself aimlessly scrolling through social media. That was when I saw it—a post from Zane Carter on my feed. It was a photo of a half-eaten lunch, taken from what looked like his dorm room. The caption read simply: "Maybe I'm just not enough."
My chest tightened. I clicked through to his profile and felt my stomach drop. Every photo of him with Celeste had been deleted. His page, once full of proud couple pictures, was now empty of her entirely.
I stared at the blank spaces where their happiness used to be, then opened a private message.
Violet: You okay?
The message showed as delivered, but no response came. I set the phone down and closed my eyes, waiting. Twenty minutes later, it finally buzzed.
Zane: We rejected each other. It's over.
I looked at those cold words and felt a hollow ache in my chest. Even with all my interference, all my attempts to give him advantages, the timeline had not changed. The male lead and female lead were destined to find each other, and those of us in the margins could not alter that trajectory.
Violet: I'm sorry to hear that. Are you okay?
Zane: Not really. But I'll survive.
Violet: You deserve better than someone who doesn't see your worth.
Zane: Maybe. Right now I just feel like a fool.
Violet: You're not a fool. You loved someone with all your heart. That takes courage.
Zane: Thanks, Violet. That means a lot.
Violet: Let's meet up sometime soon. I'll buy you a drink.
Zane: I'd like that.
I set the phone down and stared at the ceiling. Daemon was probably with Celeste right now. Comforting her through the pain of her rejection.
---
The week that followed was a blur. Daemon did not return to the manor once. I threw myself into preparations for handling the Lily situation, meeting repeatedly with Sienna and Jade to strategize. We worried that even with evidence, Lily might make excuses for Connor or convince herself that the baby changed everything.
"We need to tell her before she gets any deeper," Sienna insisted during one of our planning sessions. "Before she starts rationalizing his behavior."
Finally, she arranged to lure Lily to my home under the pretense of reviving our monthly friend gatherings. When the day arrived, we were waiting in the sitting room, our faces carefully neutral but our hearts heavy.
The sound of the front door opening made my stomach clench. Lily's bright laughter echoed through the foyer, and then she appeared in the doorway. The moment she saw our expressions, her smile faltered.
"You all look so serious," she said slowly, her hand moving instinctively to rest on her stomach. "What is going on?"