Chapter 47
Chapter 0047 Hannah +25
fury
BONUS
With the ruined charm bracelet clenched in my fist, I stormed down the hallway toward Noah's office, t rising in my chest with every step. How dare he? How dare he rifle through my private belongings and defile that gift in such a callous, petty manner? "When did he even...?" I hissed to myself as I stormed through the mansion's hallways. I had stayed in my room for most of yesterday after I had gone out with Drake. Had Noah really walked into my room while I was sleeping and taken the charm bracelet? Goddess, I thought to myself, forgive me for killing this man.
I
I didn't bother knocking before I flung the door open, the wood slamming against the wall with a resounding bang. Noah jumped in his seat, his head whipping up from behind his large mahogany desk to gape at me in surprise. "Hannah, what-
"What is your issue?" I spat out, stalking forward to slam the crumpled bracelet down on his desk. The delicate charms clinked together harshly, and part of me secretly hoped that they would dig gouges into the expensive wood of Noah's precious desk. Noah's gaze flicked from the ruined jewelry to my livid expression, his brows knitting together in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking ab-"
"This is
"Don't play dumb with me," I snarled, leaning over the desk to jab an accusatory finger in his face. "Yout went into my room, opened my nightstand, and threw Drake's gift in the trash like some sort of jealous, petulant child! What is wrong with you?" Understanding flickered across, Noah's features the quick without a shred of hesitation to Worse, sky, then recover, picked up the shan the mangled bracelet with this fingers, yet up it with obvious disdain a that's all I did to it," he muttered darkly. Then, without a shred of hesitation or remorse, he leaned over, picked up the small metal wastebasket next to his desk, held it up in the air... and made a show of throwing the charm bracelet inside right in front of me. This is is trash, Hannah," he said as he set the wastebasket back down and dusted his hands off. "Let it go. I'll buy you something better." I felt my jaw drop in outraged disbelief as the gleaming silver bracelet disappeared from view once again. Sputtering, I whirled around the desk and gripped the handles of Noah's chair, leaning over him. The wheels squeaked in protest at the added weight, but I only pressed down harder.
I
"What the hell is your problem?" I asked, towering over his seated form. With our faces mere inches apart now, I could feel his breath on my neck.
Noah met my heated glare with infuriating nonchalance, his features schooled into an impenetrable mask, "The problem, Hannah, is that you're a fool if you think Drake's cheap trinkets actually mean anything. He's trying to get something out of you, clearly." "I'm aware they don't mean anything." I shot back through gritted teeth. "Drake is an insatiable flirt who gives gifts with ulterior motives-I'm not blind to that fact. But that bracelet wasn't yours to throw away, Chapter 0047 +25.
Noah! It's the principle of the thing!"
Noah snorted derisively at that. "You really want to lecture me about principles, after you've spent the better part of a week publicly parading around with another man right under my nose?"
"I've done nothing scandalous," I hissed, leaning down until we were nose-to-nose. "If anyone is scandalizing this marriage further, it's you with your jealous tantrums and inability to treat me like your equal!"
For a long, tense moment, we simply glowered at one another, our chests heaving with the force of our anger. Then, quite abruptly, Noah broke eye contact with a scoff.
"Whatever," he muttered, leaning over to retrieve a stack of papers from his desk. "Make whatever excuses you want, Hannah-I won't stop you. Just don't expect me to sit idly by while you flaunt your indiscretions for all the world to see."
"Indiscretions?" I echoed in disbelief. "Drake was here on official pack business! Would you have preferred-1 ignore him completely, only for him to turn around and deny us the right to host the Lunar Festival? It's not as if you've been the glittering host." Noah's jaw ticked, his grip tightening ever so slightly on the papers in his grasp. Before he could unleash another tirade, though, a sharp knock rang out from the door, making us both freeze.
"Go away." I snapped over my shoulder, my glare still trained squarely on my husband.
"Come in," Noah called out at the same time, his voice clipped but distinctly louder than mine.
The door creaked open to reveal one of our timid s***nt girls, her dark head bowed as she crept into the
room.
"A delivery for you, Alpha," she said in a tiny voice, extending a sealed envelope toward Noah. With an impatient wave of his hand, Noah beckoned the girl forward. She scurried up to the desk, carefully laying the envelope on top of the stack of papers there before making a hasty retreat, her footsteps rapid against the floor. Clearly, she had heard our little argument. And I didn't care.
And
For a long moment, neither of us moved to touch the mysterious envelope. I was too frustrated to care what it contained, and Noah seemed similarly disinterested-until, suddenly, his fingers curled around the thick paper and he tore it open with a quick flick of his thumb. His eyes scanned over the contents briefly, his brow furrowing deeper with each passing second. Then, without so much as a word of explanation, he whipped the envelope toward me with enough force for the heavy paper to slice through the air like a blade. "This is where your so-called 'hostess' abilities have gotten us," Noah said with a thick sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose.NôvelDrama.Org holds © this.
Shooting him another glower, I s****ed the paper out of his hand and read the contents. The more I read, though, the more I felt my anger slip away into bitter regret.
A...
dinner date?" I muttered, slowly raising my gaze to meet Noah's. "With Drake and Zoe?"
Noah nodded and s**d the paper back from my now-slack hands. He stood, crossing over to the
window and looking out with his hands clasped behind his back. "This is what you don't understand about Drake," he said. "You give an inch, and the ba***rd takes a mile."
I frowned at the back of his head. "What did I have to do with this?"
Noah scoffed. "You opened the b***dy door, that's what you did," he said, not even deigning to turn around to face me. "You made him feel welcomed-and now Zoe probably felt pressured into accepting his dinner invitation."
"Are we going to allow ourselves to be pressured, too?"
He was silent for several long moments, although I could vaguely make out the outline of his jaw working beneath his skin from where I stood. Finally, he turned and tossed the invitation back down on the desk between us and fixed me with an icy look. "Unfortunately, it seems we have no choice."