Cecilia’s pov
My face suddenly felt hot. There was sothing in the way he’d said it—like he wasn’t just talking about an employee, but sothing more personal. More aningful.
"Um... thank you for your concern, Alpha Sebastian" I managed to stamr out.
"I care about all my employees," Alpha Sebastian replied smoothly, his expression perfectly composed.
I noticed Beta Sawyer blinking rapidly behind him with a barely concealed look of disbelief.
The room plunged into an awkward silence that felt almost tangible.
Thankfully, Beta Sawyer broke the tension. "You were incredibly perceptive about the factory situation, Secretary Cecilia. You got about eighty percent of it right. Impressive!"
"What about the twenty percent I missed?" I asked, grateful for the change in subject.
"Those two ghost employees you ntioned? They weren’t ghosts in na only—they were literally deceased. Dunn killed them."
"They’re dead?!" I gasped.
I’d assud they might be relatives or friends of Dunn’s cashing paychecks fraudulently. Not actual murder victims.
"It’s shocking, right?" Beta Sawyer nodded grimly. "We didn’t expect a murder case either."
"That explains why Leonard had leverage over Dunn," I realized aloud. "No wonder Dunn was willing to be his scapegoat and confident he wouldn’t be exposed."
Embezzlent and kidnapping were serious cris, but murder was on another level entirely.
"The victims were a married couple," Beta Sawyer continued, "among the factory’s first employees. They hadn’t been there two weeks before Dunn killed them one night. He claims it was an accident during an argunt."
"After Leonard discovered this, he orchestrated the sche to make it seem like they were still alive, even inventing a workplace injury story. The other factory workers were paid to cooperate, sharing the victims’ salaries among themselves. This gave Leonard complete control over all of them."
My stomach turned as Beta Sawyer continued.
"But Leonard wasn’t satisfied with just that small-ti scam. He used his wife’s brother’s na to establish a new energy company. Dunn helped steal research data and raw materials. The accountant falsified records, the workshop supervisor provided cover... It’s absolutely chilling. What we thought was a small issue turned out to be far more depraved at its core."
The magnitude of the corruption left stunned. I had suspected things weren’t simple, but never imagined this level of depravity.
I glanced at Alpha Sebastian. "Will this require a complete staff overhaul?"
If the factory was this compromised, the corporate side must have accomplices too. Such an elaborate sche couldn’t have operated undetected under Amara’s supervision otherwise.
"Indeed, a complete overhaul is necessary," Alpha Sebastian nodded. "That branch has always underperford, so I’d been planning to restructure anyway. This situation just provides legitimate grounds for doing so. It’s not necessarily a bad outco."
His pragmatic response made feel like so kind of corporate bloodhound, sniffing out traitors for the Alpha’s judgnt.
The door swung open, and Xavier stalked in. His expression, already dark, turned thunderous when he saw Alpha Sebastian.
"Alpha Sebastian," he growled, "what exactly is your intention, visiting another man’s wife every day?"
I inhaled sharply. "Alpha Xavier, are you ntally ill?!"
Alpha Sebastian remained perfectly composed. "I’m checking on my employee’s recovery. After all, she was injured while working for ."
Both statents were technically true, but sothing about his tone seed... provocative.
Xavier’s forehead veins bulged visibly. "Listen carefully," he snarled. "SHE IS MY MATE. Mine in life, mine in death. Anyone who tries to take her from will face my wrath."
Alpha Sebastian rely offered a slight smile in response. He didn’t say a word, yet his expression sohow communicated that Xavier had told so kind of amusing joke.
Xavier seed to read the aning behind that smile, his hostility intensifying.
Beta Sawyer broke into a nervous sweat. "Alpha Xavier, you’re misunderstanding. We’re simply here to check on her recovery, nothing more. And our Alpha Sebastian is a gentleman, not so playboy. I can guarantee he has absolutely no designs on Secretary Cecilia."
