Chapter 8: "Are you lying to help your husband Luna Sophia!"

Sophia’s pov.

I couldn’t get his phone number.

The thought of that keeps me awake and gives me a sleepless night.

I couldn’t get his freaking number!

Doubts begin to voice their thoughts in my head like demons out for blood.

Is all that Violet said true? Have I become a shadow of the woman I once was?

I should have been able to get more than his phone number. He’s the illegitimate son of the Spineridge Alpha, there should be something on him. Something I can use.

Something I should have gotten my hands on so I could contact him yet my investigations only turned up futile.

Even the bar… I got someone to investigate the bar yet the owner isn’t Caelum Highrise. It’s someone else.

The sun peeks through the curtains with me wondering what path my life will take from this moment onward, but I decide I'll handle that as it comes.

Today’s the day of the press conference. Everything’s already being set up, I have to mentally prepare for it.

Sorren looks at me strangely when we cross paths in the hall. At first, I'm taken aback, wondering if something has happened or if the news of my one-night affair has been released, but it proves to be something else because my brain picks up on it immediately.

I moved from the main room last night.

When I came back, I was still in mild shock and I was exhausting every avenue I had to get a hold of information about Ulric’s brother. It wasn’t until I wanted to go to bed that it occurred to me that sleeping in my matrimonial bed… would hurt too much. I picked out that bed myself, and I know how many women Ulric’s fucked on it, so I moved to another room.

I chuckle softly at Sorren’s observation and she smiles back sheepishly, imploring, “At least have breakfast today, Luna Sophia. I’m worried you’re not eating well.”

I smile and nod at her, conceding “If that’s what you want, I'll do it.”

I approach the dining area with a light smile on my face but that smile drops the minute my eyes scan the table.

Ulric sits there, glasses perched on his nose, his clothes casual and relaxed as he reads a paper.

My surprise threatens to overtake my shock because he came home last night. Ulric isn’t know

Before I turn away Ulric raises his head and his eyes go tender and soft again, “Good morning.”

The air thickens with awkwardness immediately and I feel my skin crawl, I reply short and clipped, “Good morning.”

Two servants set dishes on my side of the table and even though I want to turn back right now, my stomach screams for food.

Sorren’s right. I barely had anything to eat yesterday. I feel like I'll faint if I don't get food in my stomach right now.

Ulric doesn’t let me get three helpings of the delicious meat porridge down before he begins again,

“I spoke to Violet yesterday.”

My appetite threatens to vanish immediately.

“I lied to her that we weren’t going to have a divorce, Sophia. I told her I would never leave you for her. You’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with, not her. 

I need you by my side.”

I scoff, dropping my spoon in frustration, and snapping at him in annoyance, “You need me for what Ulric? What exactly do you need me for?”

He hesitates and looks away but the damage has already been done because my stomach is roiling bitterly and I dislike it when my breakfast is disrupted in such a spectacular way.

My impatience peaks and I’m counting down the seconds in my head when Ulric replies sheepishly,

“I… I need you to help me save my father’s company, Sophia. You know you’re the main reason I've been able to stand firm all this while in the business world. The Lycan corporations are already swooping down on the investors and they’re mocking the company.”

I nod, my body aching to throw all the dishes on the floor in annoyance and scream my lungs out at him. Instead, I reply calmly,

“I’ll hold the press conference this afternoon. I’ll do my part to save the company.”

Ulric half opens his mouth to say something but closes it again and he groans with a deep sigh. “That wasn’t how I meant for that to come out.”

I huff in disbelief because I'm sure he meant it exactly the way he said it. The only reason he wants me by his side is because he wants me to save his father’s company.

That feels extra refreshing to know now that we’ve been divorced. I ask unconcernedly, almost as a light afterthought.

“What’s up with you and your brother? Is that one of the reasons why you want me to help you protect your father’s company all of a sudden?”

Ulric’s mood sours immediately and the feeling of it ripples through the room. His displeasure is clear and its effect is potent.

“Caelum is a bad person. 

He’s dangerous and only knows how to steal and take what isn’t his. He made some requests from me yesterday, threats, but I batted them away. He’s not going to get to me.”

I shrug unconcernedly and focus on eating what’s been set in front of me but nothing tastes as good as it smells anymore. My taste buds have been corrupted with bitterness and I hate to know that I'm actually feeling bitter over all this.

“Luna Sophia.”

My head snaps to the source of the sound and I see one of the maids walking towards us with an open laptop in her hands.

“Miss Ravenna’s on a video call. She says she wants to speak to you and the Alpha.” 

I dab at my lips with a napkin and compose my expression into one of neutral expectation. A question prickles the back of my mind because we have set days for Ravenna to call, and today is not one of those days. She only calls on days like this when something’s wrong.

Ravenna’s face comes into view and it’s hard to keep the calm look on my face when I see the worry on hers. A flicker of a smile lights up on her face when she sees her father. She greets respectfully, waving excitedly,

“Hi, Dad.”

Ulric chuckles and smiles softly at her, “Hey princess, how have you been? It’s been so long since we spoke, has school been going okay?”

