Chapter 137 She’s Not Arabella
Adrian’s POV
She’s not Arabella Ravryn.
The thought slammed into me the second I shut the hotel suite door behind me this morning, and it hasn’t left since.
I don’t know how. I don’t understand what twisted game the Moon Goddess decided to play. But that little spitfire I left this morning in my hotel suite…that fierce, screaming, naked hellcat who just tried to claw my eyes out…she is not the timid bride the kingdom forced on me.
She’s my mate…that’s for sure. But she’s not Arabella.
How the hell is that even possible?
I’ve exhausted every reasonable explanation in my head, but couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer.
With everything I’ve learned, this revenge wasn’t for her friend… It was for herself.
I mean, she has said it countless times that she is not Abby, but Kira.
I should have known something was wrong. But how could I?!
I still haven’t wrapped my head around it. One minute I’m staring at the ceiling, the next I’m pulling up that old news photo of Kira Summers on my phone…the one taken at her eighteenth birthday gala, her smiling like the world owes her nothing.
The second my eyes locked on that face again, my wolf surged forward so hard I almost shifted right there in the middle of a meeting. The bond hit me like lightning. This was fire. Claim. Mine.
This face…staring right back at me from the screen…this Kira…there’s something more interesting about her, but I can’t quite pin it without sounding insane even to myself.
It all started making sense in the worst way.
Months ago I’d thought something was broken inside me. Every time Arabella passed by me, every time she smiled that sweet, practiced smile, I felt…nothing. Just duty.
Then that rainy night…the night Kira Summers supposedly died…I’d held Arabella’s broken body in my arms and made the blood pact to save her.
The bond exploded to life the exact second her eyes opened. I’d told myself it was magic…maybe the blood pact reawakening something that was buried too deep. Or maybe, the Moon Goddess finally answering.
But the dates kept mocking me.
From the reports, Kira Summers died at exactly 08:10 p.m.
I signed the blood pact at 8:00 p.m… I remember because the grand clock struck right at that time.
What if the Goddess didn’t save Arabella that night? What if she switched them? Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo in the rain, and suddenly the girl I was never meant to want became the only one I couldn’t live without?
I made up my mind right there in the shower this morning. I would investigate quietly. No one…not Thomas, not even Kira herself…would know until I had proof.
Because if my suspicions were right, the Summers didn’t just kill some random girl. They murdered my mate. They locked her away, isolated her, stole everything her real mother left her. They pushed her off that balcony like she was trash.
And the craziest part? If they hadn’t, would I ever have met her? Would I have known her? Should I actually be grateful to the monsters who tried to bury my queen?
Hold on…if she’s Kira… then where the hell is the real Arabella? Does this mean she really died? The Vyris… Ariston mentioned that her Vyris had withered…could this mean…
A mind-link cracked through my skull like a whip and interrupted my thoughts.
“Your majesty. You’re spacing out again.”
James.
I blinked hard and looked up. The conference room smelled like fear-sweat and expensive cologne.
Frederick Summers sat across the polished table, face pale, tie crooked. Evelyn, his wife beside him, lips pressed so tight they were white. Both of them were staring at me like I was the executioner holding the axe.
I exhaled slow. My queen wanted them to pay. And pay they would.
I’d showered and changed in my other suite after leaving Kira…had to look the part of the cold, untouchable business man before I walked in here.
Victoria had already filled me in on the little “show” Kira gave Miranda last night. My girl didn’t play small. She burned the whole thing down. Good.
The moon goddess gave me a queen who knows how to dish out revenge like pasta.
I cleared my throat and looked lazily at the couple in front of me. “Are we in agreement on my conditions?”
Frederick opened his mouth…probably to say yes like the spineless worm he was…but Evelyn’s hand shot out and clamped his wrist.
“No,” she snapped. “We can’t do what you’re asking, Mr Draven. We won’t.”
I stood up slowly, adjusting my wristwatch like I had all the time in the world.
The room felt smaller as I looked them dead in the eye. “Then there’s no deal. I honestly don’t know why I’m even helping you. The media and the police are already sharpening their knives. They’ll tear you apart with or without me. I’d rather not get my shoes dirty trying to clean up your mess.”
Frederick dropped to his knees so fast his chair screeched backward. “Please, Mr. Draven… Mr Adrian…help us. We… I’ll do anything.”
Evelyn shoved him sideways, eyes blazing. “Have you lost your mind? You want to sell the company? After everything we did to secure it for our future? For our daughter?”
Frederick surged up and slapped her…hard. The crack echoed like a gunshot. “What stupid future? Getting entangled with you was the biggest regret of my life. Look at the mess your daughter brought down on us!”
“She’s your daughter too!” Evelyn screamed, cheek already blooming red. “Not just mine! We should be finding a way to help her, not selling everything! Do you even know what you’re agreeing to?”
Frederick turned back to me, desperate. “We’re not really selling it, Mr. Draven, right? You’re just… holding it. Keeping it safe until the storm blows over. Everyone in the industry is boycotting us. Stock price is in free-fall. If this continues, we’ll be bankrupt by next week. You’re offering us a lifeline…take it out of our hands temporarily. When the noise dies down, we get it back.”
When I didn’t say anything, he cleared his throat, “That was the agreement, Mr Draven…right?”
Evelyn leaned in close to him, her voice a venomous whisper I was never meant to hear. “How do you know he’ll give it back? He could keep it forever. You know that he’s a ruthless businessman after all.”
I cut in before Frederick could answer. “Frederick, I’d rather be anywhere else than stand here being insulted by your wife. How much do you think the Summers Group is worth to me? With all the money and properties I already own? It’s spelled out in the documents except you both lack basic comprehension skills. When the storm passes, you get it back. And didn’t I promise to make the storm disappear as fast as I can? This is the highest level of my benevolence. I won’t tolerate your family insulting me.”
I turned and started walking toward the door, slow, deliberate. I knew he’d break. I knew he would not let me walk out of the door.
And he didn’t.
Frederick crashed back to his knees. “Please…Mr Draven…don’t walk away. I trust you. I’m ready…”
That’s when I smelled her.
Warm vanilla and wild forest and pure fury.
My mate.
My queen.
The door flew open before I could even turn.
Kira stood there in that burgundy two-piece that hugged every curve like it was painted on, crocs on her feet like she didn’t give a damn about looking regal.
Her eyes locked on mine…then flicked to the Summers on their knees…and pure hellfire ignited in them.
She looked pissed as hell.
At me?
What the fuck did I do this time?