Chapter 147
1454words
“Ms. Della, Ralph is already outside, waiting,” Diana announced, peaking at the bedroom door.
I nodded. “I’ll be out in a while.”
I had set an appointment with Ralph yesterday for us to have another meeting today. Since I observed that he quite liked the flowers, I said that we could visit the garden again.
After rummaging through my closet, I finally found a perfect set of clothes. The weather was quite nice, so I decided to change into a white cotton long-sleeved shirt paired with mustard overalls and brown sneakers.
I also collected my hair to the left side of my neck and styled it in a long side ponytail.
Overall, I looked pretty and comfortable. I like it.
With a huge smile on my face, I stood up and went out.
“Hi, Ralph. Good morning,” I greeted, opening the door.
“Good morning, Ms. Della,” he replied with respect. I smiled. Up until now, though he was calling me Ms. Della, he still couldn’t stop himself from lowering his head a bit.
He maintained a respectful space between us as we walked toward the garden.
Viewing the beautiful rows of Daisies and Fleabanes, I started the topic. “I’ve been looking at the marginal waters of the Wakeland. Technically, almost 80 percent of the land area of the Wakeland is surrounded by water, but the depth from the shore is quite deep.”
Having the shore deep, it would not be advisable for war boats to float far from the shore and have the warriors swim toward the shore, considering that there wouldn’t be a shallow area where they could hide or stay.
In all honesty, it’s quite risky.
Ralph nodded and thought for a while. His fingers slid on the few petals of Japanese Iris. It’s a flower that’s mostly purple with a bit of yellow on the end tips of its long petals. Some even said that it resembled double-edged swords.
“In every dispute, all have cons and pros.” He looked at me and explained, “Because of the geographical structure of the Wakeland waters, they wouldn’t expect a Naval attack or a sea battle.”
What he said made total sense. It would be like a sabotage and surprise attack at the same time. As long as we calculate properly, our men could be close to the base of the enemy in no time without them knowing.
“The water can conceal the scents of the warriors for a couple of minutes while they're submerged in the water and after they get to the land. Furthermore, the depth of the water isn’t much of a problem. You can either send warriors that are good at swimming, or we can add a flat gangway at the back of the boat where they could walk from the sea to the shore.”
My eyes widened in excitement. “You can do that?”
He nodded. “With enough time and if needed, I believe it’s doable.”
I stared at him with admiration and a huge smile on my face. Now I understood why Jackson admired him so much to the point that he gave him a privilege that an omega could only dream of.
His hands that were holding the flowers froze, and he stepped back while the tip of his ears reddened in shyness. “D-did I said something wrong?”
I shocked my head. “No, of course not. Thank you.” I sincerely said to him.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “For what?”
“For helping me with the Wakeland waters and… for not getting mad at me for my deliberate acts of showing you the truth…”
Unlike the first time he learned about Stella cheating on him, Ralph looked a bit better now. He was more refreshed and could smile already, hence why I felt more comfortable opening it again.
Ralph smiled and nodded. “It’s nothing to be mad about, Ms. Della. In fact, I am sincerely thankful for your help.”
He’s humble, smart, and open-minded. Stella was really lucky to have him as her fated mate. I couldn’t believe she even thought of doing something that would hurt him.
After a while, we talked more about other strategies and took the time to just admire and talk about the flowers.
Finally, I felt more relaxed and guilt-free.
We were walking on a stone path parallel in between two lines of lilac bushes. While passing the corner, Stella suddenly appeared dressed in a pink glow empire seam halter dress that fell mid-thigh.
Her hair was in a waterfall braid, and its end was in big waves, making her face more prominent and enhancing her beauty.
Compared to her usual look, I’m positive that she made a huge effort to look beautiful for Ralph.
Her chest was rising and falling a bit, evidently showing that she was a bit nervous.
She let out a genuine smile with a trace of sadness, which she was trying to hide. “Good morning, Della…” she stared at Ralph with longing and added, “And Ralph…”
Despite her efforts, it couldn’t cover what she had done. Just her presence was enough to make me remember my hate for her, and it seemed to be the same case for Ralph.
Ralph and I looked at each other with faces void of emotions but somehow managed to have a tacit understanding of that simple gesture. We sighed and turned around, but Stella quickly ran and stood in front of us.
She let out a forceful smile that’d quiver a bit if one looked longer. She was also blinking more than usual due to her nervousness.
“What a coincidence! We met here by chance!” I wanted to laugh. That mere sentence from her showed that this was far from a coincidence.
I let out a sarcastic laugh. I was about to expose her when Ralph suddenly spoke, “Stop it.”
Stella and I looked at him.
“Stop pretending to be stupid, Stella. You know that I like going to the garden, so you obviously waited here to meet me.” His words showed his annoyance, but his tone subconsciously remained helpless and doting.
Stella’s hands fidget with her dress at her side, and she blinked a couple of times in shock, quickly denying, “No… it’s really…”
Her distress denial was immediately stopped by Ralph. “No one will dress like that in the garden. You look like you're going for a fine dining restaurant.”
I looked at the side of Ralph’s face. “He really loves her so much.”
Although he was critiquing her, his eyes carried gentleness. He obviously didn’t want to hurt her.
With those words of exposure, we walked passed her. I couldn’t help but take a glimpse back to see Stella standing frozen in there while staring at Ralph’s back, looking completely loss.
She seemed to want to chase after him and have him listen to her. Finally, she called out. “Please, Ralph. Can you listen to my explanation?”
Ralph and I looked back at her.
Couldn’t hold on further, I spoke, “You did what you did, Stella. You should have known the consequences of your action.”
Stella clenched her hand into a fist as she threw me a warning glance.
I stood taller and smirked in dominance. “You should know, Stella. I am not just a mere omega. I am the daughter of the Lycan King. It’s an easy thing for me to deal with you. Ralph doesn’t want to hurt you, so stop disturbing him!”
Looking at Ralph, I saw my past self. He was restraining himself and getting hurt further in the process because of the betrayal she bestowed on him. I brought him here. I couldn’t and wouldn’t let him suffer further pain. Not if I could help it.
Unexpectedly, tears streamed down Stella’s cheek, and all her focus remained on Ralph. “I… But R-ralph won’t see me no matter how hard I try. I know that you like to go to the garden, especially when you’re having a crisis on your work, so I thought…”
She took a deep breath and stared into his eyes. “Remember? The night when you agreed to be with me, you walked in the garden because that’s how you organize your thoughts well, and you’ll have a solution afterward, so I waited for you the entire day and night.”
Stella slid her hands on her dress. So… I dressed up and waited for you here for the past few days in hopes of seeing you and saying a few words…”
To say I was shocked would be an understatement.
Looking at Stella and her actions, all my doubts about her vanished. She seemed to genuinely love Ralph. So why?
Why did she go out of her way to seduce Kylian?
