Chapter 152

***KARA***

I slowly woke up or so, I thought. I didn't know if I was asleep or unconscious but I felt awake. My head felt strangely light like it was floating on a cloud. My thoughts were sluggish as though my brain had been wrapped in thick fog. I blinked, trying to clear my vision but all I saw was a blinding white light that flashed in front of my eyes and forced me to close my eyes.

Then, someone shoved my head to the side, and Annika's voice cut through the haze, commanding me to open my eyes. It took all my effort, but I managed to lift my heavy lids, only to be blinded by the intense light again, which abruptly disappeared.

I tried to make sense of my surroundings, I attempted to move, but panic set in as the realization hit me that I was completely restrained. My wrists were cuffed, and tight straps held me firmly to a chair, leaving me helpless and unable to escape.

Slowly, I asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Annika laughed and said, “You are a stupid girl, Kara. Everything. The whole truth was before you, yet you couldn't see."

Braden stepped forward with a knife in his hand that he flashed at me. "You say you don't remember me? Let's start with the part where I injected you with wolfsbane.”

Wolfsbane did sound familiar but the man was who I couldn't remember. Wolfsbane made people weak. Weak and that could explain why I felt like I was floating.

“Who are you?" I asked weakly, “You speak as though you've known me before now. And I've never met you.”

"So you don't remember me huh?" Braden asked in utmost shock and turned to Annika, "You were right about her losing her memory?”

“Told ya she's a psychopath who knows nothing about her existence,” Annika said mockingly.

I forced my head farther up and saw Mateo in a corner looking miserable. He was here all the time? Why was he not saying anything? Why was Annika acting cold? Why did I feel this way?

Tears streamed down my cheek as pain spread through my body. "Why aren't you doing anything to stop it?” I asked Mateo.

Annika's nails dug into my cheek while her words cut through me like knives. "You know it was really fun to play you," she sneered. "You're not so dumb, but not equally smart too. I, Mateo, and Braden are a team. We worked together to extort money from you.”

She turned to Mateo, “Right sweetie?”

Mateo ruffled his hair, sweat rolling down his face as I flashed him a look of betrayal. "Listen, Kara, I never meant to hurt you,” he said.

Annika faked a yawn. “Can we skip the pity party? Let her know the whole truth.”

“I was consumed by jealousy. You kept receiving all the contracts and I was left with nothing. The only reason anyone would ever contact me is if you're booked. I let jealousy get the best out of me and that's why I deleted your contracts,” he said, acknowledging the betrayal.

"What the fuck?" I yelled in pain and anger as his words hit me like a ton of bricks, shattering the trust I once had in him.

"You were getting everything I was supposed to have so I decided to work with Annika and I don't regret it. We're not even in a real relationship. It was staged to fool you and blackmail was the only way I could bring you down to zero. That's not all, I know you're a wolf too. I can't help animals."

I was too stunned to speak. I could barely comprehend their betrayal and the mixture of shock and disgust I felt deep down. Probably because I perceived the betrayal from Annika for a long time but not Mateo.

Now I remembered why Annika kept persuading me to believe Mateo could have a hand in it but I was too stupid. I knew he never did anything because of me. He had lied and I had believed him.

"Wait, what?!" I managed to croak out, my voice barely above a whisper. "You're telling me all of this was just a game to you? A sick, twisted game?"

Annika's laugh echoed in the room, cold and heartless. "Oh, darling Kara, you are as naive as they come," she taunted, her grip on my cheek tightening. "You had everything right in front of you, but you were too blind to see it. You were the prey.”

Mateo sighed. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I was just so jealous of you, of everything you had. I thought if I could bring you down, I could finally have what I deserved."

His words cut through me like a knife, reopening wounds I didn't even know I had.

The tears continued to flow down my cheeks, hot and salty against my skin."And you," I turned my gaze to Annika, my voice trembling with anger and betrayal. "How could you do this to me? We were supposed to be friends."

Annika's laugh was like nails on a chalkboard, scratching against my already frayed nerves. "Friends?" she scoffed. "Please, Kara, don't be so naive. Friends don't exist in this world. It's every man for himself, and I just happen to be better at playing the game than you are.”

I wanted to yell out. To scream at the top of my lungs but I was too weak. As though that wasn't enough, Annika turned to me, “There's one more,” she said.

With a flick of a switch, she turned on a camera. Tears streamed down my face as I watched my alters being broadcast live, accompanied by mocking laughter and pitying comments.

“All thanks to Mateo’s brilliant idea. Your alters came in and we helped you share it with the world. Now they know your secrets and we've been receiving calls about them wanting to terminate the partnership. You could make a living off comedy,” Annika taunted.

Mateo pulled Annika in and kissed her on the lips.

Silent tears streamed down my face and I could only wish I wasn't stuck in this chair. Everything I had worked for came crumbling down in an instant.

Braden came up to me and smirked. "You always lose, Kara, but don't worry you'll be fine," he said.

“Leave me alone,” I yelled.

He brushed my tears away, "Once I fetch my necklace from Annika's everything will make sense."

What happened after that, I didn't know, but I remembered blacking out.