Backstabbed

Aria’s POV

“Aria!”

My name echoed in the mansion, startling me. I jolted out of bed, clutched my robe, slid my foot in my pink fluffy bunny slippers, and ran out of the room.

“Aria!”

“Who is making that stupid noise!” 

Lana yelled, storming out of her room. 

“This is 6 am for crying out loud. Can't someone have peace in this house?” 

She hissed loudly and slammed her door shut.

“What did you do now, Aria? Go take care of things so I will have a peaceful sleep.”

What a lazy girl. She went to bed early the previous day and wasn't done sleeping. Lana should go get a job.

“Aria?”

Finally, the person who was calling me came up the stairs. It was Kael, and he was fuming in rage. 

“What did I say about that organization?”

Oh, that? He was screaming my name all around because of that? 

“Didn't I warn you not to think about it anymore?”

“What is it, Kael?”

Damien stepped out of his room, rubbing his eyes. 

“It is Aria, she went ahead to register the organization she was talking about yesterday.” 

A gasp broke out from Damien and Lana.

“She did what?”

“Why would you do that, Aria? That is so wrong of you.”

Lana sighed worriedly. That lunatic! She knew nothing other than adding fuel to the burning flame. How is that even her concern? 

“This is siblings’ concern, Lana. Can you just get out of here?” 

“I am a family member too, Aria, I ain't going anywhere. Didn't I tell you the reason why they are against it yesterday? Why did you go ahead to create it?”

“That is none of your business!”

I snapped at her, but Kael stepped in.

“It is her business because she knew what we went through when mum was battling that sickness!”

Kael’s tone shot into my chest like a bullet. He looked so terrifying and I'd wanted to run away from there before he would lunge towards me. 

“I thought we were done talking about it yesterday, Aria. You shouldn’t be doing this.” 

Damien sighed. 

“I command you to cancel that registration and forget about creating that organization.”

Kael ordered, but deep down in my mind, I knew that was impossible. I wouldn't cancel it, I had already put my mind to it and I wouldn't change it. 

“Sorry, but I can't.” 

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” 

I lifted my head, staring at Kael with full confidence. Fearing him wouldn't solve the issue. 

“I am your eldest brother and I am giving you the order!”

“I am the Alpha leader of the pack, Kael, and I can do whatever I want without any interruption!”

“Aria!”

Damien snapped angrily.

“What has gotten into you?”

“What you guys fail to understand! That woman was my mum too! I feel so bad that she died that way, and I must do anything to save the lives of anyone suffering from what killed her. Do you think you are the only ones who love her? She birthed me, but I didn't have the privilege to be raised by her. Can't you leave me alone to do something for her sake?”

Tears wanted to gather in my eyes to embarrass me and make me look like a weakling, but I fought them back. 

“I don't need your help in doing what I want, and I no longer need your support!”

I stormed inside my room, slammed the door shut, and turned the key, locking it.

I wondered how in the world Kael found out about the registration. I warned the lady not to breathe a word about it to anyone. I also warned Alice of the same thing. 

If it wasn't the lady who told on me, then it would be Alice.

“I swear, Alpha Aria, it wasn't me, my lady.”

Alice swore when I summoned her to my office as soon as I got to the company. That was so confusing. Alice said it wasn't her, and the lady also said it wasn't her. Who could have done it if not one of them?

“Why don't you ask Nina? She was here with us yesterday.”

Nina wasn't in the office when the lady arrived. She only knew I was going to meet with the lady and I am certain that Nina wouldn't tell on me. She knew I was doing that without my brother’s approval. 

“I heard her speaking on the phone when she left your office yesterday.” 

“And you think she was informing my brothers about it?” 

“It looks that way, my lady.”

The audacity! She had already forgotten that I warned her the previous day to stay out of anything concerning Nina.

“What did I tell you about Nina yesterday?”

“That she is your best friend and I should…”

She paused when the reality hit her. 

“I am so sorry, my lady,”

She covered her mouth with trembling hands. 

“Get out of my office, but before that, get this into your head.”

I got up, walking towards her. 

“I will make a thorough investigation about this and if I find out that you were behind it, you will regret it.”

Alice bowed her head slightly and hurried off. 

I was so upset not because Karl spoke to me that way, but because I was ditched after giving the warning. From that moment, I vowed not to let anyone know my next plan. 

I wasn't going to drop that plan, I would do it, but in my own way without involving anyone. When everything is ready, then I will make it public. 

“I went to the mansion, Aria, but the situation there wasn't peaceful.”

Nina sighed deeply, placing her bag on the sofa. 

“Kael was yelling at the servants, and I nearly got hit by Lana.”

“What took you there?”

“My car, of course and to see if you were ready for work.”

She shook her head, then took a seat by the window. 

“I needed to run out of the mansion as fast as I could because my heart wanted to explode from the fight. Girl, you should have seen your brother, he looked like he could turn the world upside down. What went wrong?”

“Me.”

“What! You mean you provoked him?”

“Kael found out I was registering the organization.”

“What! Who told him?”

She nearly fell off the stool.

“Alice and that lady were the ones in the office yesterday after you left and I warned them not to let anyone know about it.” 

“I also haven't posted it yet, and I didn't discuss it with anyone. But do you think Alice would have tell on you? She doesn't look like she could do that.”

“How sure are you?”

“Alice is your personal assistant. She has always been so careful not to provoke you. And she knows the consequences of ditching you, she wouldn't have done that.”

There she was, defending someone who was trying to sabotage her. 

“I don't know who the lady was, but I am not sure it was them.”

“If it wasn't them, then it was you, right?”

“Ahh common, Aria, you know I can never do that. Moreover, I am scared of your eldest brother, Kael. I can't even stand in front of him without causing my legs to wobble. Someone must have hinted to him about it. Oh wait a second,”

She got up, hastening towards me. 

“Could it be Lana?”

Lana? Of course, it must be her. Why didn't I even think about that?

“Perhaps there is someone in this company whom she is paying to spy on you. Maybe the spy saw the lady come into this company and since they know what her job is, they confirmed Lana and since she knows you want to create an organization, she informed Kael.”

Wow! 

But one thing wasn't clear. Lana’s reaction that morning didn't show that she was behind it. Could she have hired someone else to tell Kael?

“There is no doubt about it, Aria, Lana is behind this.” 

There was only one way to find out, and that was to confront Lana about it. I know her, she wouldn't deny it if she were behind it. 

“Can you escort me to Lana’s place?” 

“Yes,”

Nina and I went to the spot where I knew Lana would be, the club. That jobless lunatic has only one place to go in the pack, and that is the clubhouse. 

She never cared if it was morning or afternoon, she was always at the clubhouse.

The hallway was littered with chairs turned upside down, and the air reeked of alcohol and sweat. Lana sat on the fine leather sofa in the middle of the room, vapour gushing out of her mouth and nostrils. 

Her left hand rested on a dude whose attention was all in his phone. Because of the smell in there, Nina wanted us to turn around and leave, but I couldn't because the dude sitting beside Lana had just lifted up his head and he was Alpha Gregory. 

The perfect timing!