Free Web NovelChapter 244: Chapter 244 Blind Date Disasters
Christina’s POV
"Movie?" Ysolde said the moment I answered. "No excuses. You’re coming. We hit the mall first, then dinner after. There’s a new sushi place on Fifth. Supposed to be decent."
"Sure," I replied, grateful for the distraction from my swirling thoughts about Hudson’s possible old flame. "I’ve got nothing going on. Want to grab lunch first?"
She let out a long, irritated breath. "Can’t. I’ve got a blind date at noon."
"A what?" I nearly stumbled over my own feet. "You’re going on a blind date? Did you and Cade break up?"
"No. But I’m not mating with him. My parents don’t even know he exists. If they did, they’d lose their minds."
Thinking back to my own first impression of Cade, I could sort of understand where her parents were coming from.
"I couldn’t get out of it," she continued. "They’ve been pushing for weeks. I said yes just to shut them up. I’ll smile, nod, and be out before dessert."
Something clicked in my brain. "Wait. Your blind date wouldn’t happen to be a guy named Declan, would it?"
"Might be?" she said lazily. "Didn’t catch the name. I was just told to dress nice and show up on time."
"Wow," I muttered, shaking my head. "Highrise really is tiny. Declan’s Hudson’s younger brother." Half-brother, technically, and definitely part of Gwendolyn’s matchmaking schemes.
"Wait, what? Huh. That explains why my mom kept going on about him being from ’a prestigious pack.’ She made it sound like he pisses liquid gold. Is he... normal?"
"He’s alright. Bit of a thrill-seeker. Hudson says he’s obsessed with motorbikes lately."
Ysolde snorted. "Perfect. If he’s just here to tick the box too, we’re golden. I’ll eat fast and get out. Meet you at the mall after?"
"Yep."
I left the house at one, got to our meeting spot on time, and waited.
Ten minutes passed.
Then twenty.
I called her twice through our mind-link, but she didn’t respond. I tried her phone after that.
No answer.
The film was about to start when I finally saw her. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
She was dragging her feet across the pavement, shoulders slumped like she’d aged ten years since breakfast.
I marched over. "You look like you got mauled by a rogue. What happened?"
She flopped down onto the bench beside me and let out a long sigh. "I should’ve stayed home. Lunch with Declan turned into a bloody disaster."
"Spill." I sat down next to her, bracing for the drama.
"We were getting along fine. He’s laid-back, didn’t ask anything weird, mostly joked about how forced the whole thing was. Then Cassian showed up."
"Seriously?" I’d have thought he’d backed off after seeing how close Ysolde was with Cade on the Elmridge trip.
"He was sitting two tables away. He overheard my name, wandered over uninvited, then started mouthing off at Declan."
"What’d he say?"
"That Declan’s useless, doesn’t have a job, lives off Hudson’s leftovers, has no direction in life, and isn’t good enough for me. He said it all right to his face. Loudly."
"Holy shit." I could picture the scene —Cassian standing there, puffing up his chest.
"I told him, ’He might be reckless, but at least he’s not cheating on his girlfriend.’"
"That’s a solid burn." I could just imagine Cassian’s face turning beet red.
"Guess who walked in just then? Cade."
"Oh crap."
"He saw us, lost it. He thought I’d gone there to meet Cassian. He was two seconds away from tearing his throat out. I had to physically shove them apart."
"What did you tell him?"
"Didn’t get the chance. He was shouting in front of everyone. Accused me of stringing him along. Said I never really wanted anything serious. Then he stormed off. Didn’t even look back."
She exhaled through her nose, eyes fixed on the floor. "I should’ve stayed home and eaten bloody instant noodles."
I sighed, wanting to offer comfort but unsure what to say. I wasn’t even sure Ysolde knew what she wanted.
"Are you gonna break up with Cade?" I asked her.
Like me, she was an Alpha’s daughter, so arranged marriages were normal for us. If Cassian won her back now, her parents would definitely be thrilled. After all, Cassian was exactly the type of powerful Alpha that parents loved. But her brother adored her and would surely help her fight against it. Cade was young and impulsive, just a small-time actor. Dating him was fine, but marriage? Emmett would definitely object to that.
She didn’t answer right away.
Her shoulders sagged slightly, like she’d been carrying too many bags for too long.
"I don’t know. Ever since the Elmridge incident, Cade’s been obsessing over me and Cassian. I’ve explained it a hundred times, but he just won’t believe me. He doesn’t trust me. What happened today was the last straw for him."
Ysolde sighed again, this time louder. "I’m such a mess right now. I have no idea what I’m doing. I look at you and Hudson, and everything seems so easy. You two are perfect together, without all this drama."
I didn’t respond.
Because she was only seeing the polished surface.
Hudson and I weren’t simple at all. Far from it.
That woman, the one who came before me, still lingered in his past like a stain I couldn’t scrub out. freēwēbηovel.c૦m
Akira asked me, "Why are we believing rumors instead of Hudson? I think he’s loyal to us."
I said, "Akira, I don’t want to get my heart broken again. What if his first love comes back? What if he’s like Niall, using me as a substitute until Beatrice returned?"
Akira went quiet for a moment, so I continued. "Hudson and I have a good relationship now, but we’re still in the trial phase. He’s been caring toward me, but he’s also a cold, decisive Alpha, which is why we have that contract. He hasn’t said the contract is void, hasn’t talked about officially mating with me, and hasn’t marked me. Doesn’t that show he’s holding back too?"
After listening, Akira sighed. "I understand your concerns, Chrissy. We were badly hurt by Niall’s betrayal. I’m slowly healing, and I can sense that Hudson is different."
I didn’t need feelings. I needed answers.
Tonight, if only I could have some alone time with him.
But over the next few days, he threw himself completely into work, barely sleeping.
Every night, I went to bed alone.
Every morning, I woke up to an empty house.
We spent less than ten seconds awake in the same room together.
