Chapter 2
In an instant, rage broke through my restraint.
Erica didn't just steal Leon. She also took away everything my team had worked for six months.
We'd spent endless nights working on that plan.
I stormed toward the VIP entrance, but two bodyguards stepped in front of me and blocked me.
"Move," I shouted. I shoved at their rock-hard chests with all my strength, but they didn't move an inch.
One of the low-ranking werewolves even deliberately released his scent.
My stomach turned over. I leaned against the wall and gagged.
Suddenly, the entrance swung open.
Leon had come back, holding a fresh glass of red wine.
He looked me over, taking in my sorry state.
"Where's the untouchable Vivian I used to know? You look terrible right now," he said.
I wiped the saliva from the corner of my mouth.
"Leon, are you seriously condoning Erica's theft of our trade secrets?
"Aren't you afraid I'll call the police on you?" I asked.
He burst out laughing. "Call the police on me?
"Go ask the Greyford Police Department if anyone would dare take my case.
"Besides, she's taking back what was hers.
"If you hadn't gotten in the way back then, she'd be standing here instead of you."
I was shaking all over. "You were being chased and collapsed in the snow. I was the one who carried your home.
"I used the Sinclair family's resources to help you reclaim your werewolf birthright."
His expression turned cold in an instant. He strode up to me and grabbed my throat.
"Shut up. That was the biggest humiliation of my life.
"Every time you bring it up, you remind me how pathetic I used to be.
"Erica would never do that. She always looks up to me and relies on me.
"But you always look at me like I'm beneath you, like you're doing me a favor," he snarled.
My vision started to blur and darken from lack of oxygen. I clawed at his fingers, trying to pry them off. But against a top Alpha, a human's strength meant nothing.
Erica peeked out from behind him. "Leon, don't strangle her. We need her alive to sign the transfer papers tomorrow."
He scoffed coldly. He abruptly released his grip, and I hit the floor hard.
I clutched my throat, coughing hard.
He squatted down beside me and slowly poured the red wine over my head. It ran down my hair and dripped onto my red dress.
"Vivian, this is what happens when you don't listen.
"I'm turning the temperature down to 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Stay here and clear your head.
"Tomorrow morning, I'll have my lawyer bring the transfer papers.
"Your brand will be handed over to Erica as compensation," he said coldly.
He stood up, turned, and walked away, leaving me behind without a shred of mercy.
The hall doors slowly closed behind him.
The vents of the central air conditioning roared overhead, and a bone-chilling wind swept through the entire hall.
I curled up on the freezing marble floor.
My red dress, soaked in wine, clung tightly to my body, draining away what little warmth I had left.
The lights in the hall went out one by one. Only a dim emergency light was left.
I wrapped my arms around myself, my teeth chattering uncontrollably.
The cold wind wormed its way into my bones. My hands and feet were completely numb.
The temperature kept dropping.
I tried to get up to find something warm, but as soon as I moved, a sharp pain shot through my knee.
The old injury flared up again.
All I could do was drag myself over to the corner sofa in the hall.
Just then, a broadcast suddenly echoed through the hall.
Leon's voice filled the room, coming from all sides. "Vivian, are you cold?
"I'm watching you crawl on the cameras. You look utterly pathetic."
I gritted my teeth, refusing to let a single plea escape.
"All you have to do is grovel in front of the camera.
"Say it out loud that you were wrong to compete with Erica.
"I'll have the heat turned back on," he added.
Erica's voice came through the speakers, dripping with a mock sweetness.
"Leon, she's too proud to grovel. Let's watch like it's a silent movie," she teased.
I snatched a pillow from the sofa and threw it with all my strength at the camera in the corner.
The pillow fell softly to the ground. It didn't even come close to the high-mounted surveillance camera.
His mocking laughter echoed through the hall.
"Save your energy. You look pathetic right now. Even Victor would be disgusted.
"Do you really think changing your brand ambassador to him will make him come save you?
"He's dealing with the dock riots right now. You're the last thing on his mind," Leon scoffed.
My heart sank. The dock riots were definitely Leon's doing. He had set it up to keep Victor busy. He wanted me completely isolated, so I would have no choice but to surrender.
I shut my eyes tight and forced myself to steady my breathing.
I couldn't die here. I still had one last trump card.