Chapter 12 CHAPTER 12
Michael’s POV
She stared back in defiance, her blue eyes burning into mine. “Don’t think you are Superman, trying to save me,” she said between her teeth. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
She yanked her hand free and walked away. I stood there for a few seconds wondering what had come over me. I looked at the picture on the floor. I couldn’t help it that I wanted those responsible to be brought to book. Moreover, the damage on her image was already enough. I called Jasper as I walked out of the restroom.
“Fix it,” I said. “I want that image deleted from every internet page and every device,”
Then I found the students who had played the prank on her. “I want them to be made an example of,” I said to the Dean of the College. “No one bullies my fiancee and gets away with it.”
In all the commotion that had ensued in the restroom, I had forgotten the real reason I had gone in search of her. I placed a call to her phone and it was switched off. Tonight was too important. It was the night she would meet Alpha Raymond and she needed to be prepared.
When I could not reach her after an hour, I pulled up at the Moon’s residence. Madeline Heart met me at the door, smiling awkwardly.
“I’m here for Evelyn, “ I said, refusing to step foot inside the house.
She threw the door wide open. “Please come in, Alpha Michael.” Her smile was incredibly performative and her heavy perfume was offensive. “Evelyn will be back soon.”
I glanced at the time. It was only two hours until the dinner. “How soon?” I asked.”I have to be somewhere important.”
“Very soon.”
She offered me some wine and then tried to make small talk for five minutes. Her effort was met with cold silence. I wasn’t sure if she was aware of the nature of the deal between her step daughter and I, but I could see well through her.
Her daughter arrived shortly after, offering more refreshments while Madeline left the room. She was pretty, but not pretty enough to cause a scandal. She bent seductively in front of me, her heavily painted lips spreading in an irritating smile.
“Does Madeline Heart teach all her daughters to be seductresses?” I asked, watching her hand tremble. “You should know I am already taken by your sister.”
“I - i,” she stammered and ran out of the room.
I huffed. What a low grade family. A family where the daughters were raised by their mother to seduce men for money.
Minutes later, I left the house with no word from Evelyn. I dropped multiple messages and I was quite worked up. It was a few minutes to the dinner when she walked into the house in a black dinner dress, and her blonde curls falling over her face.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said, her words slurry.
She was drunk.
I pulled her away. “Did you intentionally put your phone off all day? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. And why the hell are you drunk?”
She hiccuped and smiled. “Chill, Alpha Michael. I can handle my alcohol. I just had two,” she raised up two fingers. “Two glasses.”
I clenched my teeth, swallowing the frustration. “Do you want this engagement off? Because I am tired of your excesses. I have kept my side of the contract -”
She started sobbing all of a sudden and I felt completely helpless. I picked up my phone and called Jasper. “Find a way to delay Alpha Raymond. Anything. And please get here quickly with something to make someone drunk sober.”
When my father arrived two hours later, Evelyn was a bit sober. I didn’t notice her smudged mascara on time until we were seated. It made her look like a witch and I wondered how I was still able to find it funny.
“Father, meet my fiancee, Evelyn Moon,” I said to him as the chef poured his drink.
She smiled politely and stretched her hand across the table. I bit my lips. I had told her no handshakes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alpha Raymond.”
When he didn’t receive her handshake, she smiled awkwardly at me and picked a glass of wine. I could see the irritation on his face but I ignored it.
"She's been so excited to meet you,” I added, watching her with unease as she finished the cup of wine in one gulp.
“‘Thirsty,” I said, forcing a smile. My father didn’t smile.
She leaned towards me, resting her head against my shoulder. “Michael and I are so in love,” she said.
“What do you do, Evelyn Moon?” My father eventually asked.
She raised her head. “I’m a college student but I co- manage my late father’s company with my step brother -’
“The same company that has been run into the ground with debt?” he asked, cutting her short.
She leaned up and looked at me, urging me to say something.
“Michael, what is going on here?” he asked, irritation surfacing in his voice. Before I could say a word, there was a sound of glass crashing and fluid spilling. Evelyn had knocked off a bottle of wine on the table.
She got up, eyes wide. “I’m - I’m so sorry.” Her dress was soiled. I stood up immediately, holding her endearingly even though I was trying so hard not to lose control.
“Let’s get you cleaned,” I said and we excused ourselves from dinner.
In the hallway, I pushed her to the wall and clenched my fist, punching the wall next to her. “Do you have any idea of the mess you just created?”
“It was an accident,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came upon me.”
I moved away and bit my lips. This contract was a sore mistake. “I want you to get out, Evelyn. Go away, and I don't want to see you again.”