Chapter Twenty-Eight

Chapter Twenty-Eight
SIXTEEN MONTHS AGO

We dressed up for dinner at my father’s estate. I wore a simple strapless but modest Alexander Wang dinner dress. Niklath stood by the mirror, buttoning the crisp collar of his charcoal shirt, cufflinks glinting in the golden evening light. I watched the lines of his back shift under the tailored fabric and felt the steady drum of nerves behind my ribs.

As he reached for his jacket, he turned to me. “It slipped my mind to inform you but I  extended the invitation to my parents. If we’re going to address this issue, I want the whole room present.”

I paused in front of him, smoothing down the silk of my dress. “You want to confront my father tonight?”

“I want to set the record straight about everything,” he said, voice deep and firm. “I will no longer tolerate this nonsense.”

I stepped close, wrapped my arms around his neck, and tilted my face to kiss him. My lips brushed his with a gentle warning.

“Okay. But please be calm. Don’t let Polenya and Angelica win.”

His eyes met mine, their blue sharpened by fire but softened by something else…me.

“With you by my side,” he said quietly, “I’ll stay grounded.”

The estate was lit like a stage by the time we arrived. Every corner of it designed to impress, to dominate, to distract. The guards at the gate nodded as we passed. Our car slid to a stop beneath the grand archway, and we stepped out as one.Inside, the table had already been set. Silver polished to a mirror finish. Crystal gleaming under chandelier light. My father sat at the head, composed, neutral. Polenya lounged to his left like she was born for that seat. Angelica sat beside her.She wore her usual bare shoulders, plunging neckline, something too tight for polite company. She didn’t speak. She didn’t draw attention. I had no doubt Polenya warned her to behave tonight. But restraint didn’t come naturally to her. She couldn’t help herself from letting her eyes drift toward Niklath more than once.And he never once looked back.

But I saw her watching him. Saw the small tilt of her head when he moved. The quiet hunger behind her painted lashes. She had seen what belonged to me. She had seen what only I was allowed to feel. I knew exactly what was running through her mind…the power of him, the way he filled space, the way he would split her open with his big thick cock and leave her marked. She wanted it. She wanted him.

She wanted what she could never have.And I didn’t know what she was planning. But I knew something was coming but when it did, I’d be ready.Dinner moved in tense silence, broken only by polite remarks and shallow laughter. The food was perfect. The wine flowed. The undercurrent of tension built and built like static before a storm.

It wasn’t until dessert was cleared and coffee was poured in the drawing room that Niklath chose to speak.

“Father Julian,” he said, his voice quiet but direct. The entire room paused. My father looked up from his espresso. “There’s something I need to address. You going behind my back to employ Angelica.”

The silence that followed was sudden and absolute. The clink of a spoon fell flat into porcelain.

Angelica froze. She had not expected this…not so soon, not so blunt.

My father’s expression flickered, just once. “Niklath, perhaps this isn’t~”

“It is,” Niklath said, cutting him off without raising his voice. “You both made Miara and me responsible for this company. You handed us the reins. That comes with authority. Protocol. And respect. You don’t get to sidestep us like this and expect no response.”

Polenya’s smile faltered. Angelica’s eyes dropped to her lap.

“If you want peace between both our worlds,” Niklath continued, “especially now that our companies are one, then I advise you to do the needful. Angelica’s position ends. Immediately.”

My father set his cup down with too much force. The room echoed.

“You’re overstepping,” Polenya snapped suddenly, voice sharp and icy. “This is a family matter. You don’t get to dictate~”

“I AM THE ALPHA and I get to protect what’s mine,” Niklath roared, eyes locked on hers. “And Miara is mine. This company is ours. You wanted a merger, not a monarchy. So here’s the new order…we lead. You follow!”

Niklath’s father, who had remained quiet up to this point, finally intervened before Niklath lost his temper completely. His voice was calm, deep, and carried the weight of someone used to ending arguments with a single sentence.

“Julian,” he said, turning toward my father. “I know she’s your stepdaughter, and I understand the instinct to protect your own. But we do have rules. And our children are now in charge.”

Julian’s mouth opened slightly, but he didn’t speak.

“For peace to reign,” Niklath’s father went on, “I think Angelica should apply the right way. Go through the proper channels. After all, you told me yourself Miara went through every process before you handed her anything.”

“That is correct” My father admitted as he exhaled through his nose, slow and resigned.

Angelica looked up slowly. Her cheeks were flushed, but her eyes were stone. There was a storm in her expression now, one she could barely contain. Polenya looked as if she’d swallowed something sour. Nothing more was said but the room said everything and I knew Angelica would not let this go easily.