"THE RUSSELL FAMILY ESTATE"
In the brightly lit living room, Liam could be seen seated on the couch, his let leg crossed over the other and his eyes glued to his phone. He had a dark look on his face as he scrolled through the news outlet.
"Her words shouldn't be taken to heart, she's mentally unstable." His eyes were glued to the statement.
He was angry that Benjamin of all people could defame his own daughter in such a way.
He wanted to help, to aid Avery in clearing up the rumors of her mental state but then, he was reminded of what had happened the day before.
She rejected him publicly, she called off their engagement and rejected their mate bond. Though he still hasn't accepted her rejection, the pain still haunted him.
The pain of not being able to hold his mate again, to see her again and get to call her his. And then, there's Albert...
His orbs turned into a darker shade of blue when he recalled how Albert, his so called friend, kissed his mate on the knuckle.
The nerve!!
She was his and his alone and he wasn't going to let any other wolf take her away from him, not even his own close friend.
He moved his eyes back to the news outlet on his phone and a wide smile appeared on his face when an idea crossed his mind.
"Maybe this is a good chance." He muttered to himself.
"How's this a good chance? Our mate is being slandered by the public and her own father as someone with mental issues!!" Cain, his wolf asked in fury. He didn't know that his wolf had been listening all through.
Cain was also angry about last night and blames Liam from their mate's estrangement towards them.
"With this, we would get our mate back. There's no way she would be able to handle the issue alone.. then she'll come running to me, and I'll be her knight in shinning armour, the one who'll help clear out the rumor about her."
"Really?" Cain scoffed.
"Yes..." He could feel how doubtful his wolf was to his idea but he wanted to have hope.
"After what happened yesterday, you think she would come running to you like a damsel in distress?" Cain was about to laugh at Liam's wishful thinking.
"Why not?"
"What about Albert? Have you forgotten she has someone else now?"
A grimace appeared on Liam's face when he was reminded of the scene with Albert all over again.
"You're not so chatty anymore. Why?" His wolf mocked but there was still no reply from Liam.
"You caused this, you know. This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't pushed our mate away, into another man's arms."
"And how the hell did I cause that?" Liam asked angrily.
"Who paraded around in the arms of another woman when she was right there?"
"I wanted to teach her a lesson!!"
"Really?" Cain laughed out.
"And who decided to help and care for another woman when she needed your help the most?" Cain asked again but got no reply from Liam.
"She was there, drenched in water while you helped the person who once tried to kill her instead. How did you expect she would react to it? Keep begging for your affection?" Cain scoffed.
"She humiliated me.. that day at her penthouse." Liam whispered.
"That was only because you brought the same woman there!!"
"Can't you see what I see?? The only reason our mate rejected us was because she felt she wasn't wanted anymore, because you keep making her think that way."
"Now, instead of running to her aid, you're waiting for her to call first."
"She will. I know she will call. She can't do without me, I'm the only one that can pull her out of this mess." Liam whispered like he was trying to convince himself.
"Well, since you still can't understand how dire the situation is, I won't try to convince you anymore. Just know that everything that has happened is your fault!!" Then, the connection between Liam and Cain was severed.
Even after the conversation had ended, Cain's words still continued to ring in Liam's head. His wolf had showed him a different angle to how things had happened between him and their mate but he still couldn't believe it.
There was no way he would knowingly hurt her. He just wanted to teach her a lesson for how she chased him out of her penthouse even when he was worried about her.
He took in a shaky breath as he tried to convince himself;
"She'll call.. she'll call. There's no one she has by her side but me. She'll come running back as always." He chanted in his head.
Just then, he heard his phone ringing. His eyes snapped to the screen as a feeling of hope surged through him. The feeling was quick to disappear when he noticed it was Diana, his mother.
"Liam!! What am I seeing on the news??" His mother's angry voice rang out.
"It's nothing mom." Liam tried to assure her but she isn't having any of it.
"How's this nothing? Avery openly rejected you and called off her engagement with you. It isn't like her. What have you done?"
Liam sighed upon hearing the last question; "Why does everyone keep saying I'm the cause?" He asked himself.
"Mom.. don't worry. Avery is just throwing a tantrum." Liam explained.
"A tantrum." Diana scoffed. "This looks like just a tantrum to you?? Your father and I had to cut off our anniversary trip all because of this!"
"Mom.. I'll take care of this."
"You better!! Avery is the only daughter in law I'll ever approve for you but if you can't sustain your relationship with her, there's no need of keeping you as the pack's Alpha. I'll make sure to strip you off your Alpha title!! You know I can do that." Diana warned, her voice holding so much authority that Liam had no choice but to succumb to it.
"I'll take care of it m.." He wasn't able to finish his statement when he heard a beep, indicating the call had ended.
▪︎Avery's POV▪︎
"Her words shouldn't be taken to heart, she's mentally unstable." The words read and worst, it was from Benjamin.
What the hell!!
I knew Benjamin was going to do anything to turn the public to his favour but I never expected he would stoop this low.
He really went as far as to paint me, his own daughter as a crazy person just to protect his image and divide the public's attention!!
I couldn't let this be. I never asked him to make me his heir so why should I have to suffer for what I have no say in? It's high time I make him see that he has no control over me anymore!
I stood up from the bed and was about to go take a bath when a migraine hit me. I held my head as the pain shot through me, making my eyes blurry.
I sat back on the bed and shut my eyes for a while to calm myself. Like that wasn't enough, I suddenly felt cold all over even though the air conditioner wasn't on and I let out hard coughs.
I quickly laid back on the bed and covered myself with the blanket when the cold became worse. I placed my hand on my forehead.
"Fuck!!" I cussed when I felt the heat emanating from it. Don't tell me I caught a cold.
Why now??
I could feel myself getting weaker. I managed to pick up my phone and was about to contact my assistant to help me get some medicine when the doorbell to the penthouse rang.
TBC