Alpha Sebastian shot Beta Sawyer a cool, unreadable glance.
I felt embarrassed beyond belief. I didn’t care to explain anything to Xavier, but I couldn’t let Alpha Sebastian suffer these baseless accusations.
"Alpha Xavier, stop being delusional," I snapped. "The Alpha Sebastian has zero interest in . He doesn’t even like won!"
My words effectively silenced the entire room.
After an excruciating pause, Alpha Sebastian fixed with a look that sohow managed to convey both appreciation and speechless indignation. "Secretary Cecilia, thank you for your... promotional efforts on my behalf. I should reward you properly for that."
With that, he stood and walked out.
Belatedly realizing my mistake, I called after him, "I didn’t an you like n, I ant—"
The door slamd shut.
I closed my mouth, mortified.
Xavier narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Alpha Sebastian is a gay? He doesn’t look it."
The vein in my temple throbbed painfully. "Alpha Xavier, we are OVER. Even if you’re holding up the divorce certificate, we’re finished! Stop calling your wife, your woman! I’m not anyone’s possession—I belong to myself!"
"Unless I’m dead, what’s between us will never end," Xavier growled, his tone hardening into sothing fierce and unyielding. His words seed to carve themselves into my bones, making one thing clear: while I was determined to leave him, he was equally determined not to let go.
Xavier’s pov
I arrived at the hospital early, only to see Beta Sawyer pushing paperwork in his hands, a nervous look on his face.
My chest tightened instantly. He was here to take Cecilia away. To put her on Sebastian’s damn plane.
The thought of her flying under another man’s care made my blood boil.
"Why should she take his plane? We have our own," I snapped before I could stop myself. My voice ca out low, edged with possession I could barely contain.
But Cecilia didn’t even glance at . She simply motioned for Sawyer to bring the wheelchair closer.
Sothing inside snapped—I grabbed the chair before he could touch it.
Her glare hit like a blade. "Are you looking for an argunt or a fight? My wound hasn’t even healed. Do you want to tear it open again? Would that make you happy?"
Her words punched the air from my lungs. I’d never—never—wish pain on her. My hand faltered, my chest tightening with guilt.
"That’s not what I ant," I ground out, forcing my tone softer. "Taking our private jet works just as well. No need to trouble anyone else."
"There is no our," she cut back, her voice as cold as steel. "You’re the outsider here."
The words sliced deeper than any knife. I felt them carve straight into my chest, leaving a hollow, bleeding ache.
But I couldn’t push her further. If I forced her, if she ripped her wound again, I’d never forgive myself.
So I swallowed the fire, said nothing more, and pushed the chair myself, silent like a penitent man escorting his own sentence.
By the ti we reached the airport, my head was pounding. My plan had been to delay, to find a place where it was just us, where I could make her see we weren’t finished. But instead, she was slipping further and further away.
And then I saw him--Sebastian.
He was waiting in the VIP lounge, relaxed as ever, one leg crossed over the other like he owned the world.
When his gaze lifted to Cecilia, sothing in his expression shifted—subtle, softened, the kind of look that made my stomach twist with fury.
And then he smiled. That slight, knowing smile that felt less like courtesy and more like a direct challenge to .
My blood surged hot, veins hamring in my temples. "Alpha Sebastian," I growled, my voice low and lethal, "you ca all this way just to visit another man’s wife every day?"
The room went taut with silence. But Sebastian only arched a brow, calm as ever, his composure a mockery of my rage.
"Tell , Alpha Xavier," he replied smoothly, "did you co all this way just to beg for a seat on my plane?"
His words were like a blade slid between my ribs—clean, rciless.
I clenched my jaw so hard it hurt, my pride screaming at to lash out, my heart screaming not to lose her.
So I forced the only reply that didn’t sound like surrender, even though it tasted like ash.
"Indeed,"I said coldly. "And if you’re feeling stingy, I’ll happily pay for the seat."
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