To ruin an Omega novel Chapter 283

Chapter 283: Mirrorball

MADELINE

I walked back down the corridor. My footsteps echoed against the walls and each one felt heavier than the last. The weight of what I’d just done pressed down on my chest until it was hard to breathe.

I’d turned him away. I’d looked Cian in the eyes and told him no.

The hurt on his face burned itself into my memory. The way his voice had cracked when he’d said he didn’t know me anymore. The desperate plea for help that I’d refused.

But what choice did I have? The moment I touched that delicate, she would see everything. Every secret. Every lie. Every choice I’d made to protect the people I loved. She would see Aldric’s hold over me. She would see the things I’d done for him. The information I’d passed along. The ways I’d betrayed Cian without him ever knowing.

And then Cian would know too.

He would look at me with more than just suspicion. He would look at me with hatred. With disgust. With the kind of loathing that came from being betrayed by someone you’d once trusted completely.

I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t watch that happen.

So instead I’d chosen to let him think I was selfish. Petty. So hurt by his words that I’d let an innocent person suffer rather than help him.

Better that than the truth.

My throat tightened and I blinked hard against the burning in my eyes. Not here. I couldn’t break down here in the middle of the hallway where anyone could see.

I turned the corner and nearly walked straight into Aldric.

He stood there in the corridor like he’d been waiting for me. His hands were in his pockets and that familiar expression of mild amusement played across his features. Like he’d just witnessed something entertaining.

"That was fun to watch," he said.

The cruel monster had been listening in on us.

His voice carried that casual tone that made my skin crawl. Like we were discussing a play we’d both attended instead of my relationship crumbling to pieces.

My hands curled into fists at my sides.

"A blinded delicate," Aldric continued. He tilted his head slightly and something gleamed in his eyes. "That is certainly interesting."

The disgust rose in my throat like bile. Hot, acidic and all the more impossible to swallow down.

"Fuck you, Aldric."

The words came out low and vicious. I didn’t care anymore about maintaining the pretense. About being careful. About playing his games.

Aldric’s eyebrows rose. He looked almost surprised by the venom in my voice.

"Fuck me?" He spread his hands in an innocent gesture. "What did I do?"

I stared at him. At the false confusion on his face. At the way he stood there like he hadn’t orchestrated this entire situation.

"You could have said yes to him," Aldric said. His voice stayed light and conversational. "But you did not. That is not on me."

I turned away. I couldn’t look at him anymore. I couldn’t stand the sight of his face or the sound of his voice or the casual cruelty that dripped from every word.

But I only made it a few steps before I stopped.

Something inside me snapped. Some fragile thread of control that I’d been holding onto finally broke.

I turned back to face him.

"Do you enjoy it?" I asked.

My voice came out quieter than I expected. Almost wondering.

"Do you enjoy making me suffer?"

Aldric’s expression shifted. The amusement faded and something else took its place. Something that might have looked like sincerity on anyone else’s face.

"Of course not," he said.

He took a step toward me and his hands remained in his pockets. He wanted to look relaxed and as unthreatening as he could manage.

"I want us all to win. I get the Alpha seat and you get Cian."

The laugh that escaped me sounded hollow. Empty of anything resembling humor.

"I don’t think that will ever be possible," I said.

The truth of it settled in my chest like a stone. Heavy, as it was cold and undeniable.

"I don’t even think I want that anymore."

Aldric watched me. His eyes tracked every micro-expression that crossed my face.

"The only reason I am even fucking stuck here..." I closed the distance between us until I stood close enough to whisper. Close enough that my words wouldn’t carry down the hallway. "Is because of my family."

"I know," Aldric said. His voice matched my low tone. "I know you well."

He paused and his gaze held mine.

"But you’re here to wreck Fia and get back Cian as well. Do not forget that."

I wanted to laugh again. Or scream. Or maybe both at the same time.

"Look at what I just had to do," I said. "It’s never happening."

Aldric smiled then. Not the cruel twist of lips I’d come to expect. Something closer to genuine amusement.

"A wise woman..." He paused and his smile widened. "Well, I wouldn’t call her wise. She should have known better than to have an heir and two spares with no girls in the mix. But she did tell me something once."

He leaned in slightly and his voice dropped even lower.

"There is nothing a baby can fix."

My stomach turned.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify