Chapter 2

"What is it, sweetheart? What does that boy need from me this time?"

Almost every time I reached out to my father, it was for Xander. All these years, if I hadn't been paving the road for him behind the scenes, he would still be a nobody clerk going nowhere.

At the sound of my father's voice, the tears spilled out before I could stop them. "Daddy..."

He panicked the second he heard me choke up. "What's wrong? Who hurt you? Daddy will deal with him."

I cried harder, all the hurt breaking loose at once. "Dad, I want you to pull every investment we have in Xander Blackwood's pack."

He understood immediately. I could hear his voice shaking with the fury he was holding down. "Done. That brute dares hurt my daughter? I'll make him pay for every bit of it."

When the link cut off, I felt unbelievably light. All the hurt and bitterness from minutes ago had scattered like smoke.

That's right. I had family. I had power of my own. There was no reason to waste tears on a man who wasn't worth them.

And Xander was a genuine fool. He thought winning Vivienne meant winning her family's backing. He had no idea Vivienne was only an adopted daughter who couldn't stir up a ripple, while I was the daughter of the strongest Alpha in the North.

The old Alpha only took him in because he had secured cooperation and investment from my father. The old Alpha merely wanted to use him and never intended to pass the Alpha’s position to a bastard.

Once he lost even that usefulness, he would be cast out without a second thought.

The thought lightened my mood. Sooner or later, he would pay for his betrayal.

I headed to the company to hand in my resignation and collect my documents. The moment I pushed open the door, I caught my colleagues staring at me with strange looks.

I did not understand their gazes at first. But as I walked past Xander’s office, soft gasps drifted out, freezing me in place.

Through the half-open door, I saw Vivienne sitting on his lap, her face flushed. Two buttons of her shirt were undone, revealing a large expanse of fair skin. Xander’s hands roamed over her body greedily, a look of pure enjoyment on his face.

I finally realized what lay behind my colleagues’ complicated expressions—sympathy, gossip, and undisguised glee.

I had no desire to deal with their sordid affair and turned to leave, yet my documents were still inside his office. I decided to wait for them to finish, but they clung to each other inseparably. Half an hour passed, and they showed no sign of stopping.

Having run out of patience, I marched forward and pushed the door open.

Xander jumped to his feet the second he saw me, panic flashing across his face. “Serena, it’s not what you think.”

I ignored him, walked straight to the filing cabinet and retrieved my papers. “I’m just here to hand in my resignation and get my things.”

A look of feigned realization crossed Xander’s face. “Yes. I was just about to pack up and hand in my resignation too.”

I did not expose his pathetic lie and turned to leave. Just then, Vivienne’s sarcastic voice rang out behind me.

“I heard a big firm offered you a position. I couldn’t help wondering who’d hire a useless nobody with neither talent nor connections. You know exactly how you landed that job.”

I halted in my tracks, spun around with a cold expression and stared sharply at her. “What are you trying to say?”

Emboldened by my reaction, she grew even more insolent. “You know perfectly well what I mean. Apart from your scrawny figure, do you have anything of value left?”

I gritted my teeth. “Watch your mouth.”

Vivienne stepped up to me and gave me a meaningful look. She grabbed my hand, then suddenly lurched backward as if losing her balance and fell heavily to the floor. Her eyes welled up with tears in an instant.

“Serena, did my words upset you? Why did you push me?”

Xander, who had stayed silent while she insulted me, now wore an angry frown as he looked at me. “Serena, even if Vivienne spoke harshly, you had no right to lay a hand on her. I'm truly disappointed in you.”

"After all, she's your girlfriend." Vivienne's voice was soft and wounded, every inch the bigger person.

"Girlfriend or not, Serena doesn't get to hurt you." Xander cupped Vivienne's face, his voice melting with tenderness as he soothed her.

Then he turned to me, and his tone dropped to ice. "If there's nothing else, you can go."

He didn't have to tell me. I had no desire to spend one more second in that disgusting place.

I took my files and walked out.

Deep down, he knew perfectly well that everything Vivienne did was an act. But he couldn't afford to offend her, not with his power and position on the line, so he dumped his anger on me to keep her happy.