Chapter Six

Natalie POV

I sat frozen in my chair. The bright light from my laptop screen burned my eyes, but I could not blink. I could not breathe or move.

My eyes were locked on the old, faded photograph on the screen. A violent shudder ripped through my entire body.

I reached up with a shaking hand and touched the stone under my shirt, the chain suddenly felt like a heavy collar around my neck.

My parents did not die in a random rogue-wolf attack in the woods, that was a lie. The whole pack had lied to me for almost twenty years. The Blackwood family knew my parents, they knew about this strange stone…. about me.

Everything I ever believed about my life vanished into thin air.

I looked around the office, my heart hammered against my ribs so hard it actually hurt. My hands started to shake violently, panic squeezed my throat.

I closed my eyes and took a deep, shaky breath. I opened my eyes and grabbed my mouse. My fingers flew across the keyboard, moving faster than they ever had in my life.

I plugged my small, encrypted black hard drive into the side of the laptop. I highlighted the old photograph, the scrubbed financial records, and the faded notes about my bloodline. I dragged all of it into my private drive.

A small loading bar appeared on the screen.

Copying files... 20%...

"Come on, come on," I whispered to the empty room.

My eyes darted toward the office door. Outside, the hallway was quiet, but I could hear the faint sounds of the night guards walking on the floor below me. If someone walked in right now and saw what was on my screen, I was dead.

Copying files... 65%...

A drop of cold sweat ran down my neck, I watched the green bar slowly fill up.

Copying files... 100%.

Transfer Complete.

I pulled the black drive out of the laptop and shoved it deep into my pocket.

I opened the central administrative terminal, and I typed in a string of codes I had built myself. Because I designed half of the security system for Blackwood Group, I knew exactly where the blind spots were.

I found the server log for the last two hours. There was my name, sitting right next to the red-flagged file. I highlighted my entire session history and hit the delete key.

Then I ran a deep-scrubbing program over the space, replacing the deleted data with random junk codes so no one could ever recover it. By the time I was finished, the server showed absolutely nothing. It looked like the red-flagged file had not been touched in ten years.

I closed the terminal, sat back in my chair, and let out a long breath. Suddenly, the phone on my desk buzzed loudly. I jumped in my chair, my heart leaping into my throat.

I stared at the glowing screen, it was Adrian's line. I swallowed hard, my hands were still shaking. I clenched them into tight fists until my fingernails dug into my skin, forcing them to stay still. I reached out and picked up the phone.

"Yes, Adrian?" I said.

"Natalia," Adrian's deep, warm voice came through the speaker. Just hearing him say my name made my stomach turn with disgust. "Come to my office, we have one last thing to go over before the gala tonight."

"I will be right there," I replied.

I hung up the phone, I stood up and smoothed out my skirt. I walked over to the small mirror hanging on the back of my door. I looked at my reflection. My eyes were slightly red, but the dark purple circles just made me look tired from working.

"You can do this," I whispered to the girl in the mirror. "Smile and lie."

I opened my door and walked down the long hallway. I reached Adrian's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in," he called out.

I pushed the door open, Adrian was standing behind his desk. The morning sun was pouring through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind him, making him look tall and powerful.

On his desk, sitting right in the center, was my blue leather folder.

The five-year expansion plan.

Adrian looked up and gave me that charming, handsome smile. The same smile that used to make my heart flutter. Now, it just made my skin crawl. "Natalia," he said, tapping his fingers against the blue folder. "I spent the last hour reading this, it is incredible. You have outdone yourself this time."

"Thank you, Adrian," I said quietly.

"It is flawless," he continued. He walked around the desk and stood right in front of me. "This plan is going to secure Blackwood's future for the next decade." Adrian turned around and walked back to his desk. He picked up a white piece of paper and held it out to me.

"There is just one more thing I need you to do," he said. I took the paper from his hand and looked down at it.

It was a speech.

At the very top, in bold letters, it said: Anniversary Address - Presented by Scarlett Crescent.

I looked up at Adrian. "What is this?" I asked, keeping my voice soft and confused.

Adrian sighed, running a hand through his hair."It is Scarlett's speech for tonight," Adrian explained, he leaned against the edge of his desk and crossed his arms. "I was thinking she should be the one to do the presentation, you don’t have to necessarily do the hard part, you have done so well and you can at least rest a bit."

He looked at me seriously.

"But the problem is, Scarlett wrote this draft herself, and it is a mess," Adrian chuckled softly, shaking his head. "I need you to rewrite this speech for her, Natalia."

I stared at him.

The silence in the office was deafening.

I looked into his l eyes. For three years, I had believed this man was a strong, protective Alpha. I believed he was a visionary, I believed he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I was honored to help him carry it.

But standing here right now, he was not a king as I thought, he was a parasite, a hollow, empty suit who survived by sucking the life out of the people below him. He was not just stealing my life's work. He was standing right in front of my face, asking me to personally wrap it up in a beautiful bow so he could give it to the woman who was replacing me.

How was I ever so blind? How did I ever think this monster's manipulation was love? He never loved my mind, he just loved what he could steal from it.

Adrian frowned slightly. He tilted his head. "Natalia? Is there a problem? You look pale."

I looked down at the speech. Then I looked back up at his arrogant face and smiled.

It was not a small smile. It was a bright, flawless, brilliant smile. I forced my eyes to soften. I made my face look agreeable, empty of any resistance.

"There is no problem at all, Adrian," I said, my voice was light and breezy. "I understand completely. I will rewrite the speech immediately and will make sure her presentation is absolutely flawless."

Adrian's shoulders relaxed. A smug, satisfied look crossed his face. He truly believed he had me completely under his control. He believed I was so desperate for his approval that I would happily dig my own grave just to please him.

"Thank you, Natalia," he said warmly. He reached out and patted my shoulder, like a master praising a good dog. "I knew I could count on you. You always make things so easy for me."

"I do my best," I replied smoothly.

"Have the final draft on my desk in two hours," Adrian ordered, turning his back to me to look out the window. "Oh, and Natalia? Make sure you wear that dark blue dress to the gala tonight. It looks good on you."

"Of course, Adrian," I said softly.

I turned around and walked out of the office, I pulled the door shut behind me, the lock clicking loudly into place.

I stood in the hallway alone, holding the piece of paper in my hand. My flawless smile slowly melted away, leaving my face cold.

I will make sure her presentation is flawless, I thought, staring at Adrian's closed door. And then, I am going to burn your entire empire to the ground.