Chapter 82 Chapter 82
Violet
Applause exploded as rose petals rained down upon them at the exact moment while the maids and servants clapped furiously.
Nate rose and slid the ring onto her finger as she laughed and cried at once, throwing her arms around his neck.
The music swelled triumphantly, the room buzzing with congratulations and approval. I could swear I saw a few maids even wipe their eyes and gush about the proposal to each other.
I sat there, perfectly still, fighting to keep my face composed into something that resembled calm.
Because inside me, everything was collapsing.
My chest ached, a deep, hollow pain spreading with every cheer, every smile thrown their way. I focused on breathing, on not letting the tremor in my hands show, on not letting anyone see just how deeply this was cutting.
Elijah shifted beside Cassie, rising abruptly.
The scrape of his chair against the floor cut through the noise.
His eyes were still on me.
Not on his stepsister. Not on Nate. Not on the spectacle unfolding in front of him.
On me.
As if he were bracing for me to shatter.
Nicole pulled back slightly, laughing breathlessly. “You planned all this,” she said, mock-accusing. “I had no idea.”
“That was the point,” Nate replied, grinning.
Nicole turned toward the table then, lifting her hand to show the ring. “I suppose this makes breakfast a celebration now,” she said brightly. “Doesn’t it?”
Alpha Alaric stood, clapping Nate on the shoulder. “Well done, son. A fine choice.”
Lady Aurelia smiled, her gaze flicking briefly toward me before settling back on Nicole. “Welcome to the family,” she said warmly.
That did it.
I pushed my chair back and stood.
The sound barely registered over the lingering applause, but Nicole noticed immediately.
“Violet?” she called gently. “Where are you going?”
I forced myself to meet her eyes, my smile polite, brittle. “I think that’s my cue to leave,” I said. “Congratulations.”
Her expression softened, concern slipping seamlessly into place. “Oh, don’t be silly. Stay. Celebrate with us.”
I shook my head. “I really should go.”
Alpha Alaric was the one to ask. “Is there a problem?”
The voice cut through the air sharply making all of us turn. Alpha Alaric was looking at me keenly, his gaze drifting from me to Nicole, waiting for an explanation.
Before I could open my mouth, Nicole gave him a warm smile.
“Nothing. We were just having a little chat” She waved her hand as if to brush off his concern but something about my facial expressions told him a different story.
I wasn’t as good an actor as she was to mask my anger into a neutral expression. That was one thing I had to learn from her.
Alpha Alaric took a step closer and smiled again.
“That doesn’t seem to be the case. Violet, right? Is everything okay?”
Your daughter is evil and her boyfriend is a creep I wanted to say but obviously didn’t.
I squared my shoulders, trying to come up with something to even out the playing field. Nicole and Nate had surprised me enough times.
Now, I had to do something as well.
“Yes, everything is alright, Alpha Alaric. In fact, we just realized that we may have gone to the same high school.”
It wasn’t my best line but I saw Nicole fumble for the first time. She had not expected me to out her like that.
Alpha Alaric seemed amused at that revelation.
“Oh really, what city was that?”
I smiled at him again.
“Ashville.”
Alpha Alaric nodded. “Oh, I see. I wasn’t aware of this. You lived in Ashville, Nicole?”
Nicole looked confused for a second but laughed it off.
“Yeah, mom transferred me from one school to another a lot during childhood, it is hard to keep up with all the names.”
Nicole gave me a side eye as if she was warning me to not spill more. That told me she had not been transparent about most of her past life with Alpha Alaric.
But why was that the case? What was she hiding?
Nate had been standing aside, talking to Lady Aurelia and basking in whatever compliments the maids had to offer him.
He was practically surrounded by them all and was accepting all the compliments with a big grin on his face.
However, when he noticed us and alpha Alaric discussing something, he rushed over to figure out what was going on.
Nate came to stand beside Alpha Alaric who patted him on the shoulder.
“That was a huge surprise, young man. When did you even plan all of this?”
Nate gave a shy smile and answered. “I had been planning it for months to be honest. I wanted Nicole to know how special she is and a ring wouldn’t do justice to her beauty. So, I chose a bracelet as well.”
Lady Aurelia heard him and replied, “That was so thoughtful of you.”
Nate eagerly nodded. “Nicole deserves the best. I had been hunting through jewellery stores for months. And I finally found this matching set.”
What a liar!
He must have found them in my cupboard because I hadn’t worn that set in ages. I had practically forgotten I owned it until I saw it today after all this time.
Nate then turned his attention to me.
“What do you think?”
I was taken by surprise to hear him address me out of nowhere.
Upon seeing my blank expression, he added.
“All the ladies approved of the choice, so I thought I should ask you as well. Do you like it?”
He looked at me hopefully, just like all the others.
Nicole suddenly looked all smug and happy to see me put in a tight spot. If only she knew the origin of the jewellery set.
I wanted to expose Nate so badly, the words were on the tip of my tongue.
But saying that out loud was similar to opening a can of worms. I wasn’t ready to answer the questions that would follow after that revelation.
The momentary feel of victory I had felt for a few seconds disappeared after Nate’s question. There was a smirk on his face that said ‘got you’
“It is quite unique. What jeweller did you buy it from?” I asked, turning the equation back in my favor.
Because I knew for sure, he had no idea where I bought it from.
Nate’s smile disappeared just for a moment and even Nicole was looking at him hopefully. She probably wanted to brag to her friends about all the trouble her fiance went through to find the perfect ring for her.
“Uh, does it matter? Its beautiful, isn’t it?” he tried to dodge the question but Nicole pouted and put a hand on his shoulder.
“I would like to know the answer to that. Its my proposal ring after all, I have to answer questions when people ask me that, you know.”