Chapter 40 Chapter 40
Violet
I forced a smile on my face and then saw Nate slink in the passenger seat beside Dane who smiled at me and then they both drove off.
For a few seconds, I simply stood there, processing what had just occurred.
Nicole just didn’t fill his head with shit about me, he really believed her, blantantly accused me of becoming a callgirl to earn money and receive scraps of money from other men and then on top of it, made a show of how we were good friends in front of Dane.
The threat was clear- if I wanted the job and for him to not spill my so-called dirty secrets, I would have to show up to his office tomorrow.
I hated the idea of even returning to that pack. I didn’t want to see Nicole living in my home, ruling my pack.
There had to be a way out of this. I wasn’t going to let him bully me into anything every again.
I wanted to talk to someone, to let everything out.
I fucking wished I had a friend who would lend me an ear.
Cassie.
That name popped in my head. But that also made me recall Elijah and his thoughts about me.
It seemed like men in general hated me.
Cassie had really grown close to me in the matter of days. She was injured and resting. Even if not for sharing the drama in my life, I hoped to see her again.
I desperately needed a friend.
But I didn’t want to come face to face with Elijah again so I simply hailed a cab and went home. The entire ride, Nate’s words along with the opportunity presented by Dane kept playing in my head.
I was so lost in thoughts that I didn’t realize I had reached home. When I did, mom came running towards me, looking all hopeful.
“How was the interview? Did you meet Mr William Stratford?”
I smiled at her, ignoring my worries for a while.
“Thank you for taking the risk. He liked my rough sketches.”
Mom began cleebrating already but I cautioned her. “Relax, I still have to give them a few more designs, before they think of hiring me.”
Mom screeched even louder upon hearing that.
“Hiring you? Oh my, they are already going to offer you a job?”
Her excitement was infectious.
“Yeah, if Dane liked the final designs.”
Mom immediately pulled her hands down and moved closer to me.
“Dane? Mr William’s son? How old is he? How does he look? I didn’t even know Mr William Stratford had a son.”
She began her inquiry the second she heard the name of a guy. I should have expected this.
“Mom, calm down. He is going to be my boss if things go well.”
“A handsome one, I hope” She giggled but I shook my head. “I am not looking at him that way. I just want to focus on work. And you will not force any other thing on me.”
I said the last line with a bit of warning in my tone. I loved her for the help she gave me in kickstarting my possible new career, but I didn’t want her pairing me up with any new guy she could find.
“Okay, okay.” Mom threw her hands back in mock surrender but smiled at me.
“I am so proud of you.”
“I am really very excited about this opportunity so can I start working on the designs please?”
Mom’s head bobbed up and down.
“Of course, sweetheart. I will even ask the cooks to send some soup and roasted chicken in your room.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of food.
“Oh mom, you are a lifesaver. Thank you. And I will be in my room, working on getting that job.”
I quickly went in my room, locked the door and sat on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do about the Nate situation.
After a few minutes of wondering, I decided to give him a call. When he didn’t, I dropped him a message.
\-Need to talk to you, Violet-
The instant I sent this message, he gave me a call.
“Oh my dear Violet, so that’s your new number. Tell me, how can I help you?”
He feigned being polite and as if he had never threatened me.
“Cut the drama, Nate. What do you want from me?”
Nate pretended to sound offended. “Oh come on now, I just finished a meeting with Dane and I really dont remember what all we talked about.”
I took a sharp breath and he played on my fear. “Oh my, did I accidentally tell him that you cheated on me, of course not.”
My nails raked against the phone cover a bit too hard.
“Why are you doing this?”
Nate seemed to shrug.
“Because I want to see you remorseful? I mean, I planned to marry you, Violet. I planned to make you my Luna, you had access to all the confidential data of the pack. And you chose to do all this behind my back?”
I was growing tired of his antics by now.
“How do you conveniently forget that I would have almost died that day when you were rushing to save Nicole? What happened to all your promises of putting me first? How about you feeling remorse?”
Nate grew a bit defensive.
“Oh come on, I didn’t do anything behind your back. And you knew I had a crush on Nicole before I met you. I was loyal to you.”
Loyal my foot!
“Then why are you spending your time blackmailing me when you can run towards your precious crush? Go live your life and let me be!”
I hated how he had grown such a thick skull suddenly. Whatever happened to the man I had been in love with?
I was beginning to wonder if I was the one under some delusion and not him.
“Listen” Nate’s voice grew sharp. “I told you, I need your help with a few projects. You were handling them and you left no notes or gave nobody any sort of handover before disappearing. I have a lot of things to do so I only want you to come back for a short while and sort out the mess.”
“That is because you said you didn’t want to see my face ever again, remember?”
He completely ignored that line.
“Come on, you have grown so stubborn. I was still willing to forgive you. Are you still hanging out with that bastard or have moved on to other men?”