Ex-Mate Wants Me Back (Seraphina and Mortimer) novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74

Chapter 74

+15 Bonus

Third Person’s POV

“I’m ghosting you because I want to. It has zero to do with Seraphina.”

Mortimer looked down at her, his eyes like two shards of ice. “Stop dragging her into this like a rabid dog.”

Vivian stared back at him, her bottom leaf turning a bloodless white. She dug her nails into her palms until it hurt.

“Also,” Mortimer added, his voice flat, “there’s a reason I let you in here.”

Vivian sniffled, her eyes rimmed with red. “What is it, Morty?”

“You trashed the garden on my terrace. You’re going to find Luna Seraphina and you’re going to give her a real apology. Sincerely.”

“An apology? Why the hell would I-“Vivian’s voice hit a sharp, jagged peak before the absolute frost in Mortimer’s gaze cut her off. Her fire died instantly. “Morty… I didn’t mean it. I swear.”

She dropped her head, the tears falling right on cue. She looked perfectly, pathetically innocent.

Under the table, she started leaking a steady, sweet stream of manipulative pheromones-a chemical mist designed to soften his brain and trigger his “protector” reflex. She wanted him to see a victim, not a vandal.

“I saw you covered in blood, and I just lost it. My condition… I ouldn’t control the shift. I went manic…”

“You’ve been ‘sick’ for a long time, haven’t you?” Mortimer’s voice was a blunt instrument, smashing through her performance.

Vivian’s sobbing stopped dead. She looked up, her tear-stained eyes wide and confused. She gave a small, shaky nod. “Yeah… for years now.”

“Time for a new healer,” Mortimer said. It wasn’t a suggestion.

“What? No!” Vivian shrieked. She went into a total tailspin.

“After all these years, your illness hasn’t improved, and lately it’s gotten worse. It seems your healer isn’t very effective. I’ll find

you an expert.”

“No!” Vivian screamed.

Mortimer just watched her, his expression a dead calm.

“Morty, no. Dr. Freeman has been with me since the start. He knows my history. If you swap him out now, I’ll spiral. I can’t handle a stranger.”

She dropped the volume, her voice turning into a desperate plea. She cranked up the pheromones, trying to wrap her chemical lies around his logic like spider silk.

“You’ve seen his work! It’s working! I only had a setback because I was triggered recently. If people would just stop pushing me, I wouldn’t have these episodes.”

She was laying it on thick, making sure he knew exactly who she was blaming for her “setback”: Seraphina.

Mortimer watched the little chemical show she was putting on. “So, let me get this straight. You’re saying Seraphina triggered you?”

Vivian didn’t answer. She just bit her lip and looked at the floor, letting the silence confirm the lie.

“Because she let a crowd call you a home-wrecker?” Mortimer pressed. His voice was steady, impossible to read.

Vivian’s eyes welled up again.

10

Chapter 14

+15 Bonus

She looked like a woman pushed to the edge by a cruel wife, too terrified to speak the truth.

Mortimer felt a wave of absolute stillness wash over him.

But deep in his mind, Barton was snarling.

As an Alpha wolf, Barton’s nose was a lie detector, and Vivian’s pheromones smelled like rot. The wolf was disgusted by the deception.

“And that’s why you stood in a public lobby and told her to tear up our mating?”

The question hit like a lightning bolt. The room temperature dropped to freezing.

Vivian went into a full panic. Her face turned a ghostly, chalky white. “Morty, no! I never did that! She’s lying to you!”

She was scrambling now, her eyes darting around the room for an exit. “I swear, Morty, I would never. In the elevator, she was the one asking about our trip to see the lights in Switzerland. I just told her nothing happened! I told her you were only there because I was sick and needed a friend. She just went crazy! She walked out and started calling me a home-wrecker, telling everyone I was trying to seduce you…”

She was sobbing for real now, but Mortimer just watched her with a cold, alien curiosity.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify