Chapter 3

Violet

"Really, Violet. How long are you going to play all dumb and naïve?" Nate asked, voice laced with venom.

Nicole shook her head and whispered.

"This is your office, Nate. Do you want the employees to gossip and talk badly about you? You have clients waiting outside. Relax, please."

So she was the one who brought new clients? For whom Nate cleared his entire schedule for today?

"Please, just accept your mistake and beg for his forgiveness, Violet. It is not that hard." She insisted, and Nate leaned back on the chair as if she were the one in charge.

"Forgiveness for what?" I shouted, hating the way she was pacifying him over something I didn't even understand yet, and he was letting her.

She turned the laptop screen around and said, "You really shouldn't have done that, Violet."

I stared at the screen in horror to see a dating profile on an app with my details and some very suggestive photos. The kind I’d never taken.

I looked from the screen to Nate. "That is not me, nor did I create the profile."                                       

"Yeah, and you didn't have those chats either, right? Are you so desperate for attention that you were willing to sell yourself?"

He slammed his hand on the desk as he clicked open the messages containing some very explicit chats.

Nicole, meanwhile, shook her head.

"I get it. You wanted his attention, but this is really not the way to do it, Violet. We were somehow able to take down the profile and chats, but what if word got out that Nate's soon to be wife was being so desperate..."

She trailed off, and I saw Nate's knuckles turn white.

"You are being too kind to her, Nicole. If not for you, I would have thrown her out already. She makes me sick."

Nate looked at me with pure hatred, and I was taken aback by shock.

"Nate, you have known me since childhood. I would never do something like this."

I pleaded, but he raised his hand as if he had already reached a decision.

"Shut up!" Nate snarled, and again Nicole stopped him from getting up. As if she were trying to keep him from exploding.

“Is this what you wanted all along, Nicole? You barely showed up two days ago and are not only trying to drive a wedge in our relationship but also snatch my job from me. If you had any shame, you would not go after committed men.”

I was furious.

But she blinked in surprise and looked at Nate, eyes growing moist.

“I told you I don't want to be blamed for anything…” She began, but Nate held her wrist.

“You aren’t taking any blame, Nicole. Stay”

"I believe this qualifies as a lost chance. Last one remaining," Rain reminded me softly, but my mind was too focused on the way he held Nicole's hand to give her any reply.

"That profile is fake, Nate. Believe me! Anybody can use Photoshop to frame me." I looked at him, teary-eyed, but my pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears.

"Pictures might lie, but videos don't, right?"

I furrowed my brows in confusion as a video footage began playing of the restaurant we were in the day before. I watched the scene replay once again as the rogues barged in and Nate rushed to save Nicole.

“I don't understand,” I said, staring at them for an explanation.

“There,” Nate quickly rewound the clip and zoomed in on a particular section involving me.

“Watch yourself”

 It started with me looking at my reflection as I had done earlier.

But the zoomed in effect looked like I was admiring myself smugly. And it showed me sitting diagonally opposite in the line of sight of the stranger who had saved me.

It showed the brief smile on my face while watching the waitress get flustered.

To me, it had been nothing but curiosity. But when seen like this from a specific angle…it looked like longing.

Then the next seconds zoomed in on just the two of us- the brief period where our eyes had met

“I had caught you red handed right then, didn’t I, Violet? Even called you a sweet girl. Little did I know what games were you playing right in front of my eyes!” Nate asked.

“I…I still don’t understand what you are trying to prove here. I am barely looking at him” I said and he slammed his hand on the table angrily, making me step back due to the shocking reaction.

“How dare you pretend to be all naive and innocent, Violet? This footage was played all over the news channels repeatedly since the attack. And do you know what is common in all of them?”

“You leaving me to die alone while you run off with Nicole?” I shot back, but he roared at me.

“It shows you ogling at that man like you wanted to slip into his bed right away. And then smiling at him, slipping into his arms under the guise of attack. Maybe you even kissed him. No wonder you had taken such an effort to look good and dress up.”

I almost laughed bitterly.

“I had dressed up for you, Nate. I don't even know who he is.”

“Had this been your plan all along? To string me along and sleep with the next rich geezer you found. He is not even our age for fuck’s sake!” He slammed the laptop shut as I whispered.

“You didn’t even look back at me as you ran away with Nicole!”

“Don’t you dare try to tarnish her name when you are the one who is rotten and filthy!”

I tried reaching for his hand, but he vehemently shook me away.

“Let me see you wriggle out of that,” Nate fumed and forwarded the video to the moment the stranger ran towards me.

I watched as the man grabbed me by the arms.

I looked up at him, still in a daze as the man briefly checked me for injuries, touching my face fleetingly.

"Look how you let him pull you close for a passionate hug, how your eyes soften when he throws a few sweet words at you. That's how horny you are!"

"I was frozen with shock, not hugging him," I explained, but the angle changed again.

His back was now facing the camera, head tilted a little and leaning onto me while his hand was cupping my face.

“Relax Nate. You are safe and nice, maybe she wanted a taste of danger." Nicole muttered.

What the fuck?

"You are an alpha yourself but instead of fighting the rogues you hid behind the pillars like a fucking coward while he fought them all singlehandedly and saved me.” I screamed, unable to hold myself back and those words did more damage than anything Nicole had said.

Nate was furious.

“Look how eager you are to defend that bastard. Speaking ill of your boyfriend to support the man you didn’t even know until yesterday. Or maybe you have slept with him already…”

“How can you even say such things?” My voice cracked, raw and hurt.

“Maybe she felt suffocated in this relationship with you Nate since you were always busy with work.” Nicole wasted no time adding fuel to the flames.

“We all make poor choices, Violet. I will ensure that Nate forgives you for your mistake. You only have to beg hard enough.”

I tried not to let the anger flowing in my veins make me do something rash.

That would only provide her with further ammunition.

So I curled my fingers into tight fists and felt something warm ooze out of my palms.

The pain helped me focus.

“Is that what you wanted to see? Congratulations for breaking my home and heart” I said and she looked uncomfortable for a fleeting second.

But Nate was quick to rush to her defense.

“I want you gone from my life, and I don’t want to see your face again. You don't deserve a second chance.”

“You are the one who lost all your chances,” I said to Nate, who had no idea what I meant by the last few words. I didn't care to elaborate.

But Rain had lost her cool by now.

"He was not even worth this last chance, but just let me out and I will rip his throat to pieces." Rain was furious, but I sighed resignedly.

"I am sorry for not listening to you earlier, but please let me do this my way." She noticed the raw hurt in my voice and thankfully retreated.

Then I straightened my back and stated,

“Since you have already made up your mind that I am the culprit, I don't want to waste my breath on explaining anything to you, Nate.”

How could I have loved him all these years, run behind him like a devoted puppy when he could abandon me based on the words and a few carefully taken shots that could alter the perspective of what actually happened back at the restaurant?

“You want me gone from your life, right? Consider it done.” I stated firmly.

“What? Are you really going to walk away without any apology?” It was Nicole who asked, sounding surprised that I wasn’t pleading anymore.

“Watch me,” I said and turned around without a backward glance.