Free Web NovelChapter 87: Chapter 87
Aria’s POV
I pressed a hand to my forehead, trying to piece together the haze before I blacked out. I remembered the waiter bumping me... the sudden dizziness... then the heat rushing through my veins like fire. My wolf had whimpered inside me, claws scraping for control.
"You helped me?" I asked quietly, tightening my hold around Lana. I didn’t know how to face Nathan, especially with the faint remnants of that humiliating heat still clinging to my skin.
"Yeah."
He stood up, his tall frame casting a shadow over me, blotting out the overhead light.
I didn’t know whether to thank him or run from him.
"Thank you," I forced out, my voice rough. I stared at the bedsheet instead of his face. Even the gratitude felt awkward on my tongue.
He snorted. "Don’t force it if you don’t mean it."
My jaw tightened. Of course. That was Nathan, being his usual cold and dismissive self.
"If there’s nothing else, please leave, Alpha Nathan."
I lifted my chin. Even disoriented, even exhausted, I refused to cower. My messy hair fell around my face like a shield.
Nathan let out a sharp little laugh. "That’s your gratitude? Use me and toss me aside?"
"Use you?" My brow creased. What was he even talking about?
He dragged a chair forward and sat down, his posture infuriatingly confident. He lounged there like he owned the room, like he owned the air I was breathing.
"You were drugged," he said, resting an arm on the back of the chair. His eyes studied me calmly and intently. "Pretty heavily."
My stomach dropped.
Drugged...
My wolf snarled at the word, offended and alarmed.
"Drugged... with an aphrodisiac?" I whispered. The world swayed. I whipped my head toward him. "Then how did you—"
But the words died on my tongue.
Nathan lazily adjusted his half-unbuttoned collar and my heart almost stopped.
Mortification crashed into me so hard I nearly retched. My face burned hotter than the drug ever had. My wolf shrank back, horrified.
But then he spoke—
"I had the Hemsworth family doctor handle it," he said coolly.
Relief hit me so hard my shoulders sagged. I exhaled shakily.
Nathan’s eyes narrowed at my reaction, a dangerous spark appearing there.
Why?
Why was he upset I was relieved?
"Aria." His voice dropped. "Do I need to remind you we’re still legally married? Even if I had..."
His gaze slid over me, sharp enough to cut.
"It would’ve been within my rights."
My wolf bristled.
Rights? Over me?
I lifted my chin, anger slicing through the remnants of humiliation. "And do I need to remind you the divorce papers have been ready for ages? They just need your signature."
For a moment, he simply stared.
Like he didn’t recognize me.
Good.
I wasn’t the same woman he had married. And I sure wasn’t going to let him walk all over me.
Nathan looked away, rubbing his temple. "Aria, keep playing these games, and even I will get tired."
"This isn’t a game," I said with a cold laugh. "The divorce papers will be on your desk soon. Then we’ll see who’s playing whom."
I held my head high, the old scar on my cheek stinging faintly, a reminder of everything I’d survived. I wasn’t fragile. I wasn’t meek.
Nathan’s eyes darkened, a storm building there. He lifted a hand sharply. "Don’t even think about it."
That tone...
That command...made my wolf growl under my skin, resisting him.
He leaned forward to say something but then froze. His lashes trembled.
A thought must have crossed his mind because he relaxed and let out a long exhale. "Come back to Hemsworth Villa with me."
I blinked.
What?
No...No... that wasn’t the plan. I’d been pushing him, baiting him, doing anything to get him to sign the papers.
Why was he switching the game now?
"Go back for what?" I asked, clutching Lana tighter. My voice cracked with bitterness I couldn’t hide. "To face your staff’s cold stares? Or to wait for you every night like a fool?"
My smile twisted, bitter and self-mocking.
Nathan rubbed his temple again. "If the staff bothers you, tell me. I’ll handle it."
Then his voice softened, unsettlingly so.
"And as for waiting up for me... I’ll make time."
For a second, my gaze met his.
There was sincerity in his tone. It startled me so much I quickly looked away.
My thoughts scattered like leaves in a storm.
Why now?
What changed?
"Nathan," I said finally, my voice steady. "Ever heard the saying?"
His brows drew together. "What?"
I met his eyes, my wolf standing tall inside me.
"Love that comes too late is worthless."
I lifted my chin, letting the defiance settle over me like armor.
"I don’t know if you’re trying to lure me back so you can torment me again," I said, voice sharp as a claw swipe. "Or use me as some twisted prop for you and Sophia. Or maybe this is just a sudden pang of conscience."
I tightened my hold on Lana, my pup, stepping back as if distance alone could shield us from him.
"But let me make one thing clear..."
I pointed to the door, my wolf snarling through my voice.
"I don’t want you. And you need to get out. Now."
The air between us crackled, icy and tense.
He didn’t move, of course he didn’t.
Nathan stood there like a mountain planted in my path, rubbing his temple with a weary sigh as if I was the unreasonable one.
Then he spoke... his voice carried a patience I’d never heard from him.
"Do you really think this drugging was an accident?" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
His words slammed into me like a blow.
My wolf froze.
My breath caught and my pulse stuttered.
No...
He was right.
A drug like that wasn’t something anyone could slip into a drink casually. And why would a random waiter target me?
Unless the target wasn’t random at all.
I lifted my gaze to his, letting my suspicion cut into him.
Nathan’s lips twitched into a wry grimace. "I’m not that desperate."
I hated that he said it so casually and hated that it made sense.
I pressed harder anyway. "Then why are you here, Nathan? Why do you keep showing up?"
