Chapter 7

• On the day of my engagement to Cassius, I wore a black dress. It was a dress that sparkled under even the smallest lights– but black. I kept my makeup simple because I knew that if there was one thing I had, it was a face that did not need much to capture people’s interest.
• “Your dress…” Cassius’ mouth fell open and I fought the urge to laugh.
• “Isn’t it beautiful?” I asked, forcing a smile.
• The only feeling that came up every time I saw or thought of Cassius was disgust. It was even hard for me to smile while looking at my killer but now that I had decided to take the path of revenge, I had to pretend to avoid suspicion. I had to play the part of a fool.
• “Of course, it's beautiful,” he said with a smile. “You are always beautiful but the colour…” Again, he trailed off.
• “Do you want me to change?” I pretended to be nervous.
• In fact, whether or not he liked the dress didn’t matter to me. I remember dying in my engagement dress in my previous life and now, I decided that if I was to die in my engagement dress again, the dress should not be a beautiful white dress.
• Emma went above and beyond to make this dress for me. It brazenly hugged my figure and the jewels decorating the top sparkled against the dark lace of the cloth. When I put it on earlier, Emma’s frowning face lit up although she didn’t spare a word of praise.
• “No, it’s alright. If you like it, it’s fine,” Cassius said. “But the other day you told me you were preparing a white dress like a bride. That’s why I am surprised.” As he spoke, he did not forget to add a soft smile that softened his harsh features.
• Cassius has sharp features. A sharp jaw, a pointed nose and an all-around angular face. His features were hard and because he never smiled, he came off as a strict man. I used to pride myself in being the only woman who got to see his hard face transform so softly every time he smiled but I was also the only woman who knew how hard this face could get; how much it would transform with a hateful, murderous look.
• My heart hardened even further seeing that smile.
• Then and there, I renewed my vow to myself. Even if I died again, I would be content as long as I dragged Cassius and April down with me. For everything Cassius and April did to me, I would make sure they paid tenfold.
• “What is it?” Cassius asked, taking my hand in his.
• For a split second, I resisted his touch as my stomach rolled.
• “What?”
• “You suddenly looked lost in thought,” he said, playing with my fingers. “Are you nervous? He asked and I shook my head.
• It was a lie because I was, in fact, nervous. There were many thoughts of vengeance in my head but I was unsure where to start. I knew that to make Cassius’ end even worse than mine had been, I had to take him to the highest point. He had to get to his highest peak because only then would is fall be satisfying.
• For now, he was a budding Alpha with a lot of potential. In just two years, he had come out of nowhere and dominated the scenes. His name was hot on everyone’s lips, to the point where even the Alpha King himself wrote a letter to congratulate him on his achievements. Yet, he had not gotten to his true peak. I knew this because I knew the future.
• I knew that in another two years, he would be at the pinnacle of his success after annexing two packs. He would use my father’s name to build his connections and my father’s men to fight his battles and then he would truly be at the top, a man that even the Alpha King could not treat lightly.
• Then, and only then, would his fall satisfy me.
• I built him from the ground up so couldn’t I break him? Everything he had, I handed to him on a platter of gold and I was preparing to snatch it right back.
• “About what I said the other day,” I started as we walked towards the hall where the engagement ceremony would be held. “About breaking up…”
• “Stop,” he cut me off.
• “No, I have to say this.” I shook my head to insist but he would not let me go on.
• My wolf growled in frustration at the anger that surged inside me, almost giving me heartburn.
• “I know you said you fell in love with someone else and I know that’s a lie,” his lips pursed as he spoke. “As I said, you are promised to me and I know you love me. It’s impossible for you to have met someone else and suddenly fallen in love with them. Maybe you got cold feet and tried to back out but I won’t let you, I’m sorry.”
• “You won’t even listen to what I have to say.”
• ‘Let’s just kill him. Let’s just do away with this ugly man,’ my wolf growled.
• “No. It may seem selfish of me but I cannot.” He shook his head with a kind of mournful look on his face. “You’re everything to me, Persephone. I had refused to admit it but since you lied that you love someone other than me, my head and heart have been in turmoil. For me, you are my best friend but I think you are even more than that. More than anything else, I look forward to the day I can put my mark on you.”
• I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to him with all the disgust I felt oozing out of my pores. I looked at him and I wished I could stick a blade through his heart like he had done to me. I looked at him and my eyes stung from the tears that gathered.
• Looking at him hurt me and listening to him lie to my face like this made my heart ache with a dull pain as if to remind me of the blade he stabbed through me. How could he repay everything I gave him with bald-faced lies?
• “Persephone,” he whispered my name with sadness in his tone.
• I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and opened them with a smile. Hiding my feelings for this man may prove more difficult than I first thought. I feared that even the smile on my lips betrayed the disgust I felt.
• “It’s fine.” I squeezed his hand in mine. “Oh goddess, you’ve made me so emotional.” I let out an airy laugh. “Although I merely wanted to tell you to forget the nonsense I said that morning, it is nice to hear you say all this, Cass.” I started my own lies. “You never express your feelings, Cass, and I feared I may be forcing you into this engagement. I was scared and developed cold feet but I feel at ease now that I know how you feel.”
• “I wish you would believe in my actions more than the words I do not say.” I cringed at such an absurd sentence.
• “I thought I was being kind giving you an out. You have been my rock for so many years and I know you only see me as a friend. That’s why I said all that. I never want you to hate me, Cass.”
• “You are everything to me, Persephone, believe me. Everything I have is yours and it is my honor to share the rest of my life with you.”
• Yes, who would fault me for taking back everything that was mine?
• We entered the hall and my heart cooled. I was witnessing my engagement a second time. Today was the day all my humiliations began. Today, April would enter my life and turn everything around.
• When we entered the hall, the light chattering stopped and everyone turned to stare at us. The hall was decked out in gold and white with splashes of purple. This was the same hall where my father died. My father gave me everything but never got anything in return. Everyone in this hall was here for my father – not me or Cassius, but for the legendary Crimson wolf.
• In this life, I had to protect my father. Even if I fell to the depths of hell, I had to make sure no strand of his hair was lost.
• As Cassius met with one important figure after the next, using me as a bridge to connect himself to the pillars of our world, I looked around the hall with dull eyes. I made my father invite all these people knowing they would never ignore him. I did this to help Cassius build up his network but even until I died, I had no network of my own.
• It had been easy for April to ostracize me from a world I did not properly belong to in the first place but this time around, things would be different. The silly little girl had died and in her place was a vengeful woman.
• “Miss Ayla, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” I approached the only woman who was here for me.
• “Oh, Miss Persephone!” She smiled. “It’s an honour to meet you,” she spoke with dignified grace. “I was surprised to receive a last-minute invitation to your engagement but I am grateful to be here. Please accept my hearty congratulations on your engagement.”
• The only person I had invited for myself.
• Ayla was a plain-looking woman with many talents but she was the daughter of a washed-up Alpha and thus had very little pull in society. This woman’s secret would be out soon and the world would see her in all her glory. From now on, I would be her friend as she would be the strongest string to a well-connected life.
• “It’s a pleasure to have you here, Miss Ayla. I was afraid you would not make it due to how late I sent the invitation. I hope you are not too offended by my rude gesture.”
• “Oh, no, not at all,” she waved her hand to dispel my worries.
• ‘Cassius just stepped out,’ my wolf muttered and when I raised my head, my eyes fell on the clock as it struck nine, an hour before Cassius returned with April.
• April.
• I was eager to see her again.