Chapter 206 Jealousy Run Wild

Chapter 206 Jealousy Run Wild

Asher's POV

Ember flew to Munich with her assistant.

The day she came back, I brought Evelyn to the airport early to pick her up. Evelyn was holding a big bouquet of flowers, tilting her head and staring at the crowd coming through the arrivals gate. The little girl's eyes suddenly lit up, and she jumped up happily, waving with the flowers still in her arms. "Mommy, I'm over here!"

Ember looked over toward her voice. "Evelyn."

Evelyn held out the flowers first. "Mommy, welcome home."

Ember took the flowers, bent down and scooped her up, kissing her little cheek affectionately. "Thank you, my baby. Mommy loves them."

Evelyn grinned. "As long as Mommy likes them."

"She spent a long time picking those out," I added from the side.

But before Ember and I could even catch up properly, we got cut off.

"Is this your daughter? She's so cute."

Ember turned to look at who had spoken and replied politely, "Thank you."

A young man walked over pulling a suitcase, his eyes bright. "Too bad I didn't bring anything for her this time. Once I get settled in, I'll make it up to her."

Ember immediately waved him off. "Please, don't go to the trouble."

"It's no trouble at all," he insisted.

I looked at this guy who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and my brow furrowed hard. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way. I hadn't forgotten what Ember said before about finding herself a younger man, and I couldn't help wondering if this was him.

The moment that thought crossed my mind, it was like someone knocked over a whole vat of vinegar inside me. I was burning with jealousy.

Ember smiled and introduced us. "Evan Brooks — technical lead at a Sino-German joint chip research lab, and the partner I spent three days wearing down at the Munich expo."

Then she gestured toward me. "Asher — alpha of the Blackwood family pack. I don't think he needs an introduction."

Blackwood Group had stakes across countless industries worldwide, and everything we did was always closely watched.

Evan had clean, sharp features. He reached out his hand without any hesitation. "Alpha, I've heard a lot about you."

I shook his hand without expression.

I looked him up and down and said flatly, "You look pretty young, Mr. Brooks. Just graduated?"

"Two years out," he said, pushing his glasses up with a smile. "But I've been in the chip field for five years. I was already working on projects back in college."

"Hm." I crossed my arms and forced out a few words. "Impressive for your age."

On the ride back, Evan naturally slid into the back seat. The whole way, he leaned forward between the front seats and talked to Ember nonstop. I drove up front, watching my own expression in the rearview mirror get darker and darker.

I was annoyed, but I didn't dare say or do anything about Evan. He was a partner Ember had worked hard to bring on board, and the last thing I wanted was to upset her over this.

Fine. For her sake, I'd let it go for now.

What I didn't expect was that I'd have to keep letting it go, again and again.

Over the next few days, Evan was practically glued to Ember's side for most of the day. They spent their days calibrating equipment in Hart Group's newly built lab, and their evenings pulling Ember and the whole tech team into meetings to go over plans.

Ember genuinely admired Evan's expertise and his serious work ethic, so she didn't see anything wrong with any of it. But as her mate, I was at my limit.

"He's here again?" I sat on the couch in her office, restlessly flipping through a magazine. I'd been at it for a while without actually reading a single page. "Does he not have a girlfriend or something? Why does he keep hanging around you?"

"You're being ridiculous. We're working," Ember said, not even looking up from her desk.

"Does work require standing that close? And the way he looks at you — all soft and gooey?" I got even more irritated.

"You're imagining things," she said, still brushing me off.

I couldn't take it anymore. I slammed the magazine down on the coffee table. "How can you not see it?"

The noise finally made Ember look up from her paperwork. She stared at me like I'd lost my mind. "Nothing is going on between us. Are you really this worked up over nothing?"

"Yes, I am." I stood up, walked over to her desk, and planted both hands on it, leaning in and staring her down. "Ember, that guy is up to something. You need to keep your distance."

Ember set down her pen and let out a tired breath. "Do you know what you look like right now?"

"What?"

"A dog guarding its food bowl."

My face went completely dark.

Not long after, Evan showed up again. When he knocked and came in, he saw me sprawled out on the couch. His enthusiasm dialed back a little, but that irritating smile of his didn't fade one bit.

"Ember, the technical test results are in. Everything hit the targets. That optimization plan you put together is brilliant — overall efficiency went up by nearly fifteen percent."

"Really?" Ember's eyes lit up immediately. She took the report and started going through it carefully.

Evan leaned in beside her, pointing to the key data and explaining it to her in a low voice. The two of them slipped right back into that mode where the rest of the world didn't exist. I sat there watching them with their heads practically touching, and I was pretty sure I was grinding my back teeth to dust.

Once Evan finally finished and left, I walked straight over and told her, "From now on, you're not letting him call you by your first name."

Ember gave me a blank look. "Could you be any more childish?"

"Probably," I said without missing a beat. I stood up, stepped to her side, and bent down to press a firm kiss to her lips. "You're mine."

Ember raised her hand and wiped her mouth hard. She pushed me away with a flat expression. "Do that again and I'm having security escort you out right now."

I let out a cold scoff and dragged myself back to the couch. I sat there like a dog that had just been scolded by its owner — behaved for all of two minutes before I looked up and added, "Trust my instincts on this. That guy is no good."

Ember took a slow, deep breath, keeping her anger in check. "Is there any room in your head for anything that actually matters?"

"Making sure no other man steals my Luna away from me — doesn't that count as something that matters?"

Ember pressed her lips together and said coldly, "I'm done having this conversation. Either sit there quietly or get out and go back to your office."

I could see she was genuinely angry now, so I finally dropped it.

Evan stayed for about half a month before it was finally time for him to leave.

I leaned against the doorframe of Ember's bedroom, keeping my voice as casual as I could manage, like I was just asking in passing. "He's leaving the day after tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ember said.

"Good."