Page 16 of Broken Harmony (Heartbreak Melody #2)

TWO YEARS LATER

“Thank you, New York!” I scream into the mic.

The crowd goes crazy, chanting Rage Against the Heart , over and over again.

“We had an amazing time, and I hope you did too!” They continue to scream.

“We hope to come back here again soon. Next tour, for sure. Until next time, we are Rage Against the Heart!”

“Encore! Encore! Encore!” the fans scream, over and over again.

Struggling to keep the smile on my face, I start to walk towards the guys, waving at the crowd.

Skyler looks at me, brows furrowed, moving his mic away from his mouth. “Are we not going to do another song?”

I want to. We all love doing encores. It’s the time we can give them little sneak peaks on what we’ve been working on, or special songs that we came up with on the spot. But tonight isn’t one of those nights.

“I can’t.” I give them pleading eyes, my body swaying just to stay upright. “I don’t feel good.”

Skyler doesn’t hesitate, nodding before looking over at the guys and shakes his head. The guys nod, giving the crowd a good night, New York send off, before getting up and heading towards us.

I knew something was wrong with me during sound check. My head is killing me, I couldn’t stomach supper, and it took everything in me not to puke on stage.

But I did what I do best and kept going; I smiled, sang, and danced, doing my job.

Although if I were to push myself to do anything else, I will pass out, I just know it.

“Hey.” Ryker pulls me to the side, his red hair sweaty and plastered to his face. “Are you okay?’

“I think either I’m coming down with the flu, or the tacos we had yesterday aren’t agreeing well with me.”

“I knew we shouldn’t have eaten those street tacos,” Ryker growls, glaring at Tyson.

“Hey!” he puts his hands up in defense. “They tasted amazing.”

“Would you hate me if I just went back to the bus?” I ask, looking between the guys.

“Nah, go. We got this. It’s just a small meet and greet. We weren't even supposed to be doing another night in New York anyways.”

He’s right. Our tour was supposed to end last week, but our New York date sold out in seconds, and people were losing their minds about not being able to get a ticket.

So without talking to us, Julia had them add another date. I had plans to go on vacation with my family. The guys had their own trips planned, too.

Julia told us to change our plans, that this was more important.

The guys refused, but Julia did what she does best and fucked with my head, commanding me to convince the guys. They were not happy, and I had to spew bullshit about it being good for our image; plus, another concert means more money.

I had to suggest we use half the ticket sales to donate to charity before they would agree. Something Julia wasn’t happy about, but the guys were.

They want to do more charity concerts, but Julia says it’s a waste of our hard-earned money.

I fucking hate that bitch.

The three years are almost over. Just two more months, and we’re demanding another manager. Well, the guys are, because if I get involved, Julia will try to manipulate me. I’d rather be in the background when this all goes down.

Is that the coward’s way out? Maybe, but I’m at a loss on how this is going to work.

I’m drained; mind, body, and soul. For a while, things were good. Julia even stopped commanding me to keep my mouth shut, but she did make sure to keep reminding me of the power she held over me.

She didn’t need to command me anymore; I gave up on any hope of going to see Lulu months ago.

When I found out she was enrolled in Calling Wood University, I had to deal with the reality that our lives were going in very different ways.

And as much as it hurt, I needed to let go of any hope that Lulu was going to be mine.

She’s worked so hard to build this new life for herself, and I couldn’t be the one to go in and mess it all up. If I came back into her life now, who knows what would happen, how that would affect her.

She’s happy now. And that's all I’ve ever wanted for her.

Calling Wood will give her the chance at a normal life. A life I know she never thought she’d get the chance to have.

It’s crazy when you think about it. We both became Omegas, something neither of us thought would happen, and are living a very different lifestyle than we dreamed about as kids.

She’s going to go to Calling Wood, find her perfect pack, and live happily ever after.

Meanwhile, I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. What other choice do I have?

I have it all. Money and fame; I’d be a fool to give it up anytime soon.

But what's the point of having all of this when you have no one to share it with?

To put it in simple terms: I’m depressed as fuck.

Yes, I have it all, but I fucking hate my life.

That's a lie; I love my family, I love my best friends.

Still, at the end of the day, I go to bed alone. I’m overworked and controlled by a bitch who can’t seem to think anything is good enough. I’m in love with my bodyguard, who wants me too, but will never do anything about it because I’m not the Omega destined for him.

And the girl whom I’ve been hung up on all these years is moving on and starting a new life.

Money might help in a hell of a lot of ways, but it really doesn’t buy happiness. Not when the things that will make you happy can’t be bought.

But hey, I have it all, right? So, I don’t get the right to complain. I’ll put a smile on my face, work my ass off as always, and go until I have nothing left in me.

I couldn’t quit, even if I wanted to. Julia has made sure of that.

Maybe she’s sensed my burnout, my shift in attitude towards this life, because she cornered me a few weeks ago and used that lovely Alpha bark on me to keep going. Do as I’m told and everything will be okay.

Yeah, maybe when I’m dead.

Liam is nowhere to be found, which is odd because he’s always lurking in the shadows.

“I just got a text from Liam. He’s going to be here soon; he’s dealing with something to do with a few of the other staff members. He asked us to walk you to the green room. Will you be okay in there while we head down to the meet and greet?” Skyler asks.

“Yeah, of course. I’ll just lock the door when you go, and lie down on the couch.”

Once the guys drop me off, I lock the door after them as promised and drag my sluggish body over to the couch.

I feel like death. Head pounding, eyes burning, and my stomach twisted in knots. I just want to sleep.

Of course, life has other plans for me because not even a minute after I close my eyes and curl up on the couch in comfort, Julia comes bursting into the green room like a raging bull.

Startled, I shoot up into a seated position, groaning as the world around me spins and my stomach lurches.

“You!” she growls. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Trying to sleep,” I groan, voice cracking. “What's wrong?”

“What's wrong is that you didn’t do an encore.”

“Oh.” I rub my eyes, not caring about smudging my makeup. “So?”

“So!” she shrieks, making me flinch back. I swear, I will stab her if she uses her Alpha bark on me to go back out there. Or I’ll drop dead on stage. Whatever works better in my favor. “You always do encores!”

“Yes. But today I feel like shit,” I sass back, not even caring about pissing her off.

“I don’t care. You disappointed your fans. Do you know how bad that looks on you?”

“I’m human,” I grumble back. “I’m allowed to get sick. They will understand.”

“You're selfish,” she growls, stepping closer. I hate how I lean back out of fear. She’s not much bigger than me, or older than me, yet she holds so much power over me.

I’m honestly surprised I don’t hate Alphas because of her, just fear them.

Because Alphas aren’t bad, it’s Alphas like her who abuse their powers over Omegas who are fucked up and evil. One bad Alpha doesn’t represent all Alphas.

Liam and the guys are reminders of that.

“Me?” I ask, eyes wide in shocked anger. “Selfish?” I get to my feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness. “You’re fucking kidding me, right? All I ever do is break my back to do what you ask of me.” Like, I’m even given a choice. “I run myself ragged to please you, to please the fans.”

“You have everything because of me,” she sneers, getting in my face. “And this is how you repay me? Complaining? You’re an ungrateful bitch!” she spits, and my eyes widen. Is this bitch for fucking real?

“You know what? You’re fired.”

“What?” Her eyes widen as she scoffs, “You can’t do that.”

“Like the fuck I can’t.” I get in her face.

The angle she’s at, she can’t see the door, but I can. I watch Liam walk into the room out of the corner of my eye.

This is my chance to show someone what Julia is really like. No more threats, no more power over me. At this point, I don’t care what she’s threatened me with. My family can handle their own. So can the guys.

I’m not some young, dumb teenager she can take advantage of anymore.

It’s either I expose her for who she is, or I end it all. Because I can’t see another way out.

I’m so fucking tired. I just want it to stop.

“Yes, I can. I am your boss. You work for me. I’ve dealt with your crap for way too fucking long.

I’m done, Julia. I’m done doing whatever you ask of me because it’s never good enough.

You don’t care about the band; you only care about what the band can offer you and what's in it for you. And we’re done. ”

Julia’s face goes red, and the next thing I know, her hand is wrapped around my throat. “Listen here, you little bitch,” she growls in my face. “You’re going to go down to the meet and greet and do what you’re fucking told. And maybe I’ll let this little hissy fit of yours go.”

I can feel her Alpha command trying to take over my body. Maybe it’s because my body is exhausted or I’ve honestly lost the will to fucking live, but it doesn’t set into place. Thank fuck.

In a flash, Julia’s hand goes from being wrapped around my neck to behind her back, and Liam shoves her down onto the coffee table.