Chapter 5

CORALINA’S POV

When I wake up, sunlight is already spilling across the floor, peeking through the lace cutouts in the white curtains. 

I blink, opening my eyes slowly. For a moment, I don’t remember where I am.

Then the scent of cedar and cold rain settles around me, and I remember that I'm at the Nightshade manor.

I sit up slowly and stretch. Surprisingly enough, my body feels well rested for the first time in weeks, free of the constant aches and pains haunting me. 

But as comfortable as the mattress is, I can't spend the day lazing around. 

I have work to finish. My laptop is still at the Silver Azure headquarters, and inside it are five years of proprietary algorithms, negotiation logs, and personal project files. 

If I’m filing for arbitration, I need everything.

I dress simply and leave without fuss.

By the time I reach the corporate headquarters, the sun is high and biting. The moment I step into the lobby, the whispers follow me like a shadow. Everyone, from the receptionists to the interns and the middle managers are glancing at me, then looking away, their eyes full of a pity that makes my skin crawl.

“Poor thing, does she even know she's fired!”

“Who knows! Maybe she's hear to beg for a job.”

I catch the murmurs inside the lift. Without bothering to clarify, I walk straight to the executive floor and push open the door to my office. 

I stop in the doorway, finding that my chair is already occupied. 

Brielle has her feet up on the mahogany desk, swirling a pen between her fingers and loking at the monitors with a bored expression. When she sees me, a slow smirk spreads across her face.

“Oh, Coralina! Your audacity never fails to surprise me, honestly…” 

She says sweetly. “Weren’t you fired after you basically sabotaged the merger? How do you still have the face to show up here–?”

“I’m here for my things, Brielle. Stand up.”

I say commandingly, without letting my anger show. 

But she leans back, interlacing her fingers behind her head. 

“Hmm, things? What things? Everything here is mine now, for your kind information. Alpha Maximus thinks the group needs a leader who actually cares about the pack’s future, not someone who throws tantrums in front of partners.”

Before I can say anything, she points to a dark corner near the supply closet. 

“Technically, I should have asked you to join as the janitor, as that would suit your talents more. But since I'm so generous, let me do a favour on you. Since you're so desperate for a job, you can use that workstation over there."

A small, wobbly workstation has been shoved there, piled high junk: broken staplers, old tax forms, and a stack of dusty folders.

I smile to myself. I really don't care about this office anymore; she and that mahogany desk can both burn in hell together for all I care. 

“Where is my computer, Brielle?” 

I ask flatly, not willing to engage with her any further.

Brielle’s eyes flash, as if she has been waiting for this moment since ages. She glances toward the large metal trash can in the corner. 

“Your laptop? Oh, that broken piece of junk? You still want that? Okay, well…who am I to judge! If you’re really that desperate, feel free to pick it up.”

I look over, feeling my heart sinking slowly in my chest. 

My laptop, containing five years of my intellectual property, is sitting at the bottom. It has been doused in cold coffee, covered in soggy food scraps and half-eaten salad. My notebooks and other personal belongings have all been thrown in like common filth, torn and soaked in brown liquid.

I look back at her, my face darkening.

“How dare you…!”

Brielle stands up. She moves weakly, clutching her chest as if the effort is too much. But the moment she gets close to me, her facial features twist with hatred and anger.

“That's what you get for coming back, you pathetic slut.”

She hisses, her voice low so the assistants outside can't hear. "How many times does Maximus have to say it, so it gets through your thick skull? He doesn't want you, he never did. Why are you always clinging to him so shamelessly, don't you have any self respect?”

I’m almost amused by her delusion. "Clinging? If anyone is clinging to a married man, it's you–”

“Married! He was married to you only in name. I'm the one who has ruled his heart forever. In case you still have some doubts, do you have any idea how many nights he didn't go home at all, because he was in bed with me?”

She stalks closer to me, smiling smugly. 

“If it weren’t for that child you were carrying, he would have divorced you months ago. But now it’s fine, isn’t it? An Omega really can’t handle an Alpha’s heir, that’s how it should be!”

Her eyes are getting wide and manic, “Your child is gone… even the Moon Goddess knows that you don't deserve him. Maximus is finally free now!”

The mention of my baby… my son, whom Maximus himself killed, is like a spark hitting a trail of gasoline. My blood turns to ice, and all professional instinct leaves my body as I raise my hand to shut her up for good. 

Before I can react, she grabs my hand. With a strength a supposed terminal patient is never supposed to have, she slams my own palm onto her face.

The sound of the slap echoes in the quiet office. Brielle throws herself backward, hitting the floor with a thud as she screams at the top of her lungs.

“Coralina!”

Maximus’s voice thunders from the doorway. He rushes in, his face a mask of panicked rage as drops to his knees, carefully helping Brielle up, cradling her as if she’s made of glass.

And then, he stands up and shoves me away.

He doesn't hold back. His strength is that of an Alpha in a blind fury, and I stumble back, my waist slamming into the sharp, solid edge of the mahogany desk.

A hot spike of pain shoots through my spine, and I black out for a moment. 

Cold sweat pours down my face instantly, and I have to grab the edge of the desk to keep from collapsing. I can feel the stitches in my abdomen pulling, the dull ache reminding me of the surgery I just had.

Maximus doesn't even look back to see if I’m standing, he's too busy stroking Brielle’s hair, cuddling her like a little kitten. 

“Hurry up and apologize to Brielle,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “I actually thought you came here today because you had come back to your senses. I thought you were here to say you were sorry for the ring, for the hotel... for everything.”

Brielle leans into his chest, her eyes watering. She looks up at him with a pitiful, trembling lip. 

“Don’t blame her, Max. I’m not in pain. It’s normal for her to be angry. It’s all my fault... I'm the one who ruined your relationship by being too weak, and needing you too much. I don’t have a good, strong body like Coralina does. It doesn’t matter if she hits me a few times. As long as you two are fine, I can take it.”

Maximus turns his gaze on me, as if I'm just a lowlife haunting his precious darling. 

“Look at her, Coralina. She’s halfway to her death sentence, and she’s still more of a Luna than you’ll ever be. You’re a monster!”

I breathe through the pain in my back, pushing myself upright. I look at the two of them, realising that they aren't just cruel, they are downright disgusting.

An embarrassment to our kind, who are surviving on the mercy of the Moon Goddess. 

“Really, Brielle? It doesn’t matter if I hit you a few times?” 

Ignoring everything else, I repeat her words back to her.

I let go of the desk. The pain in my back is a dull roar now, but I ignore it. I straighten my shoulders and walk toward them. Maximus moves to block me, but I step around him before he can react.

I raise my hand, and mustering every bit of strength I have left in my body, I swing it towards Brielle’s other cheek.

Crack! 

The impact of my palm is clear, snapping her head to the side. This time, the tears that spring up in her eyes aren't fake, like earlier. 

“Is that enough?” I ask, staring directly into her wide, shocked eyes. “If not, I can do it a few more times. I would hate for you to be a liar, Brielle. If you’re going to  tell him I hit you, I should at least make it worth the effort.”