Fated To Three, Betrayed By All… Until She Rose.-Chapter 343: The flame.

Leilani.

If there was something I hated more than anything in this world, then it was looking completely stupid in front of anyone. It was the feeling that came with being oblivious or naive, and embodying these traits so much that everyone else notices it but you— which is me in this scenario.

My heart raced in my chest as I watched Jarek go, and truth be told, I didn’t know how I felt more at that moment.

I didn’t know whether I was mad or annoyed and was unsure if I should call him back and correct his misconceptions or to simply let him go, believing whatever the fuck he wants to believe about me, because there was no way in hell that I could be in love with the triplets.

There was no way I could ever see them more than what I have grown to know them as— friends, and for this reason, Jarek was a bloody liar.

Or me.

These thoughts acted as my reassurance, so brushing off Jarek’s earlier statement, I turned away and returned to my work.

But I did not feel better.

I could not feel better.

My mind kept drifting off to the triplets. I kept thinking and rethinking the things they’d said to me yesterday. I kept worrying about the things I’d overheard them talking about when they thought I had passed out, and the more I thought about it, the worse I felt.

"Those boys killed my father..." I muttered under my breath, "...they killed him and left him out to rot in the same manner a thief would be treated."

"That’s because they’d been made to do it." Nyx fired back at me, but I immediately shrugged her off, thinking that she only felt this way because of her bond with them.

"You heard them last night, didn’t you?" I snapped, "...they couldn’t deny the fact that they would have still killed him even though they knew he was innocent. Why? Because they were desperate to earn their father’s trust, and—"

"Stop beating yourself up about this and direct your anger to where it is due." She sneered at me, and goddess, something about that response made me even angrier.

However, I was just about to respond to that when suddenly, someone knocked on my door, snapping me out of my inner turmoil. I flinched as if I’d been struck and gasped when a mane of metallic blue hair crowded my doorway.

"Ms Sinclair!"

"Yvette!" I cried, palming my chest as if to calm my beating heart. "What the hell is this new color today?"

A satisfied smile touched her face when she heard my words, and as if to further taunt me, she began to toy with a strand of the said hair between her fingers, a faint blush colouring her face as she drawled;

"I went for silver-ish blue."

I rolled my eyes. "It looks like metal."

"Well, the stylist said it was metallic blue. So you’re close. You’re the only one who has gotten the closest description so far."

Her words made me want to roll my eyes, but holding off from doing so, I leaned into my chair, snapped the folder in front of me shut and folded my arms across my chest. Hell, I could still hear my heart beating so fast.

"Yvette, I am sure that you did not come to tell me about your shiny blue hair, or did you?" I asked, smiling despite myself.

She returned my smile with one so bright, it nearly blinded me, and for a second... a very brief second, she reminded me of Maya. "No, Ms Sinclair. I came to inform you of the new developments to the smart traffic project."

"There are new developments?" I gasped, stunned. "I never heard about it."

"Alpha Frostclaw tried to sabotage the deal." She said dryly. Emotionlessly. "In his words, we didn’t consult him before signing the contract with that company, especially since it is headed by the Valemonts."

And at the mention of that name, I get my blood running cold. Something akin to panic surged through me and my mouth suddenly felt dry as I rasped out the words;

"And what is the problem with the Valemonts?"

She shrugged. "Nothing really. I don’t know why he’s so against them."

"He is against them?" I seethed, balling my hands into fists as I felt the first hints of anger rise from within me.

"They are fierce, ferocious even. But in this case, he says that they are not after our company. He says that they are after you."

"Oh,"

"So back to what I was saying, he tried calling off the deal. They held a meeting early this morning in your absence and guess what?"

"What?" My voice was not more than a whisper.

"They refused!" Yvette screeched, sounding more excited than bothered. "It nearly caused a huge fight this morning, and now, they’ve slammed us with a billion dollar lawsuit."

The cry that left my lips was so loud, it rang through the awkwardly quiet room. My mouth hung slack and my heart, goddess, my already pacing heart picked up even more speed.

God please, do not make me become hypertensive at this point!

I do not even know when I rushed to my feet until my chair fell backwards and I didn’t even realize how intimidating I looked until I noticed that Yvette had shrunk into herself and moved so far away from me, you’d think I was the boogeyman himself.

I cried; "What did you just say?"

"I said that we were slammed with a billion dollar lawsuit, but the only way to stop it from taking effect is if and only if we are to continue the deal with the Valemonts, but then, you would have to lead and oversee it... even with Alpha being present in the company now."

I froze. "They... they asked for that... for me?" I stuttered and she nodded.

"Yes," she muttered, "...their CEO, Mr Darius Morningstar, specifically made that demand." She added, and as soon as I heard those words, it felt as though the entire life had been completely drained out of me. Like a bucket of icy water had been thrown over my head. I swallowed thickly and fell back into my chair, my heart racing with both apprehension and annoyance.

"What the fuck does that man want from me?" I muttered, forgetting that she was here, and was only snapped out of my bubble when she clicked her tongue at me.

"Your smart brain maybe!" Yvette said softly as she turned away. However, she had just arrived by the door when suddenly she spun around to face me. Her eyes were glinting with excitement as she spat;

"Also, there is a present waiting for you outside."

I frowned. "A present?"

"Yep, some gifts!" She squealed, "...they are all designer products but I do not know whether to bring them in or leave them there, especially since they are from the Stormborn Alphas."

My face went pale.

"I don’t... I don’t know... I don’t think you should," I began to say but stopped when she waved at me dismissively.

"Accept them!" She drawled, "You are a star, and in case you haven’t noticed yet, you’ve been nicknamed ’the flame’ around here!"

Her words made me chuckle, but upon realizing that she was serious, I stopped laughing and asked seriously; "The flame? What for?"

"They other girls say that you attract Alphas to yourself like moths to a flame. Hence, the nickname."

If nothing has ever made me blush— which I have done before— then that did it for me because I found myself laughing so hard, tears streamed down my face.