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“You have no idea of the life I saved your from.” Vienne shakes her head. “People from the ultra rich to the poor will look at you, judging you every day on what you wear, the bags under your eyes, the style of your hair. They will judge what you say, where you came from, what you believe in. They will slander you in magazines and come out with the most outrageous stories that will destroy your relationship with them.”
“That shouldn’t have been your decision to make,” I say numbly.
“A mother knows best. A mother who was born and raised in this world knows best. You won’t survive in this world, Onyx Davies. You’re too nice.”
I make a sound of pain. She laughs.
“Not to mention the question of who started that fire that killed your parents.”
I stiffen.
“Silver says you left the stove on.”
I shake my head, the same note of denial that I’ve had for five years. I didn’t cook anything that night. I'm sure of it. Mama was in bed. I got home and went to sleep and then woke up to the smoke alarms going off and the fire engulfing the house. Silver and Dad were dragged out ahead of me, but I went back for mama. It didn’t help. That’s the source of my guilt. I couldn’t get her out. I failed her.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I’m totally wrong for them. My presence would probably screw them over completely.
“So, you know everything?” I ask softly.
“Well, even if your sister wasn’t so forthcoming, and she was, she sang like a little bird. My background checks are incredibly thorough.”
“Well, congratulations, Omega Hastings, you’ve won.”
She snorts and stubs out the butt of her cigarette.
“Yes. I do that. I'm surprised to see you still here, though. Have you no pride? Why did you insist on staying?”
“I needed some time to think things through,” I say truthfully.
“Oh?”
“It occurs to me that if I can be thrown aside so easily, then the feelings weren’t genuine. Manipulation or otherwise, I needed to know that they really believed all this.”
“And?”
I laugh bitterly. “Oh, they’ve swallowed your bait, hook, line and sinker.”
We watch them in silence for a few minutes before I clear my throat. This is the last time, I promise myself. This is our ending. This is our goodbye.
“Can I ask what you promised my sister?” I don’t look away from the pack.
Vienne doesn’t even look at me. “Nothing. She did it because she thought she could. I just encouraged her. But it was her plan. She really wanted to be the next Omega Treyfield. I just didn’t tell her that it was never a possibility.”
Swallowing that information takes a long moment. “Okay,” I say roughly. “Okay. I'm going.”
“For what it’s worth, you seem like an okay person, for a beta. Hard working. Loyal. Someone I might have hired had circumstances been different.”
“Yes, thank you for destroying my career, too,” I say dryly.
Vienne shrugs and stands up. She looks perfectly put together in her charcoal suit. A woman of power and money. “All's fair in love and war.”
“They’ll find out what you do one day, Vienne, and when they do, you’ll lose something even more precious.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll have protected our future.”
I can’t even be near her anymore. She’s toxic, and I'm exhausted. I walk out, signaling Simon. He and Yvette walk to the drive where the cars are pulling up, ignoring the pack. They wait for me. A sleek black car pulls up and stops right in front of me.
Simon hugs me tight when I reach him, ignoring the growls from his bosses. “Call me if you need anything. I’ll give my brother, Adrian, a ring and see if he’s got a position for you.”
