Chapter 149: Still Contacting Raymond
Oliver’s POV
The morning sun began to crawl across the floor, painting the room in a warmth that felt like a fresh start. I didn’t want to leave the bed. I didn’t want to face the world, the Council, or the messy fallout of the gala. I just wanted to stay here, in this bubble, where it was just Oliver and Aurora.
I leaned over and began to wake her with soft, lingering kisses on her temple and her cheek. She stirred, a small, beautiful smile touching her lips before she even opened her eyes.
"Good morning," she whispered, her voice sleepy and sweet.
"Good morning," I replied, smiling back at her. I felt a surge of hope. Maybe I really could bury Raymond. Maybe we could be happy.
I reached for my phone on the nightstand—my official phone—and pulled up the booking confirmation I had made earlier that morning while she was still asleep. I held the screen out so she could see it.
"We need to get away from everything," I said. "I’ve booked us a trip to the Maldives. Just a private villa, the ocean, and no one to bother us. What do you think? Do you like it?"
Her eyes widened as she scrolled through the pictures of the crystal-blue water and white sand. "Oliver... it’s beautiful. I love it."
"Good," I said, kissing her forehead. "Because we leave tomorrow morning. I want us to spend some time just being us, away from the pack and the pressure."
She nodded, looking genuinely excited, then sat up and stretched. "I’m going to take a bath," she said, glancing back at me with a playful spark in her eyes. "Do you want to join me?"
My heart hammered. Every part of me wanted to say yes, to slide into the warm water with her and never come out. But I was still slightly unsteady from the whiskey the night before, and I knew I needed to handle something private before I could truly relax.
"I’ve already bathed, beautiful," I said with a soft laugh. "You go ahead. I’ll be right here."
She nodded and headed toward the bathroom. As soon as the door clicked shut, and I heard the sound of the water running, my expression shifted. The smile vanished.
I stood up and walked over to the small, heavy safe hidden in the back of my walk-in closet. My hands were steady as I punched in the code. When the heavy door creaked open, I pulled the Raymond phone from my pocket.
This was it. I was closing this Chapter. I placed the phone deep in the corner of the safe, behind some stacks of documents. I intended to leave it there until it died, until the memory of that cold, heartless man withered away. I locked the safe and took a deep breath.
Raymond is dead, I told myself. Now, go be the man she deserves.
I decided to do something I loved doing: I wanted to pamper her. I headed downstairs to the kitchen. The staff was already busy preparing the morning meal, and they all stopped and bowed low when I entered.
"Alpha," the head chef said, stepping forward. "Do you need something specifically prepared? We were just about to send up the tray."
"No," I said, rolling up my sleeves. "I’ll handle it this morning. You all can take a break."
They looked surprised—the Alpha King didn’t usually flip eggs—but they obeyed. I went to work, making her favorites: fluffy pancakes, fresh fruit, and a specific blend of tea she loved. By the time I headed back upstairs with the tray, I felt almost relaxed.
But when I pushed the bedroom door open, the light feeling vanished.
Aurora was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring intensely at her phone. The moment she saw me, her entire body jolted. She flinched, her thumbs flying across the screen as she locked the device and slid it under a pillow. The unease on her face was so sharp it felt like a cold breeze in the room.
I stood there for a second, the heavy tray in my hands. "Aurora? Is everything okay?"
She forced a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Her skin looked a shade paler than it had ten minutes ago. "Yeah... yeah, I’m fine. I was just... I just read the latest report on my brother, James."
I walked over and placed the breakfast tray on the small table near the bed. I wanted to believe her, but my wolf was already pacing, sensing the spike in her heart rate. "How is he? Any change?"
"No," she said, looking down at the floor. "No improvement yet. The doctors say it’s a waiting game."
I reached out and squeezed her shoulder. "He’s strong, Aurora. He will be fine. I’ll make sure he has the best specialists in the country, I promise."
"Thank you, Oliver," she said.
She began to eat, but she was quiet. The bubbly excitement about the Maldives had vanished, replaced by a strange, stiff tension. My instincts were screaming at me. Something was wrong. She wasn’t telling the truth about the report. A wolf knows when someone is hiding a scent of guilt or fear, and it was rolling off her in waves.
After a few bites, she pushed the plate away. "Oliver, I actually have to go home for a bit. To my apartment. I need to get a few things for the trip... documents and some clothes I want to bring. I’ll be back in a few hours."
"I’ll have my driver take you," I said immediately. "I don’t want you stressed."
She didn’t fight me on it, which was even more suspicious. "Okay. That’s fine."
She stood up, leaned in to give me a quick, lingering kiss, and left the room. I stood by the window and watched the black SUV pull out of the driveway. My gut was twisting. I felt like I was standing on a floor made of thin glass, waiting for it to shatter.
I couldn’t help it. The unease was too much.
I walked back to the closet and reopened the safe.
I just stood there for a second, staring at the screen.
Something inside me already knew... I wasn’t going to like what I saw.
I grabbed the Raymond phone. It had been silent the whole time, but as soon as I tapped the screen to wake it up, my heart didn’t just sink—it stopped.
Ten missed calls. All of them from Aurora. All of them made within the last twenty minutes, while I was downstairs in the kitchen making her breakfast.
My hands started to shake. Why was she calling the man who had just insulted her? The man who had told her she was nothing special?
I saw a notification for one unread message. My thumb hovered over it, dread pooling in my stomach. I clicked it open.
Aurora: Can we meet?
I stared at those three words until they blurred. She wasn’t checking on her brother. She was trying to meet the monster I had tried so hard to kill. While I was upstairs promising her the world, she was reaching back to Raymond.