Chapter 100

Chapter 100
Viola didn’t sleep a wink until she saw the first post go up on the Inquirer’s page. Seth was already asleep by then, so she waited till morning to celebrate the start of Rashel’s downfall with him. She knew that the battle line had just been drawn, and she was prepared for it.

The moment Seth opened his eyes, she flashed her phone screen at him.

“Surprise, surprise!” Viola chuckled beside Seth.

“What’s this?” Seth frowned as he took her phone and sat up on the bed. He tried to make sense of the photos he saw on the screen.

“The beginning of Rashel’s destruction, Seth.”

“You sent these to the inquirer, didn’t you?” He had now pieced it all together and seemed more relaxed.

“Of course.” Viola smiled.

“How did you even get your hands on them?” He asked, a proud smile forming at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, Veronica sent them to me a long time ago. I just knew they would come in handy someday, and look!” Viola beamed. She was having quite a moment.

“Those two are definitely going to get what’s coming to them. They’ll learn that you don’t remain indispensable forever.”

“Now, we’ve just made the council’s job easier. I expect that either Rashel or both of them will be suspended from meetings indefinitely.”

Seth didn’t say anything in reply; instead, he just nodded. Viola had just given him what he had worked months for on a platter. Finally, he was going to have his revenge on Rashel and Jethro.



Rashel sat in her home office staring blankly at the large screens in front of her. She had tried for hours to process what happened that morning, but it was impossible. She felt like she was floating and having an out-of-body experience. Like she was watching all this happen from a corner of the room.

She knew she was innocent; Jethro knew she was innocent. Even Veronica and Viola knew she was innocent, but that was where it ended. The public, as well as the council, was only going to believe what the inquirer had posted. It was just a nudge in the direction Viola wanted everyone to look—a continuation of the speculations she had raised during the council meeting.

When the issue of embezzlement was raised within Scepter, it was easy for her to claim innocence and provide proof, as she was the head of security and had the backing of the man in charge. No one even challenged her claims of innocence or the proof she provided, not even Veronica, the accuser. But it was an entirely different case this time.

It involved the entire citizenry of Denver and, most importantly, the council, which no one had any influence over. She still had her proof of innocence, but couldn’t make these people believe her. Anything she presented to them now would be seen as made-up evidence, and worse still, it could be used against her.

She was starting to feel like she had come to destroy Jethro’s world. The once-feared Alpha was now on the verge of losing his seat in the council, and it was all because of his involvement with her.

Rashel broke into a sob as fresh, hot tears streamed down her face. She didn’t deserve any of this, Jethro didn’t deserve any of this, and Viola didn’t deserve to walk away free like she always did. Her phone rang suddenly, breaking her stream of thoughts. When she checked and saw that it was an unsaved number, she didn’t take the call. It was probably one of those blogs calling to confirm if the rumors were true. As if she would confirm them even if they were true.

The number called again almost immediately, and Rashel picked up this time, ready to tell the caller exactly what to do with themselves. But then she heard a familiar voice, a voice she knew all too well. One that was impossible to forget.

“Hi, Rashel.” It was Viola, and Rashel could tell she was smiling at her end.

“What do you want?” Rashel hissed.

“Come on, Rashel. I’m just checking on a friend. How have you been with the headlines and all?” Viola purred.

“Last I checked, my welfare was none of your damn business.”

“Feisty. Calm down, my darling. To get past this, you have to remain calm, okay?” Viola continued, ignoring Rashel.

“I know you did this. I know you did this, Viola, and although I do not have any evidence at the moment, I will certainly find it. And when I do, I’ll come for you with everything I’ve got.”

“I’m so scared. Is that supposed to be a threat or something?” Viola said dryly, not hiding the fact that she was mocking Rashel.

“It’s a promise.” Rashel hissed and hung up. She cleaned her tears and stood up sharply. What was she even doing crying? A pity party wasn’t going to do anything to help her. What she needed to do was find Jethro and look for a way out of this mess that Viola had pulled them into.



Rashel found Jethro in his office. When she walked in, he was on a call, so he held up one finger and mouthed “one minute” to her. She slumped into the seat opposite him and thumbed through the open file on his table as she waited.

“Was that the lawyer?” She asked the moment he ended the call.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“We could have a case. But it’s based on speculation, considering the fact that there’s no solid evidence that proves Viola was the one who leaked those documents.”

“Well, we’ll take anything we can get. It’ll help to prepare ahead of the council’s judgment—whatever it’ll be.”

Jethro allowed himself a small smile when Rashel said this. His Rashel was back and ready to fight. He was glad that he let her have her moment earlier, and now she had gotten all the self-pity out of her system.

“I’m not going to let anyone touch you, okay? No matter the council’s ruling. No one’s going to harm you.”

“But what if the judgment is against you, Jethro? What if they suspend you? Or worse—”

“Nothing’s going to happen to me, Rashel.” Jethro interrupted sharply, but not rudely. “They might suspend me, yes. I’ll honor it and stay away, but there’s little else they can do outside that. Except, of course, some bitter people want to use the opportunity to get pacified for old grievances. And to be honest, I wouldn’t blame them.”

“I agree. So, what’s our next plan of action?” Rashel asked again.

“We’ll lay low. I received mail from the council this morning, and we’ve been invited to a private seating next week. You and I. I didn’t tell you earlier because…” Jethro let his voice trail.

Rashel nodded. She understood what he was trying to say, and so she gave a small encouraging smile.

“We’ll honor the invitation. Of course.”

“The barrister will come by tomorrow afternoon to go over the details of this case with us. We need a briefing done to prepare us before the actual court sitting.”

“I’ll be ready to participate in the briefing by tomorrow.” Rashel gave a small smile.

Just then, they heard a knock on the door, and it sounded urgent. Before Jethro could answer the door, they heard another loud knock.

“Come in!” Jethro called, sounding slightly irritated.

It was Milla who walked in, and upon seeing her, Rashel knew there was trouble.

“There’s a very big problem, Alpha. You need to see this.” Milla said with a frown on her face as she handed over her phone to him.

It was a video of a crowd gathered outside Scepter Towers, throwing stones and raising placards.

“What is the meaning of this?” Rashel demanded.

“Protesters, commander,” Milla answered carefully.

“I can see that. The question is, why are they in front of Scepter towers, and why has the security not done anything about it?” She demanded. Rashel was beginning to lose her temper, and Milla could sense it.

If she didn’t want to get caught up in this, she either had to excuse herself or make herself useful. But before she could escape, Rashel saddled her with the responsibility of ensuring that nothing of the sort happened anywhere close to the estate.

“If I handled them myself, I would most likely shoot someone.” Rashel had said.

She spent the rest of the day following the news updates and trying to see the most accepted public opinion.

Jethro watched her closely, trying to see if she was relapsing into self-pity again or losing her mind completely. But what he saw was a woman who wasn’t used to waiting, trying to accept her fate. Rashel was actually waiting and delegating something she considered important to someone else. She had actually agreed to wait, and it amazed him how much this woman had changed.

Agreeing to wait and taking a step back was another form of strength she had just shown him. And in that moment, he loved her more fiercely.