***ADRIAN'S POV***
My anger knew no bounds the moment I saw Lance at the table.
Worse was the smirk on his face as he stared at me.
I hated him. With every fibre of my being. He was my father's secret golden boy.
The one he always told me I should have been born as.
My eyes darted toward my disfigured index finger, and the anger boiled again as I recalled that Lance was partly the reason I'd been given it from the start.
If only my uncle had never found this boy during one of his business travels, perhaps my life might not have turned out so bad.
If it were possible, my father would have pleaded with the moon goddess to send Lance to him as a son, instead of me—the failure he was always ashamed of.
"Speaking of Lance, he's finally home. I thought you'd follow your bride to her home and not the other way round. It wouldn't be the first time you're doing something unfit for an Alpha in training," Marius said under his breath, then went back to eating his food, despite knowing what he had done with his words.
I swallowed. I didn't have the time to engage with any of them. I had rushed home from the after-party venue for important business, not this nonsense they were discussing.
Ignoring his words and them all, I took two steps, meaning to go upstairs to my room.
"How long will it take you to secure the partnership with Power Corporations, Adrian? My department has been waiting for that for months now. We haven't heard from either you or theirs," Lance turned to me and continued.
If eyes could kill, then my piercing and venomous gaze at Lance in that moment would have made him drop dead.
But I controlled myself. Focus on the task ahead, I muttered to myself, reminding myself.
I darted my gaze at my father and immediately regretted it. His anger was palpable on his face, and I knew that if we had been together and alone, he would have done something irreversible to me.
"You'll hear from my office soon," I managed to reply before heading back upstairs.
Lance opened his mouth to say something else but wasn't able to get the words out before the old man interrupted him.
"Leave Adrian now. I'm sure the stress of getting married is still much on him. Once he's back from his honeymoon, he will answer with results."
Lance only closed his mouth after hearing him say this, although he clearly didn't want it to end that quickly.
It didn't make sense to me either that he would want to make me be the scapegoat when I had more up my sleeves that would get me off trouble with Marius that morning. But he said nothing and even withdrew his gaze from me as I walked away.
Darius,my father resumed eating, though he was seething with rage where he sat, and I couldn't tell whether it was at me or at Lance.
Marius ate too, but slower this time, compared to when he had raised the issue of my inefficiency and used it to jab at me.
I heaved a long sigh of relief when I heard my grandfather speak. He had just saved me from what I knew would have wasted my time if he hadn't.
Immediately, and without second thoughts, I walked to my room.
I walked briskly, as fast as my legs would take me. I didn't run as couldn't afford to give them more reasons to mutter sneers about me acting unlike an Alpha heir in training.
Once in my room, I went straight to the drawer behind the door, input the password to the lock, and immediately brought out a vial from which I took two pills.
I threw both into my mouth and then walked over to the table beside my bed to pick up the bottled water.
I hadn't picked it up when suddenly, I heard my door creaking open behind me.
Panicking and tense, the drug sachet slipped from my hand.
In my rush to reach my room and take the pills, I had forgotten to lock the door.
Worse—it was Lance who barged in.
He didn't knock before entering. He never did, as if he and I shared the room.
When he walked in, I could tell by his expression he had perceived something. A scent. Though dulled by my signature cologne—also an air freshener in the room—he had still caught the faint smell. And with the look on his face, I'm sure he might have picked that up somewhere else too.
I was startled to see him, almost as if I hadn't expected him to follow me so suddenly.
The vial slipped from my hand and he leaned over to pick it up.
SUP… the name read, but I grabbed it immediately before he could finish reading it.
His shirt tore at the back from the strain of leaning, revealing his skin, as I hid the vial behind me, glaring at him like a thief who had stolen a priceless jewel.
"What are you doing here?!" I roared at him, my voice almost like thunder, nothing like the soft, flurry tone I was known for.
"Chill, Adrian. I just came to ask you a question regarding the collaboration with both—"
"Didn't I already give you an answer downstairs? Get out!" I cut him off, snapping.
He was taken aback. He had never seen me like this before. Never. Even when I was angry, I always masked it with my calm expressions.
"Are you sick? I didn't know that your father getting you married to a girl would make you fall sick. If you want, I could—"
"I said get out!" I snarled again before he could finish.
He raised his hands in surrender, saying nothing else. He wasn't going to taunt me further. He had never seen me in such a mood and never imagined that an arranged marriage to a girl would make me fall sick so suddenly.
He stood there, studying my face again, and I could tell he had caught the scent lingering faintly in the air.
But it couldn't be mine. I was a beta—or at least, that was what I had made people believe. Betas weren't supposed to have scents after them. Much less an omega scent.
Still, he said nothing, just turned away and began to walk out, his steps heavy with the heartbreak he'd carried from the previous night.
I sighed deeply as I watched him leaving. My secret was still safe. Lance would be the last person I'd want to discover it.
As he reached the door, I stepped forward to close it behind him, making sure he truly left.
But just before he exited, I saw a tear on the back of his black shirt revealing a tattoo.
A black tattoo.
I didn't know if Lance had one or not, nor did I care. But now I had to because the part revealed was exactly like the black snake tattoo I had seen on the back of the man I had slept with a night ago.
No, that was impossible. That was impossible.