Chapter 65


    I’m momentarily frozen.


    He’s here.


    It’s like deja vous. Only it’s his ‘new’ fiancee in the spotlight now.


    Oddly, the bright sanitation uniform isn’t much different than the one I wore in prison.


    I’m in a daze. The scene of me crawling to him in prison, begging him to believe me appeared before


    my eyes again.


    I shut it down.


    I don’t need him. Or anyone in this world.


    My strength is a force all its own.


    Lily senses it too and her smile slips. She’s terrified, I realize.


    And she should be.


    With the cameras and press closing in and snapping photos, what if I were to start railing about how


    they’d treated me and abused me? What if I attack them for this ridiculous stunt with the ring? And tell


    the reporters what really happened.


    The press would devour such a story and no one would believe that this ring episode that happened at


    the exact ce where “Jennifer Atkinson’s Murderer” worked was a coincidence.


    As it is, it was a stretch for Lily to be anywhere near this neighborhood.


    Sean holds his breath, waiting to see what I will do next.


    Lily nces at him from the corner of her eyes, and I know she’s thinking the same thing.


    I smile and weigh my options.


    Lily’s hands shake as she hands me the gift box. Her smile slips. "This is for you,” she says. “I''m sorry


    for making you search for my ring the other day."


    I quietly take the gift box without saying a word and turn to leave.


    After I get back to the center, I hand the box to ire, saying, “Here, you take it."


    "Oh? Don''t you want to keep the clothing?" ire asks in amazement.


    "I have enough clothes," I reply.


    “The check’s still in here..."


    "I don''t want it," I say.


    I look at the clock and see that the lunch break is about to end. After picking up the tools, I head toward


    the section of highway that I’ve been assigned to sweep.


    I heave a sigh of relief when I see that the reporters who hade for the event have left.


    However, when I step out of the Sanitation Service Center, it’s Sean who’s walking toward me…


    * * * * * * * * *


    SEAN


    Fear trickles through Grace and I can smell it.


    I imagine there’s a good dose of rage in there too, from the way her eyes narrow and her spine stiffens.


    But I don’t sense her wolf or see any eyeshine. I wonder at that.


    "How... have you been?" I ask her. I used to hate this woman. I hated her for causing Jennifer’s death


    and for all the drama that followed. She had caused me to be reprimanded by my family—jeopardizing


    my sess to Alpha of my pack.


    The fallout had nearly destroyed my family.


    Because of Grace’s stupid actions, I had to pay the price for it.


    If she’d just met me outside of the prison, i would’ve handed over some money and gotten her far away


    from here. She could start a new life, somewhere else.


    Instead, she ran like some frightenedmb and then she’d settle into rogue territory, and somehow, she


    kept turning up in my life like a bad penny.


    I frown.


    I’d love this woman once.


    I had picked her to be my luna.


    Grace shakes her head. ”I believe that this is none of Mr. Steven''s business whether I''m doing fine or


    not," Grace replies tly as she tries to walk away from me.


    My wolf growls.


    Material ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    How dare she turn her back on me!?


    "Grace, you don''t know what''s good for you!" I demand as I catch up to her and block her way.


    "Do I not know what''s good for me?" Grace sneers. "Do you intend to get Lily—your fiancee—to pull


    out my fingernails and break my fingers again? Will it make you happy if I be unable to even hold


    a broom in the future? It has been three years, Sean. I still have pain!”


    She shutters down immediately, likely resenting that she said that much.


    I rub my chin. My stomach sinks and my wolf howls mournfully.


    I did what I had to do back then. And she had brought it upon herself.


    Graceughs harshly. “I can’t believe you’re even here right now. Back then, when I needed you the


    most, you treated me like some stranger on the street. You let me suffer, you encouraged people to


    torture me. And now you’re standing here, asking if I’m doing fine! What a joke!”


    I cross my arms. What she said is true.


    "You have to bear the consequences of your actions, Grace. You deserved to be punished. You caused


    the death of Lily''s sister, and she was within her right to seek revenge. You can''tin about what


    she did to you!”


    Grace''s face turns pale. “Actually, I can. We havews, Sean. Both human and pack—and we both


    know that she is the reason my grandfather is dead.”


    I shake my head. “You admit it then…that you targeted her sister out of spite.”


    She throws her arms up in the air. “No. I did nothing of the sort. And here’s the thing, I don’t owe you


    answers. i don’t owe you anything, anymore. And while we both know that no one will care about the


    usations of some lowly sanitation worker, the fact remains that you and Lily broke thew. You


    abused your power. What you did was criminal, and someday that truth mighte out…What then?”


    “I’m not going to debate with you,” I say. Although on some gut-deep level, her certainty, her … it has


    me pausing.


    But I’m not going to stand here and argue with this woman.


    She’s the convict.


    She’s the rogue.


    Not me.


    “You killed an innocent woman, Grace. And not even your own family sympathized!” Then I calm down.


    “Look. The past is behind us.” After letting out a sigh, I say, "When I''m back in the office, I''ll inform the


    manager in my Human Resource Department to get you a clerical job in one of thepanies we


    mediate in this neutral territory. It will be better than sweeping the streets every day.”