Page 126 of Rejected By My Shifter Billionaire

To preters like him, God had always been real but rarely acknowledged, Him being something they could not understand because of the way He seemed to favor humans over all other races, and for reasons that didn’t make sense. It didn’t matter which period of history they were in. Humans were His favored child while preters like him were...not.

But because he had seen how belief in God had changed the lives of even the most powerful preters like Domenico Moretti, in which the powerful Lyccan prince had to be brought low in order to realize the true source of his strength rested not in worldly power and wealth...

I know I can’t do this on my own.

Please.

Help me get her back.

THEL’Alliance Cathedralloomed against the skyline, its red and gold spires catching the afternoon sun. Inside, the main reception area bustled with supernatural activity, winged Souris gliding between levels, shifters of every designation movingwith purpose, and the occasional Caro in formal attire casting disdainful glances at human visitors like me.

It wasn’t my first time to be here, but the place’s grandeur was still overwhelming, and the way every inch pulsed with preternatural power still daunting in ways that I didn’t even know how to express.

Like, seriously.

What was I even doing here?

After moving out of the Celestini mansion—best decision ever, even if my new apartment was half the size and twice the price—I’d thrown myself into work. Expanded the client base. Refined the algorithms. Pretended I wasn’t counting down the days until I had to fulfill Nicolo’s ultimatum or lose everything.

And now time was up.

“Please follow me, Ms. Gray.”

I followed the attendant through the grand atrium, past the security checkpoints where guards gave me the standard human-who-doesn’t-know-her-place once-over, down corridors that seemed to shift and change as we walked. Finally, we reached a section marked with the Blood Oval emblem, a perfect circle rendered in what I hoped wasn’t actual blood.

Prince Alexei will see you shortly.” He disappeared inside, leaving the door slightly ajar.

And that’s when I heard it.

Nicolo?

My heart stuttered, then raced like I’d mainlined espresso directly into my veins.

That had to be...Nicolo.

I couldn’t be mistaken about it, even if my heart had yet to recover from the wound he had inflicted.

Why...why was he here?

My body moved before my brain could catch up, pushing the door open without announcement, and I froze in shock upon seeing Nicolo...standing next to Prince Alexei?

“Maryah.”

It hurt, oh how it hurt to have him say my name, and it hurt even more to see him looking so...different. He was still handsome, still immaculately dressed, but there was also an unmistakable gauntness to him that just didn’t feel right.

“W-What are you doing here?” I whispered.

“I came here to let you know I lied—” His jaw clenched. “—about everything.”

“I d-don’t understand.”

“The Blood Oval never demanded you get married.” His voice was steady, but I caught the faintest tremor in his hands before he clasped them behind his back. “That was me. I invented it.”

The floor seemed to tilt beneath my feet. “But w-why?”

“Because the day after the Lucent Summit, your office started sending me profiles of prospective brides.”

“I wouldnever—”