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A voice shatters my focus.

I blink, forcing myself to tear my gaze away from Lila.

Slowly, I turn to face the short woman in wide-rimmed glasses standing next to me. Her name starts with an F…or an M. She’s the manager of this floor, if I’m not mistaken.

I give her a sharp, uninterested look, which turns out to be the wrong move because she follows my gaze straight to where Lila is standing.

“She’s Lila, your new secretary, right?” she asks, completely oblivious to the storm raging inside me. “Don’t worry, she’s fitting in quite well. Actually, I’ve never met someone as ready to work as she is. You made an excellent decision recruiting her, Mr. Hells. She might be the best employee here.”

Employee.

The word rings sharp in my ears.

I force my shoulders to relax, even as my muscles coil.

Lila is my secretary.

Nothing more. Nothing less.

I repeat it over and over in my head, forcing it to be true.

The Mate bond might pull me to her, might cloud my thoughts, but Irene is the only woman for me.

My heart belongs to Irene.

Lila is just an employee. Just a reminder of a mistake I once made.

So why does it feel like I’m making a mistake now by walking away?

My jaw tightens as the thought hits me like a sucker punch to the ribs.

I shake it off. Irene is the one I chose. The one I’ve been searching for. The one who matters.

And with that painful, forced realization, I turn around and walk away.

Back to my office. Back to the world I built before Lila walked back into it.

I don’t look back.

Chapter Six

LILA WINTER

Keep my head down. Focus on the job.

I’ve been muttering the same mantra for a whole week.

The problem is, my job wouldn’t be a living hell if my boss weren’t Alaric Hells.

If he were just a demanding CEO with a god complex, I could handle it.

If he were just another Alpha who thought the world should bow at his feet, I could ignore it. But he’s not just that.

He’s the man who threw me out like I was nothing but a mistake. And the worst part is, I was the fool who thought that fate had handed me something real.

How wrong I was. Not only did Alaric treat me like a game piece between him and Julian, but because of him, I had to flee from the pain. I had to spend months terrified, sick, and unsure whether I’d be able to raise a child all on my own.

A few days ago, after my first day at work, I sat in our apartment while Lina excitedly told me about the friends she had made at daycare. How it wasn’t as bad as she thought. How she actually liked it.