Chapter 318: A Woman Scorned

Kai was deep in the middle of reviewing a report that had been sent up from the security team when his office door swung open.

There was no knock or any polite pause. Just the sudden, sharp sound of the handle turning and the door flying open.

He looked up to find Alicia standing in the doorway, staring calmly at him with a blank expression.

"Alicia," he said, straightening in his chair. "I heard you were unwell yesterday. How are you feeling?"

She walked toward his desk, her heels making sharp sounds against the floor. "We need to talk." She folded her arms across her chest.

Kai had been expecting this conversation. He’d known it was coming since the moment he’d found Jessica alive. There was no avoiding it. So he closed his laptop and gave her his full attention, folding his hands on the desk.

"Of course. Sit down, let’s—"

"When is the engagement announcement going to take place?" Alicia cut in, stopping directly in front of his desk. She did not sit.

Kai released a long breath and pressed his fingers against his temple. "Alicia, I’ve been meaning to speak with you about that. There are things happening right now—"

"The pack needs this," she interrupted. Her voice was steady, but only just. "Your mother needs it. The council has been sitting on their hands waiting for you to do one simple thing since the day you took the title, and every week you don’t, it looks worse. For you and for all of us."

He looked at her then, really looked, and saw the desperation beneath the anger. It was in the way she held herself, all rigid lines and sharp edges, as if bracing for a blow she knew was coming.

"Alicia." He kept his voice calm and even. "I know you’ve found out about Jessica."

A bitter laugh escaped her. "Oh, I’ve found out about your little waitress, yes."

She uncrossed her arms and planted both hands on the edge of his desk, leaning forward.

"But how sure are you that woman is Jessica? Hmm? Because she doesn’t know you. She goes by the name Sidonie and looks at you like you’re a stranger." Her eyes flashed. "You’re throwing away everything for a girl who doesn’t even remember your name."

"Please." Kai’s voice had gone low, dangerous. "Let’s not go there."

"No, I want to go there." Alicia’s voice cracked on the words. "I have waited for you for three years, Kai. In fact, for the whole of my life. I stood by you when you couldn’t get out of bed. I defended you to the council. I ran your operations while you were off living out of a hotel in this city, refusing to speak to anybody. And now, at the slightest resemblance to your dead girlfriend, you abandon me like I meant nothing."

Kai shot up from his seat, his hands slamming flat against the desk. The sound echoed through the office. "Don’t call her that," he said, and his voice had gone cold in a way it rarely did with her. "Jessica is not dead. Do not ever call her dead again."

Alicia stood very still. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she made no move to wipe them away.

"You’re cruel," she whispered. "You are so cruel, and you don’t even see it. You don’t care. You never cared."

Kai’s anger deflated as quickly as it had risen. He saw the tears, the trembling of her lower lip, the way her shoulders shook with the effort of holding herself together.

And beneath the frustration, beneath the anger, there was still a softness for her. A care that hadn’t disappeared entirely, even if it was not what she wanted it to be.

"I’m sorry," he said quietly. "Alicia, I am. You are a good person. You’re fun, and you’re capable, and you’re efficient, and you deserve someone who loves you the way you deserve to be loved."

Her breath caught.

"But maybe we don’t belong together." He forced the words out, each one feeling heavier than the last. "Maybe we never did. And if I let this continue, I’ll only hurt you more."

For a long moment, Alicia simply stared at him. Her face was wet with tears, but her eyes had gone very still.

"I hate you," she said.

Then she turned, stormed out of the office, and slammed the door behind her with a force that rattled the windows.

Kai stood very still for a full minute after she was gone. Then he sank back into his chair, released a long breath, and closed his eyes.

Alicia did not go to her office. She did not go home. Every sensible part of her mind was screaming at her to leave, to put distance between herself and the source of her rage, but her body was already moving in the opposite direction.

She went down to the restaurant.

Downstairs, Jessica had just carried a tray of chicken out to the hot counter and was sliding it into place when Marcus said something so unbelievably stupid that she had to stop and put her hands on her hips.

"Do I hear wedding bells with Mr Chairman?"

"No, you don’t, Marcus," Jessica replied. "Now, stop poking your nose into other people’s businesses and grab the vegetables."

The doors swung open as Alicia entered, and several employees looked up in alarm. They had never seen Miss Westwood here except for a few times when she came to check on things, and never had they seen her looking like this.

Jessica did not see Alicia at first. Marcus did, and his face went slack. He tapped Jessica’s arm twice, quickly, and his eyes went past her shoulder.

Jessica turned round.

She had a fraction of a second to register that it was Miss Alicia Westwood, coming across the restaurant floor at speed, and then the woman was on her.

"What are you doing?" The words left Jessica’s mouth, but she had no time to react further before Alicia’s hand lunged forward and grabbed a fistful of her hair, dragging her away from the counter with astonishing strength.

"Stay away from my fiancé!" Alicia screamed, her voice raw and shaking. "Do you hear me? Stay away from him, you little slut!"

Pain exploded across Jessica’s scalp, and for a moment she could not think. Her hands flew up, clawing at Alicia’s fingers, but the grip was like iron.

She stumbled as she was pulled into the centre of the restaurant, her shoes skidding against the tile.

"Let go of me!" Jessica cried, but Alicia’s strength was impossible and unnatural.

Marcus had already fled to the back, and within seconds, Gloria burst through the kitchen doors with a spatula in one hand.

"Miss Westwood!" Gloria shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos. "What on earth is going on here?"

Alicia did not loosen her grip. "This is none of your business, Gloria. This little bitch has been throwing herself at my fiancé, and I will not stand for it."

"That is enough!" Gloria advanced, spatula raised as though she fully intended to use it. "I don’t care who you are, you cannot come into this restaurant and assault my staff. Let her go immediately!"

With a final shove, Alicia pushed Jessica away from her.

Jessica hit the floor hard. The impact jarred through her spine, and for a moment, she could not move. The room tilted, and everything hurt.

For a heart-stopping moment, no one moved. Alicia’s face was twisted with fury, her breathing ragged, and there was something in her eyes that Jessica did not understand—something glinting that was not entirely human. Her pupils had changed, shifting into something sharper, brighter.

Gloria put herself squarely between Alicia and Jessica, still clutching the spatula like a weapon.

"With all due respect, Miss Westwood," Gloria said, her voice shaking but steady, "you need to leave this restaurant now. Before I call security and have you escorted from the building."

Alicia stood there, breathing hard, her eyes still fixed on Jessica where she lay on the floor. The fury was receding now, replaced by something colder and more controlled.

"Next time I see you anywhere near him," she said, her voice soft but clear, "it won’t be just your hair that gets dragged."

Then she turned and walked out of the restaurant, her heels clicking against the tile like the ticking of a clock.

The room seemed to exhale as one. Several employees who had been frozen at different positions scrambled to move, their faces pale. Jessica’s colleague rushed forward with a bottle of water.

"Are you okay?" Gloria crouched beside Jessica, her face creased with worry. "Can you stand? Let me help you up."

Jessica took her hand, letting Gloria pull her to her feet. Her head was pounding, her back ached, and her hands were trembling violently.

"I think so," she whispered. "I think I’m okay."