Free Web NovelChapter 214: Chapter 214 Reason?
Sylvia’s POV
Caesar’s deep, steady voice came through the line, a stark contrast to the chaos I felt inside.
"Sylvia, I need you to trust me. I can’t explain everything right now, but I promise you there’s a reason for all of this."
"A reason?" I hissed, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the phone. "You’ve just pulled the financial foundation out from under my family’s company without so much as a warning. What possible reason could justify that?"
"I know how this looks," he said, his voice maddeningly calm. "But I need you to be patient. Just for a little while longer."
Charna howled with indignation inside me, her fury matching my own. "Patient? Caesar, do you have any idea what you’ve done? Those contracts represent millions in revenue. People’s livelihoods depend on them!"
"Sylvia—"
"No," I cut him off, my voice trembling with rage. "Don’t ’Sylvia’ me. You don’t get to drop this bomb on my family and then ask for patience. That’s not how mates treat each other."
A heavy sigh came through the line. "I wish I could tell you more. But right now, I need you to wait. Trust that everything I do is with your best interests at heart."
"My best interests?" I laughed bitterly. "I think you’ve confused my interests with someone else’s. Maybe Helena’s?"
The silence that followed was deafening.
"I’ll fix this," he finally said. "I promise. But I can’t explain more over the phone."
"Then explain it to my face," I challenged.
"Not yet," he replied, and I could hear the strain in his voice. "Please, just wait for me to contact you. Everything will make sense soon."
The call ended before I could respond, leaving me staring at my phone in disbelief. Had he actually hung up on me? My mate—the man who had claimed to love me unconditionally—had just delivered a potentially fatal blow to my family’s business and refused to explain why.
Rage and hurt coursed through me in equal measure as I stabbed the elevator button. I needed to get my things. I couldn’t stay in that penthouse another night, not when the man I thought I knew had turned out to be someone else entirely.
The drive to Caesar’s penthouse was a blur. I barely remembered parking or riding the elevator up to the penthouse floor. My mind was consumed with one thought: get out. Get out before he returned and tried to explain away his betrayal with more pretty words and half-truths.
As the elevator doors opened to the private foyer, I froze. Helena stood there, leaning against the wall with a smug smile that made my blood boil. Her designer outfit and perfectly styled hair made it clear she hadn’t just casually dropped by.
"Well, well," she drawled, crossing her arms over her chest. "If it isn’t the temporary mate. I was wondering when you’d come crawling back."
I stepped past her, heading straight for the door. "I don’t have time for your games, Helena."
She followed me, her heels clicking aggressively against the marble floor. "It’s not a game. It’s reality. And reality is that Caesar finally showed his true colors today, didn’t he?"
I ignored her, swiping my key card to unlock the door. But Helena wasn’t finished. She slid between me and the entrance, her smile venomous.
"You know why he terminated those contracts, don’t you?" she asked, voice dripping with false sympathy. "It’s the first step. Breaking ties with Frostfang, separating himself from your pathetic excuse for a pack."
My hand paused on the doorknob. "Get out of my way."
"It won’t be long now," she continued, clearly enjoying my reaction. "Soon enough, Caesar will announce that I’m his chosen mate—his Luna. The woman who will stand beside the Wolf King and bear his heirs." She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a stage whisper. "Did you really think someone like him would settle for someone like you?"
Charna snarled within me, demanding I put this she-wolf in her place. I felt my canines lengthen slightly, my wolf pushing against the boundaries of my control.
"You’re delusional," I said, my voice deadly quiet. "If Caesar wanted you as his mate, he would have claimed you years ago. Instead, he waited for me." ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com
Helena’s smile faltered slightly. "He was being strategic. Everyone knows royal matches are about alliance, not love. Our packs have been aligned for generations."
"Is that what you tell yourself at night?" I asked, stepping closer until we were nose to nose. "That he’s just waiting for the right moment to profess his undying love for you? Wake up, Helena. Caesar doesn’t want you. He never has. And no amount of scheming or manipulation will change that."
"You bitch—" she hissed.
"No," I cut her off, feeling a cold calm wash over me. "I’m an Alpha. Something you’ll never understand because you’ve spent your entire life riding on your brother’s coattails. You think being born into power makes you powerful? It doesn’t. It just makes you entitled."
Helena’s face contorted with rage. "You’ll regret those words when I’m standing at Caesar’s side as the Wolf Queen."
I laughed then, genuinely amused by her delusion. "The only thing I regret is wasting my breath on you." I pushed past her, shouldering her aside with enough force to make her stumble. "Now if you’ll excuse me, I have better things to do than entertain fairy tales."
Once inside the apartment, I moved quickly, gathering my essentials and stuffing them into a bag. I refused to let the tears threatening at the corners of my eyes fall. Not here. Not where she might see.
When I emerged twenty minutes later with my packed bags, Helena was still in the foyer, talking animatedly on her phone. She ended the call as soon as she saw me.
"Leaving so soon?" she taunted. "Running back to mommy?"
"I’m leaving because I choose to leave," I replied calmly. "Unlike you, I don’t need to cling to someone else’s power to feel valuable."
Her eyes narrowed. "Caesar will see through you eventually. Everyone does."
"Goodbye, Helena," I said firmly, stepping into the waiting elevator. "Enjoy your fantasies while they last."
As the doors closed on her fuming face, I finally allowed myself to exhale. The pain in my chest was almost unbearable—not just from Caesar’s betrayal, but from the realization that everything we’d shared might have been built on lies. Had I been just another strategic move in whatever game he was playing?
Charna whimpered inside me, the wolf in me still unable to believe our mate would hurt us this way. There had to be an explanation. There had to be.
As I drove away from the building, my phone buzzed with a text. Against my better judgment, I glanced at it when I reached a stoplight.
Caesar: I know you’re angry. I know you’re hurt. But please remember your promise. Believe in us. freёwebnoѵel.com
I turned my phone off and tossed it into the passenger seat. Whatever explanation he had, it had better be extraordinary. Because right now, I couldn’t imagine anything that would justify what he’d done.
