Fake Mate Beta Rises to Alpha Heiress (Natalie and Landon) novel Chapter 289

Chapter 289 Everything Was Wrong

Anna’s POV:

Finished

We fought, almost coming to blows in the car. Finally, James shoved me away in frustration and got out. He took a few deep breaths of the cool outside air.

“Enough! We’re setting the Natalie issue aside for now.” His tone was slightly softer when he slid back into the driver’s seat. “There’s a top-tier business summit tomorrow afternoon. The attendees are all key players-the heads of werewolf conglomerates and human corporate giants in Maritime City. Our bank is one of the partners. I can pull some strings to get you, your brother, and anyone your father can mobilize in through the back door. Securing investors and making connections-that’s what matters right now.”

He paused before adding, “I heard the young heiress who inherited Alexander’s estate from Moon-Shadowed Pack will also be there.”

His words made my anger recede a little.

Making trouble for Natalie would only give me momentary satisfaction. Only if our Thorn Pack rose to power again could that bitch truly understand her place!

“Fine,” I said, forcing my fury down as I agreed.

But before preparing for the summit, there was still one person I couldn’t let off the hook- Aaliyah. Landon was badly hurt, so where the hell was his so-called “bonded mate”?

The moment I got home, I started calling Aaliyah. Call after call went unanswered-a relentless barrage.

Finally, she picked up. Aaliyah’s voice was cold, laced with annoyance. “Anna, this had better be important.”

I sneered, “I do have business with you. But even if I didn’t, you’re still Landon’s mate. You answer when I call, and you’d better mind your tone.” Hearing her irritation made me feel a bit better.

It was noisy on her end. She sounded busy and impatient. “Just say what you need to say.”

“Landon got beaten up at a bar last night. He’s alone with no one to look after him. Where are you? Get back and take care of your husband!” I ordered.

“Landon was beaten… What happened?” Her voice held a note of tension.

“You’re his wife, and you’re asking me? I was the one who picked him up from the hospital last night! Where the hell were you?” My anger flared again.

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Chapter 289 Everything Was Wrong

:

A 229

Finished

“I’m out of town. It’s not convenient. If you’re available, you look after him.” Her dismissive reply was infuriating. Then she simply hung up!

I called back immediately, but the call was rejected.

That wretched woman! I threw my phone onto the couch. Of course, neither of them was any good! Natalie was openly vicious, but Aaliyah was sly and poisonous. They both deserved to rot in hell!

Landon’s POV:

Pain hurt all over.

The stitched cut on the back of my head throbbed, and the hairline fracture in my leg ached with a deep, dull pain. But these physical pains were nothing compared to the feeling that my heart had been utterly crushed.

Anna and James had brought me back to this cold, empty villa. Traces of Natalie’s life here once remained, but now only dust and memories were left, haunting the place like ghosts.

I lay on the sofa, unable and unwilling to move. I saw Anna’s worry and James’ impatience, but I had no energy to respond. I just wanted to be alone, swallowed by the darkness.

They finally left. The world fell quiet.

Yet the silence only made the storm in my mind rage louder.

Two scenes played on a relentless loop.

First was Natalie’s icy, final stare at the bar, and her words, “I have a bonded mate now. Of course, I stopped loving you a long time ago.” Each syllable was poisoned, stabbing deep into my heart.

Second was what my old classmate said-how Aaliyah had meticulously asked about me all those years ago, especially about my search for the savior from the snow-capped mountains.

That man said, “She was intensely interested in that part of your past and asked about every detail. She wanted to know all the characteristics of the person who saved you, asking over and

over.”

If what he said was true, then only one possibility remained.

Aaliyah was not the person I had been looking for.

If Aaliyah had known from the very beginning who I was searching for…

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Chapter 289 Everything Was Wrong

If the red mole behind her ear was added later, or faked somehow…

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Finished

If all her “coincidences” and moments of “connection” were just parts of a carefully crafted script…

Then what had this past decade been?

What was the foundation for all my determination, guilt, responsibility, and the complicated feelings that grew from that “debt of a life saved” I felt toward Aaliyah?

A lie?

And what did all the hurt I inflicted on Natalie amount to? For the sake of a false “savior” and “destined bond,” I had personally pushed away, deceived, and wounded the person I might have truly loved?

No, not “might have”. I was certain now. I loved Natalie. It wasn’t habit or possessiveness. It was the agony of losing her-a pain that felt like being flayed, like having half my soul torn away-

that made me realize it. But it came far too late.

I laughed again, the sound echoing strangely and sadly in the empty living room. Tears I couldn’t control streamed down, salty and bitter.

It was wrong. Everything was wrong.

From the moment I believed Aaliyah was my savior, I made my first mistake. And every step after that led me further into the abyss.

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