Chapter 108 108
Xavier's POV
I sank deeper into the threadbare armchair, the beer sweating in my hand, and stared blankly at the flickering TV screen. My apartment was cold, barely furnished, the peeling paint and creaking floorboards reminding me at every turn that this was no longer my life. Everything was gone.
The pack mansion, once a symbol of my authority, had been taken from me. I had used it as collateral in a debt I couldn't pay, and now it belonged to someone else. Every memory that once lingered there from every birthday, to every celebration, was gone.
I ran a hand through the tangled mess of hair on my head. The stubble had grown into a beard, scraggly and unkempt. Months had passed since I had left the pack mansion, since I had stepped out into a world that no longer recognized me or that I no longer recognized. The world outside had moved on. I hadn't.
On the TV, a reporter's voice droned on. My ears barely registered her words, but my eyes couldn't look away because there she was.
Maisie.
My Maisie.
Radiant, composed, every inch the woman I had underestimated, now standing beside Roman as they inaugurated the company's new name: Aria Williams Conglomerate.
The name stabbed at me. Aria... Our late daughter. She now had a legacy and is celebrated and immortalized in a way I had failed to do. My throat tightened, and I couldn't hold back the tears.
I touched the TV screen, as if my hands could somehow reach through it, grab her, claw back the life I had carelessly thrown away.
"I'll get you back," I whispered hoarsely. "I swear... I'll get you back."
The reporter's words cut through me like a knife. She talked about Alpha Roman, the sweet, caring man who had been there for her when I had ignored her, who had treated her with the love and respect I had denied her. My hands curled into fists. My nails dug into my palms until I tasted blood.
Images flashed on the screen: Roman handing Maisie flowers, whispering to her that she was beautiful, taking her out for her birthday, making sure she laughed and smiled. He had followed her to the graveyard on Aria's memorial day, holding her in his arms as she cried, comforting her in ways I had never even imagined.
I could feel my blood boil. I had ignored her. I had left her alone when she needed me the most. And now... Now I was watching him do everything I had failed to do, and I couldn't stop it.
The footage zoomed in on their faces-how close they had grown, the tenderness in their eyes, the subtle glances that turned into something more. My chest tightened, and a deep, primal rage rose within me. I slammed my fist into the side table. Nothing. I slammed it again. The table didn't break, but the emptiness in my chest did.
Finally, unable to endure it any longer, I grabbed the TV remote-and in one violent motion, I smashed the screen. Glass flew, sparks of static electricity crackling as the display died, leaving only darkness and the echo of my own fury.
The door creaked open, and Rayes stepped in, carrying a bag of food. He froze for a moment, taking in the wreckage of my living room.
“The TV…” he started cautiously. “Xavier…”
I snorted, my eyes still wild. “Fifth one in two months,” I muttered bitterly. “And you're here with food? You don't get it, Rayes. Everything is against me. Everything.”
He sighed and placed the bag down on the floor, kneeling beside the armchair. "Xavier... You need to apologize. To Maisie. That's the only way to start fixing anything."
I laughed, a bitter, hollow sound. "Apologize? You think I haven't thought of doing that, Rayes? You think I haven't imagined it a hundred times?" I leaned forward, my voice dropping into a low growl. "No... I won't apologize. Not yet. Not while I still have fire left in me. I'll have my revenge soon. Very soon."
Rayes shook his head, silent, because he knew he couldn't convince me. Not now. Not while the wound was still raw, and the humiliation still fresh.
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes. I thought of the board meetings, of watching Maisie raise the company from scratch. Aria Williams Conglomerate. Every decision, every move she made, had been meticulous. She had rebuilt what I had lost-what I had failed to protect. I had watched her take each step, each triumph, each victory, and felt powerless to stop it.
The elders had replaced me as Alpha of the pack and now, whispers floated through the network: they were contemplating putting Maisie as Alpha. Maisie. The woman I had once abandoned, the woman I had left to fight her battles alone-she was now potentially the leader of everything I had ever thought I controlled.
I shuddered at the thought, my body shaking with rage, jealousy, and regret. How could this happen? How could she thrive while I had crumbled?
Another sip of beer burned down my throat as I watched another news segment on the broken TV. Maisie and Roman smiled at the crowd, waving, speaking with confidence, the way I had never seen her when I had been too blind to appreciate her. The reporter's voice explained how Roman had been there for her, how he had shown the kindness I had refused to offer.
And yet, even in my anger, even in my humiliation, a part of me... Admired her. She had survived everything. She had thrived where I had faltered. She had taken the pain I had inflicted, the neglect I had left behind, and turned it into power.
But admiration and anger cannot coexist. I swung my fist again, hard, smashing the wall beside the TV stand. The wall didn't break. Nothing would. Nothing could stop what she had done. Nothing could stop her from being happy, from being loved, from being everything I had failed to provide.
Rayes knelt beside me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Xavier... You need to let go of the past."
I laughed, a harsh, bitter sound. "Let go?" I repeated. "The past is all I have! The past is what made her what she is! And mark my words, Rayes... I will get her back. I will take back what I lost. Everything."
Rayes said nothing. He knew better than to argue with me when I was in this state.
I leaned back, staring at the broken TV and the shards of glass glinting in the dim light. Maisie. Roman. The company. Aria's name. Everything that had once been mine was gone, replaced with the life I should have given her, the life I should have protected.
And I couldn't do anything about it. Not yet.
But I would.
One day, I would make her notice me again. I would make her remember me, make her see what she had lost. And when I did, the world would watch, and she would see that the boy she once loved-and left behind-was still here.
I took another long swig of beer, letting the bitter liquid burn down my throat, and whispered again to the darkness of my apartment:
"I'll have my revenge. Soon enough... Very soon.”