Chapter 256
1060words
Under the dimmed light of the room, Cathy stood cautiously, trying to hide her nervousness by clutching the half-empty glass of wine in her hand.
She wore a blue blouse that appeared to be crocheted and was slightly oversized. It was paired with baggy black pants. Her huge rimmed glasses, which were somewhat crooked, rested on the bridge of her nose, and was partially obscuring her brown eyes. Meanwhile, her blackish-brown hair cascaded down the sides of her face, having loosened from her messy ponytail.
As young as Cathy looked, her style and demeanor seemed old-fashioned. Her heavy, unevenly applied eyeliner and smudged lipstick hinted at poor makeup skills.
Do I look scary? I don’t think so, do I?
After closing the door, I sat down opposite her. I crossed my legs and motioned to the sofa behind her with my hand, giving her a wide smile. “Relax, Cathy, I don’t bite. Have a seat.”
Cathay forced a smile, and tried hard to relieve her tension by taking a sip from her glass. Though her eyes glinted with a hint of excitement, her awkwardness and timidity radiated all over her, especially when she had difficulty swallowing her drink.
She didn’t seem like she was used to drinking alcohol either by how her face scrunched up right after.
Setting the glass down with slightly calmer shaking hands than before, she tried to steady her voice. “I was surprised when I got the call from Beta Sapphire. I thought… well… I thought that you wouldn’t want to see me…”
She shyly bit her lower lip as she heaved a sigh and explained with a voice laced with sadness, “After all, I’m just a small-time reporter from the Wakeland Times, and I know… we haven’t exactly been kind to you in the media.”
I raised my eyebrows at her, gesturing for her to continue.
“I mean…” Cathy looked down in shame. “I knew all those bad articles about you were not true… But I can’t do anything…”
Of course, with her status as an intern journalist, she won’t manage to do anything. If she forced her opinion, she’d be fired like how she was dismissed back in the Dark Moon Pack.
Nodding my head, I nonchalantly spoke, “I heard you were kicked out from the Dark Moon Pack and its media outlet because of an article. Tell me what happened.“
Cathy’s eyes widened like a saucer as she shifted in her seat, utterly shocked. She leaned her head closer and blinked a couple of times before asking in disbelief, “You mean… the article I wrote? But… But that was deleted before it even got 20 views! How… I mean… How come you know about it, Princess?”
“Just answer me,” I replied, keeping my eyes steady on her.
I didn’t answer her question, not because I wanted to scare her and look fierce in front of her. Rather, it is because there are only a few people who know how excellent of a hacker Sapphire was that she’s able to dig so much information about anyone if she wants to, and I’d like to keep it that way.
Cathy remained silent for a moment. With low energy, she grabbed her glass and thoughtlessly traced its rim with the tip of her finger.
Her tense shoulders then loosened later on. She raised her head and looked at me with frustration. She spoke softly, “Actually, Princess, that article was written after you left the Dark Moon Pack. I… I just thought it was so unfair. You were such an incredible Luna, always doing what was best for our pack. Even when no one supported you, you kept those awful drugs out of the pack. But then you were betrayed by Alpha Kylian…”
She looked down, hands tightening on her blouse. “Then…”
I narrowed my eyes as I watched her facial expression change. Her lips pursed into a thin line, and her voice suddenly became slightly more forceful, laced with frustration. “Then.. he brought that lunatic Flora back into the pack, had the doctors treat her, gave her food and clothes… but no one said a word for you. Not a single report, nothing. So I…”
Her voice became more stern, as if she was the one who was wronged, as she continued with sadness, “It was like you had disappeared out of thin air! Most pack members don’t even know you’re the Lycan Princess. They never read the reports from the kingdom.”
I was left silent as I processed all of her words.
To say I wasn’t dumbfounded and touched by her care for me would be a lie, but what really took my attention and caused bitterness in my heart to resurface was hearing how Flora was apparently being well taken care of at the Dark Moon Pack.
As much as I hated and didn’t want to feel it, it still caused a sting in my heart in a way I never expected, as if all the suffering I had endured and the child I had nearly lost had been nothing more than a cruel joke.
Before I knew it, a bitter smile already formed on my lips.
“Alpha wouldn’t let anyone report about you leaving, but I couldn’t help myself…” Cathy’s words brought me out of my thoughts, and I raised my head again to see her shoulders slumping slightly in dismay.
She let out a faint but humorless smile, “That’s why I wrote that article, but then I was fired. Because of that, I had to be a dishwasher to get by. It was miserable, but I wasn’t willing to stay there forever. Eventually, someone sent me a recommendation letter, and that’s how I ended up at Wakeland Times.”
She shrugged her shoulders afterward and gave another bitter smile, seemingly trying to hide her pain, but her eyes utterly betrayed her.
I could see that her emotions and story were genuine, but something seemed amiss no matter how I looked at it.
My eyes narrowed slightly, and I asked alertly, “Who sent you that recommendation letter?”
At first, Cathay was a bit hesitant. She was glancing down and all around but me as if unsure of what to say. “It… it was a very mysterious person. I don’t even know their name…”
My heart tumbled.
A mysterious person? Could it be…
