Curse and conditions

~Hannah~

“Lastly, before I sign this, one more thing. Apologize to her,” Mario says to Liam. 

Liam gives a mock laugh. “What?”

Today is the final meeting for the paperwork of the deal before the actual construction work will begin and Liam was allowed to be present. Nathan is waiting in the hotel lobby. 

“Listen to me, Mr Mario. I'm grateful to work with your company but hey, listen, this is family business and you should know when to not cross the line,” Liam grits. 

“Then, I'm afraid we have no deal.” Mario shrugs. It's as if he's intentionally torturing Liam which a part of me is enjoying. But I also know how bad it can be. Liam is overly possessive, jealous and with a big pride. 

“Em, Mister Mario, aren't you going a bit too far?” Cathylene steps forward. 

Mario glances around feigning confusion. “Am I?” he laughs. “Chairlady Durk. We all have our conditions in business. You are a business woman and you know this.”

“I do, but this is getting more personal and I'm afraid your father, chairman Bradley may not approve of this.”

“I'm the one in charge of this deal and not my father.” Mario’s expression tightens.

“Do it, Liam,” Cathylene commands with a resigned look. 

Typical Cathylene Durk. She'd rather have her son crawl than lose this deal to Blackwood. 

“Mom…” Liam protests but halts on Cathylene silent deadly glare. 

He turns to me, jaw clenching. “I'm sorry.” 

Mario scoffs and shakes his head. “Well, this is it. I guess we will see at the construction site. Uhm, I would like a word with Hannah, privately.”

“Me?” I blurt, my throat drying up instantly at the unwanted attention. 

“Why would you want a private time with my wife?” 

“Let's go, Liam. Go ahead, Mr Mario.” Cathylene drags Liam away with him. I can hear Liam grunt furiously. 

“What is it, Mr Mario?” I ask, a bit cautious. 

He grins. “Why's your face pale? I don't bite, Hannah. And I really have nothing to say to you. Actually, I wanted to make your husband jealous.” 

“What?” I lift my face and he winks. I blink in utmost bewilderment. 

“You are a beautiful woman, Hannah, and yeah if I'm being honest, I was attracted to you the first time we met and I was a bit upset to learn you are married. And to a douchebag at that.”

“Uhm–” I'm confused, shocked and surprised at once. 

“It's okay. You don't have to say anything and I promise I won't be a bother. It was great meeting you.” He smiles. His smile is beautiful and I'm just noticing. I hardly pay attention to men's details because I'm always on edge that Liam will find out if I observe too much. I don't know how he learns of my every move even when he's not with me because I doubt our mate bond is that strong to reveal such things to him. I know he takes the scent blockers too and can't smell my movements from my scent. 

“Erm, one last thing,” he stops me as I try to leave. And in a heartbeat, he pulls me into a hug. 

When he pulls away, he has a smirk on his face. I turn and I see Liam’s face is red with fury. 

“Bye, Hannah Blanco!”

“I will take Hannah home,” Liam tells Cathylene and Nathan. He makes me enter his car and drives off. But he speeds past the path to the hour. 

“Where are you taking me to?”

“Not one word from you!”

After a while he pulls the car to a stop in front of a secluded road. 

“Are you crushing on him?” he slams, facing me. 

“What?”

“Don't ask me what? Are you fucking crushing on Mario Bradley? Is he Olivia's father?” 

Bitter bile rises in my throat. “Is this why you brought me here?”

“Listen to me, Hannah. I've had enough of your flirty habits. Now we'll do things my way. In case you have forgotten about your family curse, then I'll remind you.”

Tears finally stream down my face. My family curse—one of the reasons I'm still with Liam. It isn't just because of our werewolf blood. This is strong in my family. Other werewolves can still live well even if their mates don't accept their rejection but this is not the case for my family. My mate must accept my rejection for me to live well. Otherwise I will be in extreme pain, Nina will wriggle in pain and we both will eventually die. Liam knows this. I feel like I'll choke as I struggle to breathe. Nina is whimpering. Just the thought of it sucks life out of us. 

“You know you can't reject me unless I accept your rejection. I love you too much to lose you, you know that right?” He smiles smugly. 

This lunatic throws the word love around carelessly yet he knows nothing about the basics of love. Why does the sight of him repurge me so much right now?

“You cheated on me and I gladly decided to let it go but I won't watch you act like a slut anymore.”

I swallow painfully. “I only spoke with him. What exactly did I do wrong…”

“What did you do wrong?” He scoffs with irritation. “Standing there talking to him! Flirting with him! Smiling at him! Should I list more?”

“Olivia will remain my daughter and you will remain my wife. You must follow my rules now. You will not dare speak to any man. Don't even keep them as friends. I forbid it! I will bring a personal maid for you and you will do everything I tell you to. You only need to go to school and return home. Understand?” He leans forward and caresses my face. “Why don't you see how much I love you? Why? Must you make me be this way…eh?”

How I arrive home is a blur to me. I can feel my body but I feel like they are moving on their own. 

“Ma’am, you okay?” Clara jolts me. 

“You are zoned out. What are you thinking?”

I realize I'm in the yard. In the gazebo is Olivia. Nathan is bent beside her and they are painting. For a moment, my body forgets my pain and my heart lurches. 

“Mum, Let's play a game with Uncle Nathan!” Olivia squeals, sighting me. She runs to me. 

“Let's play Mummy and Daddy game!”

I freeze. 

“Wow. How's that played, Olivia?” Nathan asks. 

“You will be Daddy and mummy will be mummy.”

The way she holds his hand… The way the word ‘Daddy’ flows out of her mouth naturally. The way Nathan stares at Olivia has definitely changed too. 

My heart stops, a sudden realization hitting me. 

I gasp. Is Nathan aware of Olivia being his daughter?

“Boss! Ma'am! You should see this!” Clara yells. “It's all over the media! Boss Liam was caught drunk driving!”

A clip comes on iPad. Liam is driving maniacally on the road running the light. He stops after some meters, staggers out of the car and starts to yell at a stranger. Next news shows his rating for the Alpha elections dropping to the red zone.