Semua Bab The Alpha’s Accidental Surrogate : Bab 151 - Bab 160

{Selena’s POV}“Fired…” The news shattered me.My mind felt like a cushion filled with pins. “How?” I was fired. Fired from Red Loom, the one place where I had finally eclipsed Lisa. Fired because of her, because of that smug little princess who thought walking in with her new money and husband meant she owned the world.The words rang in my head as I stood in the center of the design floor. Whispers swirled around me, staff shifting uneasily as if my very presence burned them now. A week ago, they fawned, laughed at my jokes, begged for my approval. Today their faces were masks, eyes darting away, mouths shut. No one dared side with me in my downfall. Their silence was a slap, one I would not forget.I slammed the door behind me, heels clicking like gunfire down the hallway, fury vibrating through every step. My pride was bruised, but my ambition refused to die. They wanted me out. Fine. But I was not finished. Not by far.“You'll regret this!” I screamed, barely concealing the storm

{Selena’s POV}‘Ughhh.’ I groaned as I woke to the blinding whiteness of hospital walls and the smell of disinfectant so strong it made my head spin.My throat felt extremely dry, and my temples throbbed… but the first thing I noticed was Bryan seated beside me. His jaw was clenched, his tie loosened as though he had had a worse day than I did… either that or he had been pacing for hours.“You’re awake,” he said, his voice carrying more than a little exhaustion. Relief flickered across his face, only to vanish behind frustration. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”But to me it sounded like he said. “Do you know how worried I was?”I was already prepared to unload all my burdens on him… but everything seemed a little hazy for some reason.I blinked, struggling to find my bearings. “What happened?”“You crashed into a tree,” he snapped. “You swerved off the road like an idiot. Knocked yourself out cold. What the hell were you thinking? Were you trying to kill yourself because of m

{Lena’s POV}Today has just been one bad event after the other. The pounding in my skull, coupled with the pit in my stomach, equalled a stunning quality of anger no amount of pacing or drinking could numb.“ARGHHHHG!” I screamed as I toppled over my dresser, just to stub my toe.The day had been long, the meetings I attended unbearable, and every report I had received ended with the same aggravating truth. Lucien had used me. He had smiled, whispered promises, and kept me close only so I could serve as a convenient pawn in his grand game against Ronan… And worse, he had been hiding things.His plots, his alliances, his secrets. They were all crafted without me. As though I were some unstable partner he could only work with when it suited him.My hands curled into fists as I stared out of my apartment window, contemplating whether smashing it would be worth it or not. The city lights twinkled below, ignorant to the rage that coiled within me.‘Why. Why. Why.’ I questioned. I had been

{Lisa's POV}I had no way of putting it into words. That first night with Ronan had felt almost unreal, like something woven out of magic, a moment where every piece of me melted into his touch and I lost myself in the heat of it.What startled me more was that the days that followed, the other times we ended up in each other’s arms, were no less passionate. He still held me with the same fire, kissed me with the same hunger, and made me tremble in ways I did not think were possible. Yet, beneath it all, I sensed something different. The closeness was there, the intensity was there, but his mind was not. It was as though while his body moved with me, his thoughts wandered elsewhere, caught in the chaos that weighed on him.I could not hold it against him. Too much had happened in too little time, and I knew he was fighting to keep us safe, but that distance was still there. It gnawed at me, like a small voice whispering at the back of my mind.So I did what any reasonable person would

{Lisa’s POV}“Mhmmm, good morning.”My first thought was to reach for Ronan… and I found only the empty space where he had been the night before, a cold impression on the pillow.He was gone… “Figures.”Probably back at the study. Or out on the field… maybe already buried under another avalanche of documents and things to do.I let out a tiny, tired laugh. He was doing everything for us, for the family, for the war that kept knocking on our door. I understood that, but understanding did not make the loneliness any less present. Even worse, I knew he felt the same way. So he was in as much pain as I was.I dressed slowly, moving through the room with deliberately slow steps. Both because I was still tired from the night before, and because my baby bump was getting bigger and bigger. Which meant I had to be careful with each step.Despite my understanding, I still needed Ronan… I had promised to not get in the way. Still, a gnawing worry sat at the base of my throat: what could I do to