Chapter 48 CHAPTER 48
Evelyn’s POV
I sat there alone, long after everyone had left the room. I kept replaying the events in my head. Things had moved from hopeful to disastrous rapidly. I should have taken Rosaleen’s offer. At least I would be leaving with the hope that she would keep her words. Tamara. Jasper. Alpha Raymond. They all collaborated with Rosaleen’s story. They took her side because she was one of them. I was nothing to them.
My eyes remained surprisingly dry. What I felt was not something that tears could fix. I had been battered and bruised by Rosaleen.
When I eventually got the strength to leave, I met Alpha Raymond at the door. He looked at me like a distasteful piece of food in his mouth.
“Come with me,” he said. I followed him, almost feeling like a zombie.
“That was such a shameful thing,” he said. “Even for you.”
I swallowed.
“That’s what you get for trying to be something you are not.” He stopped. “And you know what this means. I’m giving you the opportunity to leave my son without scandal.”
I debated on telling him about the contract or not. It wasn’t in my place to tell him about it, so I pressed my lips together while he continued.
“As soon as the election is over,” he said. “I don’t want any more scandals around my family for now. All you have to do right now is leave the company quietly and just keep your mouth shut. You’ll be gone in the next couple of weeks.”
I nodded gently.
“You’ll announce to the world that you realize that my son is not your mate, that you had other reasons for deceiving him. And you will leave and not speak to anyone about this family again. Understood?”
I nodded again.
“Good. I hope we don’t ever need to see each other again.”
He walked away and I was left standing alone in the corridor. I took deep, sharp breaths. How was I going to face my stepmother now? I had lied to her about being married to Alpha Micheal and I was being thrown out now with nothing. She would definitely kick me out of the house. Or worse, she would try to get me to marry Alpha Roman.
—
The birds were back and they were chirping loudly as they built their nest in preparation for winter. The wind was blowing gently, taking brown leaves with it. I sat under the tree, wrapped in a soft blanket with my legs propped up. I thought I was numb to pain already.
“Evelyn.”
I opened my eyes. It was Alpha Michael. I was not interested in whatever he had to say to me, so I closed my eyes again. But they stung this time, warning me that the tears would eventually flow. And I was indeed not numb to pain.
“I want you to know that I believe you,” he said.
Nine words and they opened the floodgates. Tears spilled from my closed eyes. He wrapped his arm around me. “It’s my fault. I should have seen this from the beginning because my father didn’t approve of you. I should have done better to protect you from them.”
The tears continued to flow while I said nothing.
“I won’t let this go. I just want you to be strong, alright?’
But I was done being strong. I just wanted the next few weeks to pass by peacefully, get the balance of my money and go away for a long time. Yet I relaxed and leaned into him. The tears became sobs and his grip around me tightened.
“I feel like an idiot,” he said, cursing.
Then I started to burn. It was a fever but not too high. The housekeeper gave me some medications but still my forehead burnt. Everything I had been through was finally crumbling on me. My throat began to hurt so badly that I couldn't swallow anything. By evening, everyone became worried. My temperature kept going up. The doctor was called.
“She’ll need some stronger medications,” he said, flashing his light into my throat. “A lot of water and some rest too.”
That night, he asked the housekeeper to take me to his room instead. He said it was his responsibility and he would stay up all night to make sure I was fine. So for the first time, I laid in his bed. The room was almost dark, but it felt safe. The gentle scent in the room didn’t irritate my nostril. It called me to sleep instead. So I closed my eyes and slept.
I was walking on that corridor again. Dark and lonely. Then I was in the cave. I walked on, my fingers hovering over the symbols on the wall. But this dream didn’t stop there this time. And I wasn't alone this time either. A woman was there with me, clad in such a way that it was difficult to see her face. Yet she looked familiar.
“Who are you”, i asked.
She pointed at the symbols on the wall. To the drawing of a fox. I followed her and stared at the image. Suddenly it gleamed and it looked like it came alive. Its eyes glowed and its jaws snapped open. It growled at me, and lunged forward from the drawing into a beast as tall as I was. I screamed and I opened my eyes.
I was sweating profusely.
Alpha Micheal was seated beside me. "You had a nightmare,” he said. “It was just a dream.”
I looked at him. This wasn’t just a dream anymore. This was a vision. Someone was trying to tell me something.
“Do you regularly dream of wild foxes trying to devour you?” I asked him.
He raised his brow and chuckled. “Not at all. But it seems you are back,” he said.
He was right. The fever was gone. The pain in my throat was gone too. Whatever it was I had encountered in my dream had healed me. Again. As I laid back in bed, I tried to make sense of it. Who was I? Was there something about me that I didn’t know of? I had to find out.