Lawrence.

I was clearly pissed...no, far beyond pissed...at the fact that my mate couldn’t even see how much I was hurting.

It was as though my emotions meant nothing to her. As though everything I felt, every reaction, every struggle...was invisible.

Seeing Theresa with another man...It did something to me, something dark and so uncontrollable. It wasn’t just irritation or jealousy....it was madness. A slow, consuming kind of insanity that crawled under my skin and refused to leave.

I really didn’t mind her talking to others. I wasn’t that unreasonable. She could have conversations, laugh, exchange words....fine but sitting together, just the two of them...Eating, laughing and then leaning closer than necessary.

That wasn’t just casual anymore....that looked like a date. A small, intimate, private moment.

And what hurt the most?

Theresa had never done that with me before.

I let out a sharp breath as I sank into my chair, tugging at my tie impatiently, loosening it just enough so I could breathe. My chest felt tight, suffocating, as though something heavy was pressing down on it.

Why was this getting to me so much?

Why did it feel like I was losing something I never even had?

I dragged a hand through my hair, trying to steady myself, trying to push the thoughts away, but they lingered, stubborn and relentless.

And just then, I heard a familiar yet distanct voice. So distant that for a second, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me.

But no.

I knew that voice.

Out of all the people it could belong to, only one name surfaced in my mind.

It had to be him.

My body stiffened instantly, every muscle going rigid as realization dawned on me.

After all these years...What the hell was he doing here?

A mix of curiosity and unease twisted in my gut. And then another thought struck me, one that made my expression darken immediately.

Theresa.

If he was here...and she was here...that wasn’t a good combination at all. They had never gotten along before, not even close.

And knowing him?

There was a high chance he would push things too far.

Before I could think twice, I was already on my feet, moving quickly toward the door. My steps were fast, urgent, driven by something I didn’t want to acknowledge.

I stepped out...and there he was, just as I thought.

"Bernard! What are you doing here?" I asked, my mood shifting instantly, dropping by a hundred degrees. The irritation in my voice was clear, sharp, unfiltered.

He turned to me slowly, completely unfazed, as if my reaction meant absolutely nothing to him.

"Is that how you welcome your long-lost brother?" Bernard asked, raising his brows slightly, amusement flickering in his eyes.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance, my jaw tightening.

Brother?

That word alone irritated me.

He wasn’t my brother.

He was my cousin—my father’s elder brother’s illegitimate son.

A technical connection.

Nothing more.

"Why are you suddenly back, Bernard?" I asked flatly, completely ignoring his earlier remark, my gaze fixed on him with clear distrust.

"What now? Am I forbidden from returning home?" he shot back casually, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. "Don’t forget, my father once gave his life to save our pack."

His tone was light, almost joking as he laughed it off, but there was something underneath it, something sharp and Intentional.

"Enough history, Lawrence," he continued, waving it aside dismissively before his gaze shifted.

To her.

"And you Theresa..." he added, his voice changing slightly, carrying a different kind of weight now.

My body tensed instantly.

"...I can’t believe you’re pretending not to know me," he said, his eyes locking onto hers with unsettling intensity. "Tell me, is it because of that little incident of ours?"

My fists clenched at my sides.

I raised my brows in surprise, the reaction coming instinctively as Bernard’s words settled in my mind.

That little incident?

What exactly was he referring to?

It didn’t make any sense.

From everything I knew—everything I had seen—Bernard and Theresa had never gotten along. Not even remotely. They were never close, never friendly, barely even tolerated each other’s presence whenever they were in the same space.

So how...?

How could there have been an "incident" between them?

My thoughts twisted uneasily, and before I could stop myself, my fists clenched tightly at my sides. A strange ache spread through my chest, sharp and uncomfortable, fueled by the mere possibility that there was something I didn’t know.

Something between them.

Something I wasn’t part of.

"Excuse me, am I supposed to know you?" Theresa’s voice cut through the tension, calm but edged with confusion.

Her words snapped me out of my daze instantly.

For a split second, I just stared at her, and then, unexpectedly, I almost laughed.

Of course.

Of course she would say that.

Bernard, on the other hand, didn’t find it amusing in the slightest. His expression shifted almost immediately, the brief surprise on his face hardening into something darker, something less forgiving.

"What do you mean by that, Theresa?" he asked, his voice lowering, his brows knitting together. "Are you trying to make fun of me?"

There it was.

That familiar tension.

Even now, nothing had changed between them.

They still clashed, just as they always did.

"Hey, relax!" I stepped in quickly, moving forward before things could escalate any further. Instinctively, I positioned myself slightly in front of Theresa, shielding her from the sharp edge of Bernard’s rising anger. "She doesn’t remember anyone anymore," I added, my tone firm but controlled.

Bernard’s gaze shifted to me slowly, his eyes narrowing just slightly as if trying to read between my words.

"Really?" he asked, his voice laced with doubt. "She doesn’t... or she chooses not to?"

He tilted his head slightly, his lips curving into something that wasn’t quite a smile.

"Because from the look of things, she clearly remembers she is Theresa."

The statement hung in the air, heavy with implication.

I felt my jaw tighten.

Before I could respond...

"Mr. Lawrence, it seems you have an urgent matter to handle. I will take my leave now."

Theresa’s voice came suddenly, cutting through the tension in a way that felt almost...out of place.

I blinked.

Her response didn’t match the situation at all. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

For a moment, I just stared at her, confused by the sudden shift in her tone, her composure. It was as if she had decided—on her own—to completely remove herself from whatever this was.

And before either of us could react, she moved.

She picked up a file from the desk, grabbed her handbag with a smooth, almost practiced motion, and walked past us without hesitation.

The sound of her heels echoed faintly as she exited the office, and then...Just like that, she was gone.

Silence fell over the room.

A heavy, awkward kind of silence that lingered longer than it should have.

I remained standing there, still trying to process what had just happened, when I felt Bernard’s gaze shift.

Slowly, he turned to look at me.

Then, just as slowly, his eyes drifted toward the doorway Theresa had just walked through, as if trying to make sense of her sudden departure.

We both stood there...stunned, watching the space she had left behind.