The Alpha Behind The Mask-Chapter 84: Dismissing Me

Aurora’s POV

​He froze.

The hallway went quiet. Even the Council members slowed down, glancing back at us.

For a second, Oliver didn’t look at me. His hand tightened around the file until the paper crumpled.

Then slowly... he lifted his head. When his blue eyes met mine, my heart dropped. There was nothing there. No anger. No pain. No warmth.

Just... emptiness that terrified me more than his rage ever could.

​"Aurora," he said, his voice flat. "I thought I asked my driver to take you...."

​I didn’t wait for him to finish. I didn’t care about the high-ranking officials or the professional mask he was trying to wear. I stepped into his space, my fingers locking around his wrist. His skin was warm against my cold hands, but he didn’t pull away.

​"We have to talk," I said, my voice leaving no room for argument.

​"I’m busy, Aurora," he replied, his voice a flat, dead thing. "Elias can handle—"

​I didn’t let him finish. I yanked him toward his office door. For a split second, he resisted—like a mountain that refused to move—but then he gave in. He followed me.

Behind us, I could feel the stunned, wide-eyed stares of the Council members burning into my back and the scratching of Elias’s pen stopping abruptly, but I didn’t look back.

​I pulled him into the office and slammed the heavy oak door shut. I turned to face him, my chest heaving, my eyes already burning with tears I had tried so hard to suppress.

​I expected him to be angry. I expected a roar, a growl, a flash of that terrifying Alpha authority. But he just stood there. He looked like a man who had been hollowed out from the inside, wearing a blank expression that was far more painful than rage.

​"I’m sorry," I choked out, the words finally breaking free. "I’m so sorry for what I said, Oliver. You aren’t heartless. You aren’t cold. And I know now... I know for a fact that you’re not kind to me just because I look like your mother."

​I took a step toward him, my hands trembling at my sides. "You’re kind to me because you care about me. I said those things out of fear. I was scared, and I let Cassey’s poison get into my head."

​He didn’t move or blink. He just watched me with those vast, empty blue eyes.

​"After you left... I came back to my senses," I whispered, a tear finally spilling over. "I realized I’d used the very things you were afraid of to hurt you. I sat in that living room for hours, Oliver. I waited until my body went numb, just hoping you’d walk through that door so I could tell you I didn’t mean it. But you never came."

He glanced at me but said nothing.

​I reached out, my fingers barely brushing the sleeve of his shirt. "Please, Oliver. Say something. Yell at me. Tell me I’m a fool. Just don’t look at me like I’m a stranger."

​He remained perfectly still, his breath slow and even. My heart was breaking in the silence, shattered by the realization that while I had been waiting in the living room to apologize, he had already been miles away, deciding that the "broken man" I’d called him was the only version of himself he was allowed to be.

​Finally, he spoke. "Are you finished, Aurora?"

​I swallowed hard.

​"Do you have anything else you want to say?"

​I wanted to scream. I wanted to run into his arms and tell him that I loved him—that I had fallen for him. I didn’t know how it happened or when the shift occurred. Somewhere along the way... I fell for him.

​But the words died in my throat. I was terrified he wouldn’t believe me after the vitriol I’d spat at him. And more than that, my feelings for Raymond still lingered, a knot of feelings I couldn’t untangle. How could I confess my love to him while another man still occupied a place in my heart?

​"Do you have anything else you want to say?" he asked again. His eyes searched mine, and for a split second, I saw it—the desperation. He was waiting. He was giving me one last chance.

​I knew exactly what he wanted to hear. But I couldn’t. I wasn’t ready to be that honest, not with myself and not with him.

​"No," I whispered, looking down at my trembling hands. "I just... I just came to apologize for the words I said to you. I shouldn’t have been so cruel."

​The light in his eyes extinguished instantly, replaced by a dull, aching disappointment that was far worse than anger. He took a step back slightly, a sharp breath hissing through his teeth as he nodded slowly.

​"I’m not angry at you, Aurora," he said, his voice regaining that terrifying, professional tone. "I forgive you. And I didn’t return to the estate because I had an urgent meeting here. Nothing more." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

​He turned away from me, walking back to his massive mahogany desk. He sat down and immediately began flipping through a stack of documents, his pen scratching against the paper as if I weren’t even in the room.

​"You can submit your resignation letter with Elias," he said, not looking up. "I’ve instructed my account manager to pay out your full severance. I believe the transfer has already been completed."

​I stood frozen in the center of the office. The air felt thin, freezing. "Oliver..."

​He lifted his head then, holding my gaze with a blank, professional look. It was the look of a man who had officially closed the door.

​"If you need a recommendation for a new job, I can provide one. My office will handle the details," he said, his voice still professional. "It was nice working with you, Aurora. I wish you the very best in your future endeavors."

​He went back to his work, completely dismissing me.

​I stood there staring at him. His face remained perfectly blank, his eyes never wavering from the documents on his desk.

​I slowly turned toward the door, my hand reaching for the handle. My fingers brushed the metal, and a wave of pure panic crashed over me.

​If I walked out of this door now, it was over.

​I wouldn’t see Oliver again. I wouldn’t be the one bringing him his coffee, or watching him concentrate on his files, or feeling that electric tension that hummed between us even in the silence. I wouldn’t be close to him. And I wouldn’t see those amazing sea-blue eyes that softened whenever I was close. I’ll miss his arrogance... his voice. His...

​My panic rose. The idea of a world where he was just a stranger again was a void I couldn’t step into. I couldn’t let it end like this... not when I love him.

​I pulled my hand back from the door and turned around, my heart hammering against my ribs, and looked at the man who was trying so hard to pretend I was already gone.

​"Alpha Oliver," I said, my voice trembling with nerves.

​He didn’t look up, but the scratching of his pen faltered for the briefest of seconds.

​"I don’t want a recommendation for a new job," I said, stepping back into the center of the room.

​He finally lifted his head, his blue eyes guarded and unreadable.

​"I want my job back."

​