Page 71 of The Omega Switch: Part 2

She let out a sharp, half laugh, half sob.

"Everything is ruined. My job, my future, everything.” She said, letting out a stuttering sigh.

"Excuse me? I just reclaimed what was mine. Those were my products, my ideas." I said, my voice even. "If you hadn't stolen my work..." I said, looking at her. "If you hadn't lied, or tried to steal damn near everything in my life, maybe things could have been different. If you’d extended even the most basic human decency toward me, none of this would have happened.”

She stared back at me, then her shoulders fell in defeat. "It's not fair." She sounded so much like a child. "I don't have anything now."

I looked at her, still perplexed. "What are you talking about?" You have so much more than me. You always have!” I said as she hiccuped out another sob.

"My reputation is ruined.” She said, swallowing.

"You have millions of followers. You already have so many opportunities. My work was just one part, and it rightfully belongs to me." I said.

"My family," she said, looking down. “They will never get past this.” Even now, she called them hers. I suppose they were now - I sure wasn’t going to claim my fathers, or help them.

"They have always favored you, Arabella. Come on, they will always choose you. They have since you arrived.” I said softly. My words echoed in the quiet bathroom despite my low tone. Another tear streamed down Arabella’s face. She looked up at me, her eyes both pained and resolute.

"You still don’t get it, Ivy. They will always choose the winner!" She said through a clenched jaw. “Now that you’ve won, they’re going to do anything to get you to come back. I’ll be useless to them now!” I stepped back, momentarily stunned at her words.

"I don't understand. They chose you because you’re prettier. You’re more outgoing.” I said, although now that I looked back on it, was she prettier? Was her personality better? Or was she just louder, more aggressive?

She laughed, a pained look on her face. "You don’t get it yet. You don’t see it, do you? When Mom's first pack found another omega, they chose her. There was only room for one." I felt my chest tighten. She’d never spoken about this before.

"They cast my mom out. And me, too.” She wiped at her cheeks. “Packs always do that. They choose one to favor. They always will. So in order to stay, to survive, you can never be second place!” Her voice was louder now. "You can never let another omega outshine you. And now that you’ve done that, it’s over for me."

I felt sadness flow through me as I looked at her. My mind flashed back to every time Clara sternly spoke to Arabella when she didn’t come in first at class. Maybe Arabella and Clara were so convinced of this because it was all they knew.

"But it’s not all packs. It didn’t have to be that way in our family,” I argued. But Arabella just shook her head with a wry smile.

“It was, though, wasn't it?” She asked. “Your fathers - they chose me." She said, and I nodded slowly.

"They did." I agreed. Her face dropped.

"But now they'll choose you." She said with a sigh. Then for the first time, I understood. Arabella had been taught that losing meant abandonment, and that love was conditional. And honestly, she was right to an extent - with the wrong people around you, it was. Her first family tossed her and her mom out. My own fathers clearly favored certain people. Some packs would turn on an omega in a heartbeat, just like they did to Clara. Just like my own fathers had done to me.

But as long as Arabella didn’t see any other way, she’d go on living like that. I took a tiny step closer. "You don't have to live like that."

She looked at me with a wary expression. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"The competition only exists because they taught us it does. You can leave it. I did.” I said, shrugging my shoulders. “And it was the best thing for me. If I hadn’t left that dynamic, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today. It forced me to realize that being in an unhealthy dynamic will never mean happiness.” I said, realizing that if I’d matched with Pack Vale from the beginning, like I wanted, I’d never be quite as strong as I was now. I’d always have felt like I couldn’t survive without them.

Arabella sniffed.

"You can leave," I said, and she shook her head.

"Yeah, right. And go where? I don’t have your mind." I swallowed at her words. It was the closest she’d ever gotten to admitting that I’d been right all along.

"I don't know," I said honestly. “But there are other ways. I’m proof.” She stared at me, and I wasn’t sure whether I’d gotten through to her. "I also hope that one day you stop treating people the way you treated me."

Fresh tears filled her eyes. I picked up my purse and turned.

"You know, despite everything, we're still family. In a strange, complicated way." I gave her a small smile. "I genuinely hope you find something better than this. And that you learn."

For the first time ever, Arabella had nothing to say. She didn’t snap back a rude remark or biting insult. Maybe she’d actually listened to me for once.

Then, I walked out of the restroom without looking back. I finally understood Arabella, to an extent. It didn’t make anything she did okay, but at least I saw the reason why she’d been so cruel for so long. And I did hope that someday she’d learn to be better. Everyone deserved that chance. But I wasn’t going to stick around to find out.

I looked up, and Pack Vale smiled as they saw me approach. I linked my arm around Elias’s and let out a sigh. “Let’s go home.” As we walked out of the courthouse, I was finally ready to leave this chapter behind once and for all.