Chapter 7
**Mallory
I hurried back into the stall, forgetting I no longer had the same appearance and buried my face in my palms listening as the footsteps drew closer.
“Willow, I’m surprised Alpha Felix came with you. I remember he was getting married to an omega. What’s going on?” The voice of one of the girls filtered into my car as I stood quietly in the stall not daring to make a sound and looked at them through a small gap in the door.
I heard Willow snicker before she turned to reply
“Oh, that weak bitch. She tried stealing my man away claiming she was his mate. Felix has always loved me so he rejected her and came back to me.
I clutched my chest, aware of the pain that spread through it gradually and felt a tear roll from my eyes.
I had hoped she was at least remorseful about what she had done, but it looked like I was still naive.
“But I thought you were friends with her? I recall seeing you with her at some events. You looked close to each other.” The second lady questioned.
“I–I was. But that was because I had to be close to her because of Felix. I couldn’t let him forget me. And it all paid off as we came back together. She replied, avoiding their stare and applying powder to her cheeks.
“She died some days back from an illness. Imagine her, weak to the end.” she continued, eliciting gasps from the girls. Fake sympathy.
A slight gasp escaped my lips, and I clamped my hand on my mouth immediately, hoping they hadn’t heard.
It’s no wonder nobody raised any eyebrows concerning my death. Everybody hated me and couldn’t be bothered with the death of a weak orphaned omega.
“Enough about her. I have amazing news” Willow’s voice cut into my thoughts. I turned my attention back to hear what she
was about to announce.
“I’m the new owner of Aurora Estate.” She announced as the girls squealed excitedly around her, and a sad smile played around my lips.
“Really? How? I heard it belonged to a family who refused to sell it to anyone.” One of the girls inquired excitedly.
“It did but I convinced the current owner to sell it to me. A very naive brat. A little attention here and there and she handed it over.” Willow replied smugly, enjoying the attention she was given.
I stared at her, my eyes blank as I resigned to fate. I had been stupid not to notice anything. To think that had a friend who loved me.
“Let’s go girls. The conference is about to start.” She turned and faced the stall I was in making my eyes catch the necklace around her neck before walking out of the bathroom with the girls in tow.
I felt the air knocked out of me as I recognised the necklace around her neck as my late mom’s.
It was a family heirloom, but Willow had convinced me not to wear it, saying it was old and out of fashion.
“How could I have been so stupid?”
I clutched my head, feeling a panic attack coming, and walked out of the stall. I splashed water on my lace to calm myself
17:26 Fri, Jan 3 W
Chapter 7
down but it only seemed to fan the flames.
“She stole everything. They stole everything. My life, my family’s estate, my heirloom, my trust.”
My head spun, and I saw double as I walked unsteadily out of the bathroom and almost slipped when I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me..
“I’m here. It’s okay.” Ivan’s calm voice reached my ears. I felt the pounding in my head reduce to a low hum, and my heartbeat returned to normal.
“I was worried when you didn’t come back on time. I thought you were hurt.” He continued, patting my hair reassuringly.
1 buried my face in his chest to hide the stream of tears pouring from my eyes and gripped his shirt tighter.
I hated this. I hated that they could still get to me. I was still weak, and I didn’t want to be anymore, but how could I be strong when their presence was enough to rattle me?
“Ivan?”
“Yes.” He answered, pulling back to stare at me and wiping the streaks of tears on my face away.
“You really can’t cry like this if you want to take revenge.”
“How can I be stronger? I don’t want to be weak and naive anymore.”
He gave a slight chuckle, eyeing me like prey as a dark glint crossed his eyes.
-You’ll get stronger soon. The pain is still fresh and seeing how exposed you’ve been to their true nature, I guarantee you won’t break down like this next time.
Bonus tip, detach from it all.”
I stared at him in confusion.
“Detach?”
“Yes. When you detach from something, it comes to you. If you detach from your revenge, the universe sets up more ways for you to take revenge.”
I nodded, not understanding what he meant but accepting it either way. My mind went back to my necklace, and I felt anger boil in me, recalling how Willow wore it like it belonged to her.
I have to get it back-
“You should clean up. The conference is starting in a few minutes” He said, cutting into my thoughts.
I hurried to the bathroom and saw my mascara had run along my cheeks. I wiped it off. Thankfully, Ivan wore a black shirt, as it would have left a messy stain on his shirt.
I finished up and met him still waiting for me outside the doors was touched by the gesture and slipped my arms into his and walked towards the hall.
Ou reaching the hall, a loud trumpet was blown signalling the arrival of the royal family.
I turned towards the staircase and watched as the royal family descended, each step taken with pride and nobility.
They were ushered into their seats and the occe began
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