Chapter 0204
Abby
My cheeks flush a deep shade of scarlet as Karl’s question hangs in the air, an unspoken tension filling
the room.
I suddenly feel very aware of every minute detail: the way the soft glow from the deskmp casts a
shadow on his face, the almost-empty wine sses on the edge of my cluttered desk, the nervous
drumming of my own fingers against my thigh.
“Um… Wow,” I stammer with a wry chuckle, my tongue suddenly feeling thick in my mouth. “That’s
quite a loaded question, Karl. I’ll admit I haven’t even thought about it. I’m sorry.”
I half expect him to get upset again like he did thest time, but much to my surprise, Karl’s lips curl
into a slight grin, a glimmer of amusement dancing in his eyes. “Oh,e on, Abby. I was just teasing
you. You know, putting you on the spot. That’s what interviewers do, isn’t it?”
He picks up his wine ss and takes a casual sip, as though he hadn’t justpletely thrown me off
bnce.
“I know, I know,” I murmur, reaching for my own ss. The wine feels warm as it trickles down my
throat, loosening a knot of tension I didn’t even realize was there. “But you know what? It’s not just any
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date we’re talking about. I did promise you, after all. I lost the bet, remember?”
His eyes lock onto mine, and for a moment, the yful mask he wears slips, reced by genuine
surprise. “Did you just—?”
“Yes.” I cut him off, a sudden burst of courage—perhaps fueled by the Merlot—filling me. “Look, if by
some miracle I win thispetition and have to cater the Alpha party, and that keeps me from being
your date…”
I hesitate, weighing my words carefully before letting them spill out. “So, I’ll go on a real date with you.
A full, real date, Karl. Anywhere you want.”
The room falls silent, save for the ticking of the wall clock and the distant hum of the city outside, still
lively as ever.
Karl looks genuinely taken aback, his eyes widening for a fraction of a second before his ever-present
the first time tonight, I feel like I’m the one who has managed to catch him off guard.
“Abby, you don''t have to—”
“No,” I interrupt, cing my ss back on the desk with more force than necessary. “I made a promise,
Karl. And maybe it’s the wine talking or maybe it’s the fact that my life is one big ball of chaos right now
and I just need something stable to hold onto. But I want to keep that promise.”
I look him square in the eye, my gaze unwavering. “So, there it is. A real date, anywhere you want. If I
win the cook-off.”
Karl shakes his head. “Abby, listen—”
“No, you listen,” I say, feeling invigorated by the wine or maybe by the electricity running through my
veins. “I made a promise. I n on sticking to it.”
But the look on Karl’s face gives me pause. There’s a long silence before he finally speaks, and when
he does, I feel my heart wrench in ways that I never expected in a million years.
“Abby, I…”
Another silence falls over the room. This time, I feel like I’m turning upside down; I know this look. It’s a
look I’ve seen a thousand times. A look thates right before he’s about to drop a bomb.
“Actually, there’s something I need to talk to you about,” he starts, setting his empty wine ss on the
cluttered desk. He looks at me intently, and I can tell that whatever he’s about to say is serious.
“Alright,y it on me,” I say, forcing a smile and trying to lighten the mood. He doesn’t return the grin. In
fact, his expression grows more somber.
He takes a deep breath. “Listen, um… After the Alpha party, I have to go back. To my pack,” he says,
looking down for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “I’ve been away too long. There’s a sense
of dissatisfaction growing among my pack members. I can’t ignore it anymore. I have responsibilities,
Abby.”
I feel my mouth open in shock, then quickly close it again. I know Karl’s first and foremost responsibility
is to be an Alpha, that his pack needs him, but I guess in all of my selfishness over the cook-off, I never
really considered the implications. That he’d have to leave. That he wouldn’t always be here, in this
restaurant, with his sleeves rolled up and his eyes aze with the fire of the kitchen.
“You’re leaving?” The words escape before I can stop them, tinged with a sadness I wasn’t expecting to
feel.
He nods, his eyes apologetic but resolute. “I’m sorry, but I have to. I can’t be an absentee Alpha. It’s
starting to affect how my pack sees me, and that’s not something I can afford. Plus, I miss it. I miss the
responsibilities, the connection, the sense ofmunity.”
He leans a little closer, cing his hands on my shoulders. “I think you’re ready, Abby. You’ve always
been ready. You just needed a little push, that’s all.”
My eyes meet his, searching for any sign of insincerity, but all I see is genuine feelings. And it both
warms and breaks my heart.
His grip tightens slightly, a physical response to my emotional words. “I won''t lie. Being here, helping
you...it’s given me a sense of fulfillment I didn’t expect to find outside of my pack. But I can’t ignore my
responsibilities any longer.” New chаpter av?ble on NovelDrama.Org
“And I can’t ask you to,” I say softly, epting the gravity of his words. “It’s just that you''ve
be...important, you know? Important to me. To the restaurant.”
I nod and take a shuddering breath, pulling back slightly. My eyes are brimming with tears, and to hide
them, I quickly turn away and grab my wine ss, downing thest of what’s left.
“Alright,” I say quietly, my back still turned to Karl. “So, after the Alpha party, you’ll go home.”