Chapter 99

Chapter 99
“I wanted to strangle her! Tear her limb from limb. She has guts, Seth. That woman has guts.” Viola growled and paced the room. She had been that way since they returned from the council meeting, and Seth watched her carefully, ready to catch her if she tripped in the middle of her ranting.

“You have to calm down, baby; you don’t need stress. The child…” He let his voice trail as her hand instinctively went to the small bump that her belly had begun to form.

“How are you so calm? Did you even hear the things she said? Don’t tell me you think I’m overreacting right now because—”

“Viola!” Seth called firmly. “I said, calm down. Okay? I’m going to do something about it, I promise. I won’t let her get away with it.” He finished.

“I won’t believe you until you convince me.” She eyed Seth as she spoke.

“Come on, Vee. I said I’d take care of it. I need you to calm down and take care of yourself and the baby.”

Viola narrowed her eyes at him but didn’t say a word. She would let him handle it, but if he didn’t, then she would strike.



Viola left Seth in their bedroom and went to the drawing room, which functioned mainly as her own office. Thoughts of Merikh occupied her mind, and it hit her that she needed to check on Merikh. It had been too long, and he had been too quiet. Merikh was like his brother. They didn’t have the ability to stay calm for too long. They were both restless and always looking for ways to expend energy. So, his silence bothered her, not because she was really concerned about him, but because she was concerned about what he could be planning. She didn’t really want to fight him, but she had to anyway, because Merikh would surely come after her, and not fighting back would mean her end and possibly Seth’s. She would handle Merikh later, but for now she needed to nail Rashel.

Viola took out some files that Veronica had handed to her a long time ago. They contained all the cooked-up evidence they had arranged to use against Rashel when they accused her of embezzling funds during her early days in the company. At the time, Viola hadn’t known that she would need them again someday, but the time had come, and she was grateful that Veronica had the good sense to at least leave her with one good thing.

Although Viola knew that Rashel was innocent because she knew it was Veronica who was responsible for the missing funds, she didn’t care. This was the weapon that she would use to finally finish Rashel off.



Halfway across town, Rashel paced her room like a wounded werewolf while Jethro sat on the couch and watched her, waiting for her to calm down.

“I need to show Viola that she can’t always mess with me and get away with it. I think she hasn’t realized how dangerous it is to mess with me yet, so I will show her.” Rashel said suddenly, before she joined Jethro on the couch, sighing in an exhausted manner.

“Be careful now, Rashel. Seth and Viola raised some questions back there that caused some raised eyebrows. Whether you realize it or not, we’re under public scrutiny now, and we’d be lucky if the council doesn’t invite us for some questioning.”

“So, if I get you correctly, you’re saying I should let Viola do whatever the hell she wants. I should let that woman disrespect me, disrespect you, and walk away with it?” Rashel turned to Jethro sharply.

Jethro moved closer to Rashel and took her hands in his, rubbing his thumb over her palm gently.

“No, baby, no. I’m saying, we will teach them a lesson. But we will wait. We’ll watch and see what the council does. And what they think or who the people believe. Anything we do now could paint us in a bad light, even though we definitely have nothing to hide. Can you be patient? Can you do this for me?” Jethro pleaded.

Rashel didn’t say anything for a long moment. Instead, she just stared at him like she was searching for something.

“Okay. I can do that.” She said quietly.

“Thank you, baby. Thank you.”

“I haven’t seen Kael all day. I need to see him.” She said, standing up and dragging Jethro’s hand along with hers.

She wanted to even things out, but Jethro had pleaded with her. He didn’t try to assert dominance. If he respected her enough to reason with her, then she would return the respect and do as he had said. A little patience would not hurt anyone.



Viola thumbed through the file that was lying open in front of her and smiled. She was about to use her winning power. She picked up her phone and created a pseudo-Instagram account, and when she was done, she texted ‘the inquirer.’ It was an anonymous Instagram account that leaked information often considered confidential to the public, and most of the time, the information leaked was true.

“Hello, I have some news about Alpha Jethro and his girlfriend.”

A reply came almost immediately from the inquirer.

“And I’m supposed to believe you because?”

“The information I have is legitimate. Do you want it or not?”

“Who are you?”

“That’s none of your business. If you do not want it, there are others who would.”

“You think we’re desperate for gossip? How are we sure it’s not fake news?”

“That’s alright then. I assume you don’t want it.”

“I didn’t say I didn’t.”

“I just sent you some photos. Do with them whatever you wish.”

After this, Viola didn’t wait for a reply anymore. Instead, she deleted the account she had created. She knew that Rashel would point fingers at her, but she couldn’t risk her having any solid evidence to back her claims.

What Rashel didn’t know was that no matter what she did, or who she knew, she would always be ten steps ahead of her. Satisfied with herself, Viola smiled and relaxed on the couch, waiting for all hell to break loose.



The first sign of trouble was when Rashel woke up to the sound of a consistent loud knocking on her door. She hurriedly pushed her arms into her robe and went to open the door. It was Jethro, and he had a look on his face that didn’t sit well with Rashel.

He didn’t even wait for her to invite him in before opening the door wider and letting himself into the room.

“What happened?” Rashel asked as she shut the door behind her. She knew there was trouble, and it wasn’t something small.

Jethro handed his phone to her and pressed his fingertips to his temples as he paced the entire length and breadth of the room. Rashel scanned the screen and gasped as she scrolled to reveal more shocking things.

“Who did this!” Rashel shrieked.

“It leaked from the Inquirer early this morning, and different blogs have been reposting since then. It was even on the morning news.”

“You can’t say you don’t know who did this, Jethro.” Rashel’s had been reduced to a whisper. She had a scowl on her face, almost as if speaking any louder would cause her pain.

Jethro closed the gap that was between them and came to stand in front of her, holding her gaze.

“I know who is behind this, and I’ve already set the team in motion for damage control. Milla is heading the team, and legal action is underway. I just need you to calm down, babe. Please.”

“You asked me to wait, Jethro. I did. You asked me to be patient, to wait for the council’s judgment before handling Viola, and I did. Now look what she’s done. This is definitely going to affect whatever judgment the council’s going to pass. I’m cancelled.” Rashel said when her voice finally returned. She stared at Jethro like she was actually looking through him.

Jethro pulled her into an embrace.

“I know, baby, I know, and I’m sorry. But whatever we had done at that point was definitely going to mean shooting ourselves in the leg at the end of the day. The best thing was to do nothing.”

“How does she get away with doing this, and I don’t? How’s that fair, Jethro?” She pulled away from the hug to look into his eyes as she spoke, and Jethro saw that this woman was about to break.

This woman, whom he had branded indispensable, was about to break, and it shook him. The Rashel he knew would have been gearing up for war. She would have damned the consequences if only to teach Viola a valuable lesson.

But here was Rashel, going into pity mode. She looked like she did the first time he met her, like all the fight had left her, and if he moved away, she would fall to the floor and shatter into a million pieces.

He used to think that he wanted her a little vulnerable, but now that he had seen her this way, he wanted more than anything for her to snap out of it.