04

        ANNALISE 

I dropped the headset on the floor and quickly pulled her in a hug.

"I'm so sorry, honey. Please, forgive me. You know I'll never do anything to hurt you."

Kage reached the room. "What's going on? Why's she crying?"

Eloise was faster than me. "It's my fault, Daddy. Mummy was trying to solve an argument between Michelle and I and accidentally broke the headset. She didn't mean to."

Goodness! How was this kid even smarter than me?

Kage came closer, taking Michelle from my arms. I was swept away by his charms and perfume in an instant. No matter how many times I've seen this man, my heart still raced each time.

Wasn't I the luckiest woman in the world for having someone like Kage Keating?

"Is that the reason you're crying?" He spoke softly to Michelle, wiping the smile off my face.

I wished he didn't get to talk to her. I mean, why was his love for her still so strong despite what her mother 'did'?

"I told them it was mine," Michelle whimpered.

"Come on, honey. It's just a headset. I'll get you a new one on my way home, okay?"

Kage was a cold-hearted Alpha, feared and respected by all. But with the kids, he always showed a different side of him—a side that was shown more often to Michelle, actually.

He finally got her to calm down, kissing the top of her head before leaving the room.

I went after him.

"Don't you need me to come with you?" I asked as he approached the car his Beta had already opened for him.

I didn't even know where he was headed. I just wanted to be with him all the time.

"Don't worry, Annalise. Just take care of the kids."

He got into the car while I continued staring dreamily.

I still couldn't believe my plan worked perfectly. With Belly gone, Kage would finally be mated to me, and forever, we'll be together without any obstacles.

I giggled at the picture.

I knew my life was about to change forever when the Birkhead family picked me to be their foster daughter. But in the beginning, the blind oofs favored Belly and Isabelle. 

I hated the extra love and attention the twins got. Hated how they always got more compliments on how beautiful they were. I'd grown up being deprived of a lot of things. So, when I finally got chosen by a good family, I wanted everything.

It was easy getting rid of Isabelle. The joy I felt when I'd pushed her down that cliff could not be compared.

I'd thought of getting rid of Annabelle as well, but it might've been suspicious. So, I decided to make an entertainment out of her. How easy it was to make her the bad egg. The fool didn't make it any difficult for me as she'd been so easy to manipulate. I mean, who the hell avoided the things that'd make them beautiful just because I said so? It definitely wasn't my fault.

I couldn't be any more proud of myself. At last, I'd be getting everything I've always wanted.

‡‡‡‡

    KAGE

I waited in the car with my Beta, my patience wearing thin by the minute.

I hated waiting. They all knew that.

"Calm down, Kage. We'll be going in soon," Finn said, like his words would make it any better.

I kept staring out the window.

"You know, I'm still a little surprised you picked this up. I thought you didn't care about her? Besides, isn't it a little obvious she really did it?" My Beta asked after a while.

"The obviousness is the reason I'm doing this. I just have a gut feeling about it."

My eyes lowered from the window.

"She called me today. For the first time in three years."

Finn shot me a stare from the rearview mirror. "Are you kidding?"

"She wanted to see me." I exhaled, rubbing my hand along my jaw. "Maybe when we're done from here, if there's still time, we could drive over to the facility. I'll make it the last time I see her."

My phone beeped with a text message. It was one of my men from inside the building, telling us we could make our way in.

I didn't waste any time. Finn and I left the car. I didn't miss the way he eyed my hands when he noticed me cracking my knuckles.

"Calm down, Kage. We not killing anyone," he reminded me. Like it mattered.

We made our way into the room. As expected, it was a mess. There were two ladies on their knees with their hands up. They had bed covers over their shaken bodies, and I could instantly tell they were naked beneath that.

My target—Malcolm—was also on his knees and had just a boxer brief on. With the two naked ladies in the room, I didn't need to be told what he'd been doing before my men broke into the place.

He already had a few bruises forming on his face from the places my men must've hit him. He physically recoiled at the sight of me, whimpering like a kitten.

"Please, Alpha Kage, I don't want any trouble. I didn't do anything," his voice wavered.

Of course, having someone like me in your apartment could only mean you were in trouble.

But wasn't he ashamed he was embarrassing himself in front of the ladies he was just screwing?

"Get out," I dismissed them.

They didn't waste any time as they grabbed their things and ran out of the room.

"Malcolm. Right?" I folded my hands casually.

He hurriedly nodded.

"You've been missing for three years. Want to explain where you suddenly ran off to after what happened?"

Malcolm had been the guard on duty that night. There were CCTV to expose what Belly did, but I found it a little strange that Malcolm had quit his job a day later and seemed to have left the country altogether, because I couldn't find him when I looked for him.

Yes, the footage revealed Belly as the only person to go into the room that night just before the murder happened. But a year later, after continuous digging, I realized the footage had been tampered with and some minutes were missing just before Belly's arrival. That was when I started looking for Malcolm, only to discover he'd been out of the country.

"I—I had my reasons for leaving, Alpha Kage. After what happened, I just didn't want to work there anymore. I didn't do anything wrong, did I?"

"Sure, you didn't. But you might want to explain why some minutes were missing from the footage of that night. I mean, you were the guard on duty."

I didn't miss the fear that crossed his eyes. It was the one thing that gave most liars away.

But of course, he tried to deny it. "I don't know what you're talking about. If the footage was tampered with, it definitely had nothing to do with me."

So, I got to work, doing what I knew best—torture.

His screams rang through the room as I gave him unbearable torture. It wasn't even up to ten minutes before he caved.

"Someone paid me! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. Please don't kill me." He spoke with difficulty now, blood all over his chest and face with one of his eyes swollen shut.

I stepped away from him, my brows drawn. "Who paid you? And what did you have to do?"

He hesitated before whimpering. "Pretend I didn't see him."

He confessed it all. Just before Belly arrived, someone else had gone into that room. It was a room that had three sick old people being taken care of by a nurse. The nurse was someone Belly had issues with. So, we all believed she went in to kill the nurse and killed the old people who would've been witnesses.

Yes, I'd found it a little strange that Belly would do such a thing, but the cameras had captured her going into the room and running out with blood over her.

She had been framed?

Malcolm confessed to not knowing who the killer was. He didn't even know who paid him for the job as he had only communicated with them on phone.

I was so disoriented by the news I couldn't ask him further questions. This whole time, Belly had been innocent?

I sent her to that psych facility for nothing?

Just when I was close to gathering my thoughts, something struck me in the chest. It was sharp, cold, and the most excruciating thing I'd ever felt.

My hand flew to my chest as I held onto the wall for support. For a moment, it felt like I couldn't breathe.

"Kage! Are you alright?" Finn came closer, holding me.

A painful grunt escaped me as the pain got worse. The feeling was similar to death; like a part of me was dying.

Suddenly, it dawned on me. As soon as it did, my whole world crumbled.

It was the mate bond. It was broken.

Belly was dead.