Ravenna nods and smiles at him, the look in her eyes slightly weary, “School’s been fine. I miss you and Mum. I want to come back from school quickly.”

Each time something like this happens, I contemplate booking a flight to her school and pulling her out immediately. It’s times like this that I also remember I was the one who was so excited when she gained admission into the school.

She’ll learn a lot there, much more than she can in any school here.

Ulric and Ravenna converse and I watch as he lies to her. Tells her that he’s just been so caught up with work that he barely has time for anything else. Lies that we’re both fine and happy, and nothing is going on here.

“Me and your mum are fine, my princess. Focus on your studies and make Daddy proud okay?”

Ravenna’s purple eyes twinkle with muted intensity as she nods, “I will. I have to go now, Dad. I’ll make you proud.”

The call cuts and Ulric looks at me smiling, yet there’s nothing but coldness in my eyes.

He wants me to be happy that he’s successfully had a conversation with Ravenna after how many months of her calling and asking to see him? And the fact that he could have been using all that time to try out every sex position in the world with Violet…

“I’ll be in my room getting ready.”

I stand up and walk away, taking the laptop with me because I can't look at him right now.

Noon comes by fast enough and Ulric and I drive to Highrise Solutions. As I planned, the place is crawling with reporters and a podium has been set up for us, a currently empty podium.

The moment we step out of the car the reporters assault me with questions,

“Mrs Highrise, is it true you’ve been in hiding all this while?”

“Luna Sophia, here Luna Sophia, what do you have to say about your husband’s cheating scandal?”

“Is it true the Alpha’s been assaulting you too?”

My men surround me and Ulric as they clear a path for us to the podium. I hear Ulric whisper  casually under his breath, “Your guards are much more professional than mine.”

A memory of a friendly argument between us threatens to surface but I push it away. I stand on a slightly upraised platform on the main podium and Ulric stands beside me. He’s still a head taller than me, and as he takes my hand in his, sour feelings roil in my heart.

I tap the mic twice and silence reigns amongst the rowdy reporters. My voice is calm as I begin.

“Good day everyone, and thank you for making the effort to come here just for this.

I have called a press conference today, and it’s my honor that my call was well met. A ghastly piece of news has been flying about lately, one that threatens to tear up what my husband and I have spent years working so hard for and ruin the legacy upon which we are built. 

I humbly ask you reporters, werewolves, humans, and Lycans alike, to listen and then ask your questions.

While the news and evidence provided against my husband relating to the physical assault and cheating charges might seem legitimate, I want to assure you they are not.

Alpha Ulric Highrise wasn’t going to the hotel to cheat on me, no.

He was there with a mutual friend of ours, someone very special to us hence the scarf obscuring her face, and the fact that he took her to a five-star hotel just shows how much we care for her.

Regarding the reporter who was hit, I'd like to say the Alpha was stressed by her taking those photos, hence his reaction. My husband has tried his best to clean up his act and get rid of the rumors following him in the public space and in the media. He knew those photos would be interpreted this way, and while that doesn’t excuse his act of resorting to a physical means of deterrence, I'd like those listening to simply know this. He did it in the best interest of our marriage.

He did it for me.

Negotiations are underway with the assaulted reporter to compensate her. We’re not heartless people, and just because we have money doesn’t mean we can get away with everything. Our actions affect us more than they affect anyone else and they reflect who we truly are on the inside. 

I hope everyone sees that this has all been a misunderstanding, and one that will be swiftly resolved.

Thank you.”

My heart threatens to shrivel up in its cage as the sound of camera shutters clicking fills my ears.

The reporters take pictures furiously.

Some of them have their heads bowed - furiously tapping away on their phones, some are writing on jotters, I give them the time to get everything they need and Ulric squeezes my hand.

When I glance at him there’s an undeniable smile on his face and my vision goes hazy with blind rage. 

I look away, keeping my expression neutral and tapping on the microphone once again. The heads of the reporters snap to attention immediately and I take a deep breath as I ask, “Any questions?”

The first one almost floors me, “Are you lying to help your husband, Luna Sophia!”

 

The question is crisp and clear and silence echoes right after it. 

I lean down to the microphone, “Why would I do that?” 

My heart twists in agony as I go on, “If the news about my husband was true then that means he’d have cheated on me. He’d have violated our marriage and mate bond, and everything we’ve stood for these past eight years. I would want to see him taken down as much as the next person.”

“How sure are we that the assaulted reporter isn’t being bullied into agreeing with your story!”

I look in the direction of the voice and answer, “She will release a statement herself regarding that when she’s ready. We can always come back to that if there are claims of bullying.”

“Why has it taken so long for you to speak, Mrs Highrise!”

Another tilt of my head and I sigh, “I have had health complications lately. Standing here to speak to you all takes a toll on me but I have to. My husband doesn’t deserve what’s happening to him.”

The reporters are tapping away and writing again when a cool clear voice floats into my head. 

A voice that sends shivers down my spine as he husks directly into my mind,

 ~How true is that, Mrs Sophia Highrise?~

My legs weaken immediately as my eyes drift right past the reporters all staring at me, and directly to his.

Gleaming, baby blue eyes. 

Ulric’s brother is here.