HAILEY
"Marry me"
His words came as a shock to me. When I proposed that we form an alliance, I didn't mean it as such. It was only meant to be for show and not realistic but he sounded as serious as it could get.
"You're joking, right?" He had to be because I didn't survive death caused by a jealous friend and cheating mate saga only to get entangled with another man. "You don't mean we should get married like for real, right?"
Carter frowned. His expression annoyed like he would prefer to be anywhere but here. "I don't have all the time in the world, Miss Hailey. You have just twenty four hours to make up your mind, after that, the deal is done." then he made an attempt to walk away but I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Give me time to think about it." I tried to reason with him, "marriage is not a thing to be taken lightly."
Carter gave me a look of understanding "Whenever you're ready, you know where to find me." He then gave me his card and with that, he strolled away and I couldn't help but admire his strong back and his elegant posture. Alpha Carter was an attractive man, no doubt and I could bet my life savings that woman of all ages and sizes trampled at his feet just to be noticed by him.
But he didn't give a fuck about them, it was obvious, he man only cared about his mate. I wonder where she disappeared to. Speaking of mates, I remembered mine. Where was he?
I needed to know what he was up to so I'd know how to act. I set out to find him.
I strolled to his house and towards the direction of room, knocked on the door and entered like I owned the place. Technically, I did. It's my father's park and I was his mate and according to our tradition, whatever he owned was mine too.
Tristan straightened when he heard the sound of the door opening but his shoulder fell when he saw that I was the one behind the door. It was as though he was expecting someone else, so I asked, "were you expecting someone else?" I raised my brow accusingly at him.
"No" He denied almost immediately, "Who would I be expecting?"
"I don't know" I moved closer to him, sat on the bed and touched his shoulder. "I've noticed that you've been acting distant towards me." I began, "did I do something wrong?"
If I wanted Tristan to keep trusting me, I'd have to keep acting like the calm, naive Hailey that he claimed to love. I'd have to get him to trust me more than he already did.
"Why would you think that?" He cupped my face in his palms and looked intently into my eyes. "You could never do something wrong to me. Do you know how much I love you?"
He said and proceeded to plant his lips on mine and began kissing me. If it were before, his words and his kisses would have made a butterfly garden in my stomach, it would have made me weak in the knees.
But now, his lips on mine made me want to puke so badly. I'd have to scrub my lips to get rid of his nauseating taste. I never knew it was possible to hate someone you had once loved with so much passion.
Tristan made me realize he was a really good liar and actor but I wanted to test the waters to see how far he'd go so I pulled away from the kiss and mustered the saddest look ever on my face.
"I feel like you do not love me anymore." I croaked. Since Tristan loved Maya the white lotus, I decided to be a much bigger white lotus. "You don't back up your words with actions. I need everyone to know you're mine."
"How do you mean?" Tristan studied me intensely like he wanted to read my mind. Perhaps was he scared that I had someone managed to find out his secret?
"Exactly what I said." I shifted closer to him and pulled him closer even though my actions greatly repulsed me. Then I mustered the courage and said, "Introduce me to the park as yours. Marry me, Tristan."
I studied his facial expressions closely so as not to miss a thing. He shifted in his seat then his face changed from confusion to shock and then finally to irritation but he quickly schooled his expression.
"Why so soon? There's no need for the rush. I'm all yours." He said.
His reply was exactly as I expected. He never loved me, he still wanted to carry on with his plan of using me for his selfish needs and then dumping me afterwards. I had wanted to give him the benefits of doubt but not anymore. He was just as evil as his partner, Maya.
I quickly rose from the bed and made to walk away but he held me back. "It's not like I don't love you, Hailey but give me time." He began his silly excuses, "you know as the beta, there's a lot of things I need to sort out but I promise you that immediately everything is under control, you'll be where you want, where you should be."
Silly of him to think that I wouldn't be able to detect the underlying threat and promise in his words. My stomach churned with hatred. I was going to deal with this man, that was a promise I made to myself.
"Not if I have something to do about that." I muttered slowly.
"Huh?"
"Nothing" I said. We stared at each other for a while, different thoughts running through both our minds.
My mind was made. I'd marry Carter and expertly deal with Tristan. This was a vow, after all, revenge is a dish best served cold.
