Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna-Chapter 142: The cheesy video call-Part 1 (Bonus - )

Viola ran back into her penthouse and quickly switched the lights back on, her entire body trembling violently like someone who had just encountered a ghost. She locked her door as if to keep whatever she had felt outside firmly out there. When she took off Nick’s coat, she looked down at her bare, damp arms filled with goosebumps, the little hairs standing on end as though she had been electrified. What was that feeling?

Viola couldn’t recall the last time she had felt this way in her life, and she dragged her wet self up to her bedroom. When she had changed out of her wet clothes into a set of pajamas and came back into her room, she suddenly felt that she couldn’t sleep alone, this time not because she was scared of herself or the nightmares, but because she feared that the moment she closed her eyes, she would feel that heavy tap on her shoulder again.

She hugged herself, shivering at her bedside. The rain continued to fall steadily outside, and while the walls of the penthouse were soundproof, she could still see it falling through the glass along with the occasional flashes of lightning.

Viola found herself walking over to the purse she had thrown on the desk in her room and took out her phone. She tapped on the screen with trembling fingers and realized Sebastian had left a series of messages an hour ago, after he had asked her to send him a picture of her meal.

Viola stared at the screen, feeling a strong and very powerful urge to call him, but that stubborn hurt inside her stopped her short. If she continued to depend on him whenever she got scared or needed company, she would be doing nothing but digging herself into a grave and creating yet another way to hurt herself even more.

Viola decided to put her phone down so she wouldn’t be tempted to call him or text him back, but just as she was setting it aside, the phone began to ring and her insides flipped when she saw the caller ID. He was calling her. Should she pick up or ignore it?

Biting the inside of her cheek, Viola tapped the answer button before the call could end and then slowly brought the phone to her ear without saying a word.

"Why aren’t you replying to my texts? Are you all right?" Came his deep voice from the other end of the line, the sound of it making her insides clench.

Pursing her lips, Viola replied grumblingly, "I was busy. What do you want?" She hadn’t intended to sound angry, but her voice came out that way, and Sebastian, who took note of her tone immediately, stood up from behind his office desk and walked to the window wall to watch the rain fall outside.

Why was she sounding like that? Hadn’t he left her in a good mood just this afternoon?

"Have you eaten?" He questioned quietly, tucking one hand inside his trouser pocket. He had waited for her to text him back, but when she hadn’t after an hour, Sebastian found himself continuously being drawn back to thoughts of her, wanting to hear her voice and know that she was doing all right, even though he had only left her a few hours ago.

However, he hadn’t expected to call her and be met with that angry, grumbling tone, as though they had parted on bad terms, when he had in fact left her smiling as they bantered at the door of her penthouse.

She didn’t reply to his question at first and stayed silent for a long moment until he called out, "Honey? Are you still there?" He pulled the phone away from his ear and looked down at the screen to see that the call was still connected. Why wasn’t she saying anything?

"Stop calling me that." She finally replied quietly. "And to answer your question, yes, I have eaten."

Sebastian let out a soft sigh of relief and then smiled faintly. Hadn’t they discussed him using endearments before? Was she back to not wanting him to use them? He could never understand her moods.

Wanting to tease her, and also wanting the call to last a little longer, knowing full well he wouldn’t be able to sleep and would probably work through until morning in his office, he asked, "What did you eat?" His silver eyes glimmered, reflecting the occasional flashes of lightning outside.

"Wagyu beef with truffle mashed potatoes and wild mushroom risotto on the side..." Viola told him, crossing her legs on the floor where she sat beside her bed. She really hadn’t thought she should be talking to him, but she just couldn’t help it.

Sebastian arched a brow. "You ate out?" He asked with a small chuckle, and she grumbled a yes that was barely audible.

"Did you enjoy the meal?" He questioned again, wanting her to keep talking, or even to ask him if he had eaten, but she didn’t ask, nor did she give a satisfactory reply. She gave him a single yes and went quiet again.

Could it be that he had called at a bad time and caught her in a bad mood? Though Sebastian despised small talk and being asked by women whether he had eaten or what he had eaten, finding those questions unnecessary and a waste of his time, he found himself wishing she would turn to exactly that kind of cheesiness and ask him.

The last woman to ask him that kind of question had been blacklisted from his contacts immediately, shut off without a second thought, because he simply hadn’t had the time or patience for it. But here he was, wishing a certain someone would ask, and when she didn’t, he swallowed his pride entirely and said,

"Won’t you ask me what I ate or whether I have eaten?"

Sebastian could almost feel Muffin rolling his eyes at his cheesiness from wherever the wolf resided within him, but he didn’t care. He wanted to talk to Viola, and if it took being cheesy to make the call last longer, he didn’t care how far down that road he had to go.

"Does it matter?" Came Viola’s reply, sounding entirely indifferent to Sebastian, who had been hoping she cared enough to want to know. It didn’t matter to her whether he had eaten or not? He felt his chest tighten and his fingers clench around his phone.

So he didn’t matter to her? Was that what she was trying to say?

"I doubt Laila will keep you hungry, she is one of your mates after all, and she will feed you well. There is no need for me to ask when I already know you have had dinner with her." Viola said, unable to keep the words to herself any longer or stop herself from jabbing him with them. Even as she said it, she knew it was a petty thing to say, he was her fiancé in title, but that didn’t mean he owed her any loyalty, and he was still free to do whatever he wanted with the other women in his life.

Sebastian, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and his expression darkened into a deep scowl as he stared at the wall. "Why the hell would you think I am with Laila or that I have eaten with her?" He demanded, completely baffled as to how she had arrived at that conclusion. What was wrong with this woman, and why did she always find a way to ruin his mood? If he were with Laila, did she honestly think he would be calling just to hear about what she ate?

"Aren’t you with her?" Viola asked, taken aback, and suddenly feeling utterly foolish for having let her jealousy lead her into bringing up Laila when she had absolutely no right to.

"I am in my office. Let me show you," Sebastian said flatly, and then switched their call to a video call, telling her to accept it right away.

The moment it connected, he turned the camera around to show her the office and the fact that he was entirely alone in it, no Laila, no one. Whatever had made her believe he was with Laila, he wanted to erase that belief completely.

Viola felt a deep flush rise to her cheeks and travel all the way to the roots of her hair, and she wanted nothing more than to bury herself and disappear. He was indeed in his office, and he was alone. If there had been any lingering doubt in her mind that he was with Laila, the way he proceeded to show her every corner of his office, his private lounge, and even his bathroom, swept it all away completely. She hadn’t asked to see his bathroom, but the man had gone entirely out of his way to show her, as though determined to leave her with absolutely nothing left to doubt.