Chapter 4

"By the way," Eric said, "the mine acquisition is proceeding as planned. Irina is doing quite well, so I hope to have her temporarily take over your other duties as well, not just the procurement part. This would be a good chance for you to take a break and relax. What do you think?"

He stared at me intently, waiting for my response.

On the surface, it sounded like he was asking me for my opinion, but I knew that he had likely already written out the official order.

"I have no objections."

Eric's expression visibly faltered for a moment.

In the past, every time he wanted to hand my duties to Irina, I would fight back with budgets, data, and risk assessments.

However, this time, I hadn't done anything like that.

He regained his composure soon enough. "Great. Since you're meant to relax, I'll assign you to some light-duty records review work for now."

To put it simply, that would mean I would be in charge of reviewing old contracts and cross-checking archived documents.

This move wasn't actually meant to let me take a temporary break. What Eric was actually doing was taking away my achievements, then my authority.

Bit by bit, he was trying to strip me of everything, turning me into nothing but a trophy mate.

"It's just temporary," he added. "Once you feel that you've rested enough, I'll reinstate your authority."

"Alright."

For several seconds, he merely stared at me. "Are you really agreeing to this?"

"Yes."

I had already submitted the mate bond termination contract to the Council of Elders, and it would take effect two days from now. He could dump me anywhere he wanted—it didn't matter anymore.

Completely unaware of my real thoughts, Eric simply assumed that my silence meant that I had surrendered. He thought that I had finally accepted that loving an Alpha meant submitting to him and obeying his every word.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow, you'll move to the archive room. Irina needs a bigger office to meet with the Alliance ambassador."

Back when I had told him that I was staying back, he had handed the key to this office to me. He had personally decorated it for me, so everything inside had been office supplies suited to my habits.

"Freya, this office will forever be yours."

Yet now, he had handed it over to Irina, just like that.

"Okay."

As Eric got to his feet, his gaze landed on my bookshelf. "Where's the Moon Goddess Statue I gave you?"

That statue had been a gift from him after we signed our very first trade agreement. The words "It starts here" had been carved into the bottom.

I used to place it in the most visible spot in the office. Every time Eric disappointed me, I would look at it and remind myself of how we had once endured the most difficult times together.

Eric used to tease me for placing so much importance on it, saying that he had simply found a random craftsman to make it for him, yet I treated it like the most precious treasure in the world. He thought it was very childish of me.

However, the moment it was gone from its usual place, he immediately noticed.

"It fell and shattered," I replied.

His gaze darted toward the floor, sweeping it carefully. "Have you cleaned up all the shards?"

"Yeah."

"Get someone to check the floor thoroughly. Any shards you might've missed could accidentally injure someone."

My compliance seemed to have put him in a good mood, for his tone was noticeably less harsh than usual. It almost sounded like he was concerned about me.

However, the one sitting in this office tomorrow would be Irina, so that concern was clearly not meant for me. It had never been.

After Eric left, I opened the bottom-most drawer of my desk.

The statue, carved out of moonstone, hadn't actually shattered. I would be leaving it behind when I leave two days from now.

I used to think that, if nothing else, at least our home would be the one thing that belonged to me and Eric alone.

Yet, one month ago, I returned home early, only to discover several boxes of some herbal concoction in our fridge. Every time I caught a whiff of the smell, it made me gag in disgust.

As it turned out, Irina had a habit of drinking one of them every morning.

I hadn't expected that another woman's personal habit would actually end up appearing in my fridge, in my home.

When I had asked Eric about it, he had said that Irina would occasionally come over to discuss work with him. Upon hearing that, I had decided to check the house access logs.

What I had discovered was that in the past two months, she had entered our home 11 times.

I hadn't been home for seven of those times.