C&M ENTERPRISESHAILEYMarveling at the sight of the building, with my head held up high, I drew in a deep breath and walked towards the main entrance.Today, my life was going to change for the better. I had made up my mind to accept Carter's proposal and with his help, I'll destroy Maya and Tristan. If everything goes as planned and we achieve both our goals, we'd go our separate ways. I plan to go far away from here and live a quiet life.I spotted the receptionist immediately I stepped in, and naturally, I walked up to her. "Welcome to C&M enterprises, how may I help you?" She greeted with a polite smile on her face."I want to see Carter, your boss." I said simply. Her brows furrowed slightly when she heard me call Carter by his face name. Apparently, she had never heard anyone call him that as they always refered to him as Alpha or boss but since I had addressed him by his name, she thought I was special to him. Was I? I doubted that."Do you have an appointment, miss?" She aske
CARTER'She's the one who needs my help, I can do well on my own' This line had become my mantra since few hours ago and i couldn't be wrong.I barely restrained myself from groaning out loud because of the frustration growing in me. I pinched the skin between my brows to get ahold of myself. I don't need Hailey, she needs me. She was the one who approached me first, meaning that I'm more useful to her than she is to me. I could find my mate with or without her. I really didn't care if she comes or not. I am the supreme Alpha for a reason.The board members all kept mute when my phone beeped out loud. Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored it and continued the meeting but I wasn't interested in sitting here any longer.I picked up my phone to see the reason of interruption, it was a message from my receptionist that someone was in my office.Automatically, my mind drifted to Hailey but I quickly sidelined the thought because if it were to be her, Malachi would have told me
HAILEYI got married, though not real but I'm married.I sat beside Carter in the back seat of his car and stared down at the marriage certificate in my hands.For a fake marriage, the certificate had good quality. Well, I don't expect anything less from Carter. He is supreme Alpha for a reason."It's too late for regrets" I hear Carter's mocking voice mixed with amusement say to me."I didn't say I am regretting. Don't put words in my mouth." I scowled at him."With that look on your face, one would think I forced you into this marriage" He chuckled as he relaxed into the luxurious leather seat of the car. He seemed to be enjoying this way too much."Technically, they won't be wrong because it isn't a pleasure getting married to you." I retorted speedily. I would never let this man win me in a tongue war. If I can't win him in a physical battle, this is the least I should do."You had the opportunity to change your mind but you chose to dive right into my waiting arms" he continued w
CARTERThrough out the ride back from the company, I thought about ways to make Hailey pay for bringing up my mate in a totally unrelated situation. She needed to know that though we were working together, I wouldn't take any nonsense from her. She wasn't in any way worthy of having Alanna's name on her lips. No one was! Alanna was special to me and I wouldn't have anyone disrespecting her in any way.I stepped out of the car immediately it came to a halt and strode out."Where's she?" I asked Caroline, the head maid, who stood by the door. She's been an employee of my mansion since I was young, hence the most reliable."In your room, Alpha" she replied with her head bowed.I wanted to lash out at her for letting Hailey into my room but I decided against it. I was to blame for not instructing her properly. She had assumed that it was only normal that my 'wife' stayed in the same room as me. I breezed past Caroline into the house, taking two steps at a time to get to my room. Yes, I
HAILEYI stormed out of Carter's room, fuming in anger. He was the one who made the first move only to push me away and treat me like a common whore. Incase he had forgotten, he made the rules in the contract and still went ahead to break them, not me.Carter was grating on my nerves and I didn't like it one bit. I walked to downstairs to kitchen because I didn't know where else to go, only to find the maids running about, seemingly trying to prepare a meal. The meal in question wasn't one that could be consumed by two people or was there an event happening that I didn't know about?Curiously, I called one of the maids aside to ask but before I could, Caroline walked up to me, "I've been searching for you, dear""Is there a problem?" I asked. Had Carter annulled our contract and asked her to send me away?"No, dear." She smiled. "We just need to get you ready.""Ready for?" I raised my brows in confusion. Was this some kind of Victorian era where the maids had to prepare the bride f
HAILEYEven after the quiet guy had reprimanded them, they still didn't stop throwing not so subtle insults my way. It was like they had waited for this perfect opportunity all their lives and they didn't want to let it go to waste. I might as well indulge them so I turned to Justin. "You seem to know alot about sluts, I can tell you're a constant patronizer""How dare you accuse me of promiscuousity!" He barked, his face contorting in anger."Accusation you say, I'm quite certain I must have seen you in one of the strip clubs I work at, waiting in line to bang a stripper with an STD" I sipped on my wine and smiled. "You should go get yourself check. Just a friendly advice" "You bitch!" Carter's mothers voice hit a very high octave that I thought was impossible to reach."Careful there, mother, before you fracture your vocal cords. We wouldn't want you undergoing another surgery when you're yet to recover from the numerous ones you did on your face." I reprimanded her mockingly.I no
CARTER"I'm quite disappointed in you" Father began immediately we were settled in my home office. "I didn't expect you to make a woman who isn't your mate, a wife.""She's the one for me, Father." I said."Cut that bullshit!" Father slammed his hand on the desk. "You're my son and I know you more than I care to admit. I know that the reason you took that girl as a wife is because you have an ulterior motive""That's incorrect, Father" I replied, still keeping my cool even though my father was on the verge of exposing me. Sometimes, I underrated how smart my father was. Even in old age, he wasn't gullible."You can't fool me, son" He rested his elbow on the table, "Now tell me, what do you stand to gain from this marriage."I didn't say a word, instead I just kept staring at him. When he was certain I wasn't ready to talk, he resumed, "from my knowledge, she's the daughter of Alpha Damian of Deepwater pack. So I assume this is a plan to overtake that park and make it yours, right"I h
CARTERC&M ENTERPRISESI sat patiently listening to Malachi as he filled me up on the important things that's going on in the pack and the company."Did you inform Tristan that I'd love to meet with him?" I asked Malachi after he was done with his little presentation."Yes" Malachi said, "he should be here any moment from now"Exactly what I needed to hear. Hailey's revenge plan had officially launched and the first agenda on the list was to frustrate Tristan till he breaks and that was exactly what I planned on going.As if on cue, Malachi paused, his face showing deep concentration and I could tell someone was trying to communicate with him through the mind link. "Tristan has arrived in the company, he's waiting at the reception. I'll go bring him up." Malachi then motioned to leave but I stopped him."Leave him be for an hour or two. Inform the receptionist not to serve him even the tiniest drop of water." I instructed him. "And if he steps out of the company without my permission