Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King novel Chapter 175

Chapter 175: 0175

Kaelen POV

"Are you seriously not going to stop her?"

My pen froze.

For several seconds, I stared down at the signature I hadn’t finished, my grip tightening around the pen until my knuckles turned white, but I still didn’t look up.

"Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kaelen." Darius’s voice grew louder as he stepped closer to my desk. "Stop this bullshit."

My jaw clenched.

"You messed up," he continued, his voice filled with frustration. "We fucking messed up by not realizing she was a victim from the beginning. But are you seriously going to sit here and watch her walk out of your life when you know damn well it’s killing you?"

My grip tightened around the pen until my knuckles turned white. Slowly, I lifted my gaze to meet his.

I knew what he saw in my face because I could feel it myself. The exhaustion. The guilt. The pain I had spent the last two days trying to bury beneath an endless pile of work.

"It is for the best," I finally rasped, the words sounding hollow even to my own ears while Darius stared at me for a long moment, his expression twisting with disbelief before anger quickly replaced it.

"Fuck you!" he growled, and with that, he turned on his heel and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him so hard the nearby shelves rattled.

The moment he was gone, whatever strength I had been pretending to have disappeared with him, and my fingers started trembling.

I lowered the pen toward the document, determined to keep working, but my hand shook so badly that the tip barely touched the paper before dragging across it in an uneven line.

With a frustrated growl, I hurled the pen across the room. It struck the wall with enough force to send pieces of plastic scattering across the floor.

Then I shoved both hands through my already messy hair, breathing heavily as I tried to get a fucking grip on myself.

When that didn’t work, I pushed away from the desk and crossed the office in a few quick strides before stopping at the floor-to-ceiling windows behind it.

My palms pressed against the cold glass as I looked down at the courtyard.

Maybe I could see her.

Just once.

I didn’t need to talk to her. I didn’t even need her to know I was watching.

I just wanted one last glimpse of her before she left.

But my office was on the top floor, and the angle gave me a clear view of the private rear courtyard while completely blocking the departure gates from sight.

"Dammit!" I muttered, slamming my fist against the window frame.

She was leaving.

Right now.

While I stood here doing absolutely nothing.

And once she drove through those gates, I had no idea if I would ever see her again.

****

Lorelei POV

Kaelen really didn’t show up.

Even with my bags already packed into the trunk of Raven’s car, the reality of his absence still hit me harder than I wanted to admit. I had spent the entire morning telling myself I didn’t care, that I wasn’t expecting him to come, and that it would be easier if I simply left without seeing him.

But apparently, my heart hadn’t gotten the memo.

My eyes kept wandering across the courtyard, searching the windows and every doorway I could see, secretly hoping his tall figure would appear at the last second. Maybe he would come running out. Maybe he would finally stop me.

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