Mated to My Intended's Enemy novel Chapter 213

Chapter 213: Chapter 213 Miss Howlthorne

Freya’s POV

Aurora acknowledged Johnny with cool formality. "Mr. Nakamura."

Johnny nodded back. "Miss Howlthorne."

She accepted the tea brought to her, settling gracefully into a chair someone had hurried to provide—because of course they did. Everything came easily to Aurora Howlthorne. After taking a delicate sip, she spotted the contract on the table. "May I take a look?"

Of course she wants to look. Nothing happens in Silvano’s world without her knowing about it.

"Certainly," Kim replied without hesitation.

I caught the questioning glances around the table and fought to keep my expression neutral. Kim noticed too, explaining with an easy smile that made my stomach clench, "Miss Howlthorne is family to Alpha Moretti. Our Alpha never hides business matters from her."

Family. The word hit me like a physical blow. I dug my nails into my palms beneath the table, using the sharp pain to anchor myself.

The implication was clear—Aurora was an insider, trusted completely. There would be no concerns about confidentiality breaches with her. She belonged here in a way I apparently no longer did.

Johnny nodded approvingly. "That’s reassuring to hear."

I kept my head down, saying nothing, but Selene growled low in my mind, a constant rumble of fury and hurt that I had to suppress.

After Isabella was born, after those terrifying weeks when she was so fragile I barely slept, Silvano had gently but firmly shut me out. "You need to focus on our daughter," he’d said, those silver eyes soft with what I’d thought was concern. "The pack business will only stress you unnecessarily."

No more council meetings. His study became off-limits, the door that had once been open to me now firmly closed. I was relegated to basic diplomatic tasks and research work—busy work to make me feel useful while keeping me safely away from anything important.

Yet here was Aurora, freely accessing Silvano’s confidential business files, with everyone at Umbra Technologies apparently well aware of her privileged status. She sat there like she owned the place, because in every way that mattered, she did.

Don’t break. Not here. Not in front of her.

I forced my lips into what I hoped passed for a professional smile, nodding along as they discussed partnership details that I should have been briefing Silvano on later.

I caught her watching me as I kept my gaze carefully lowered, studying the contract terms with more intensity than necessary. She took another sip of tea, and I glimpsed a small smile playing at her lips through my peripheral vision.

She knows. She knows exactly what this is doing to me, and she’s enjoying it.

Johnny broke the silence during a pause in contract revisions. "Miss Howlthorne, have you considered working at Umbra Technologies?"

Aurora met his gaze directly—something I’d noticed she did with everyone except me. "Silvano has asked me the same thing, but I prefer to make my own way. I don’t want special treatment through backdoor connections, so I declined."

How noble. How perfectly principled. My jaw ached from clenching it so hard.

Before Johnny could respond, Kim eagerly jumped in. "Miss Howlthorne is being too modest. Everyone knows she’s a prodigy in AI development. Even with your connection to Alpha Moretti, no one would think you got in through the back door. In fact, having you join would make our work significantly more efficient. Perhaps you might reconsider?"

"We’ll see," Aurora replied with a slight smile that somehow managed to be both gracious and mysterious.

The casual confidence in her voice made my chest tight. She could walk into a high-level position anytime she wanted, just like she’d walked into my mate’s life and made herself indispensable. Just another example of Silvano’s preferential treatment—I’d stopped counting the instances long ago because it hurt too much. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

I lifted my water glass for a sip, desperate for something to do with my hands that wouldn’t reveal how badly they were shaking. That’s when I noticed a familiar silhouette standing outside the glass door.

"Yes," Kim confirmed.

Director Finn added with the casual tone of someone sharing harmless gossip, "He’s extremely busy handling another project."

Another project. The euphemism made bile rise in my throat. Was he truly buried in work, or was he simply avoiding any further interaction with me? After five years of marriage, I knew the difference between Silvano actually being busy and Silvano hiding from difficult conversations.

With the contracts signed, the atmosphere relaxed into the kind of casual chatter that usually happened at day’s end. Director Finn, who’d known Johnny professionally before this partnership, leaned in and lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Miss Howlthorne is still here too. I heard she’s been with Alpha Moretti in the office all day. Their relationship is... quite special."

I sat right beside Johnny, catching every word with the clarity that came from having my entire world reduced to razor-sharp focus. Each syllable felt like a small knife sliding between my ribs, precise and deliberate. My mate—my mate, bound to me by sacred vows and the Moon Goddess herself—spending entire days with another woman while everyone around them whispered approvingly about their "special relationship."

Special. The word tasted like poison on my tongue.

Kim returned shortly with the signed documents, Silvano’s familiar signature a dark slash across the bottom of each page. Johnny declined their dinner invitation, citing important personal matters to attend to that evening, and I was pathetically grateful that I wouldn’t have to sit through an entire meal pretending everything was fine.

They didn’t press the issue, politely escorting us to the elevator with the kind of professional courtesy that felt like a performance. That’s when we encountered them again.

Silvano and Aurora, waiting for the elevator like any normal couple at the end of a workday.

So much for being "busy with another project," I thought bitterly as Selene’s growl turned vicious in my mind. There he stood, coat on and briefcase in hand, clearly leaving for the day—with Aurora at his side like she’d been there all along.

The elevator doors opened with a soft ding that sounded unnaturally loud in the sudden silence. Silvano stepped aside to let Aurora enter first, his hand hovering at the small of her back in a gesture so familiar it made my chest seize. That was my gesture. That was how he used to guide me, protect me, show the world that I was his.

My mate, who had once promised me eternity in our sacred bonding ceremony under the full moon, who had whispered my name like a prayer as he marked me, now couldn’t even look me in the eyes.