Charlotte's POV
The champagne glass slipped from a waiter's tray and burst at my feet.
Everyone close turned to stare, but I barely noticed. My eyes were locked on Marcus and the blonde woman, Isabelle Kane, as they took congratulations from the crowd surrounding them.
Engaged. Marcus was engaged.
To someone else.
My legs felt like they might crumple. The beautiful ballroom spun around me, all the lights and decorations blurred together. I couldn't move. Couldn't think.
Six months. Six months of secret meetings and whispered vows. Six months of him telling me I was special. That he cared about me. That we just needed to be patient until the time was right.
And all of it was a lie. "Oh, how romantic!" a woman near me gushed to her friend. "They kept their relationship so secret. I had no idea General Steele was seeing Senator Kane's daughter." "I heard they've been together for over a year," her friend whispered back. "Vivian Kane wanted to wait until after the elections to announce it officially. You know how leaders are about timing."
Over a year.
Marcus had been with Isabelle for over a year. Which meant when he first approached me six months ago with coffee and praise, he was already in a relationship with her.
I'd never been his lover. I'd been his... what? His secret? His mistake? His joke?
My wolf whimpered inside me, feeling the pain and deception as sharply as I did.
I needed to leave. Get out of here before I start crying in front of all these important people. Before I made an even bigger fool of myself than I already was.
But my feet wouldn't move.
Across the hall, Marcus was shaking hands with a military officer. Isabelle clung to his arm, smiling and laughing. Senator Kane stood nearby, looking proud and strong.
They looked great together. Like they belonged in each other's world.
Not like me, the orphan omega in a dress that was probably just another one of Marcus's lies. "Excuse me, miss?" A young server approached nervously. "You're standing in broken glass. Let me help you move. "I'm fine." My voice came out rough and strange.
But I wasn't great. Nothing was great.
Marcus looked in my direction again. Our eyes met for just a moment, and I saw it clearly this time. Not guilt. Not regret.
Annoyance.
Like I was a problem he hadn't expected to deal with tonight.
Something inside me snapped.
I'd spent my whole life being unseen. Being the girl nobody noticed or cared about. I'd accepted it because I thought that's just how life was for wolves like me.
But six months ago, Marcus made me feel seen. Important. Loved.
And it was all fake.
He didn't get to just ignore me now. He didn't get to pretend I didn't exist.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I started walking toward him. My hands were shaking, but I kept going. Through the crowd. Past the ice sculptures and champagne streams. Straight toward the man who'd destroyed me.
People noticed. Started whispering. Pointing.
The music seemed to get quieter as I got closer. "Marcus." My voice cracked on his name.
He turned, and for just a second, real fear flashed across his face. Then it was gone, replaced by cold politeness. "Miss Harris. What a surprise to see you here."
Miss Harris. Not Charlotte. Not the nickname he'd whispered during our secret talks.
Miss Harris. Like I was a stranger. "Can we talk?" I hated how my voice shook. "Privately?"
Isabelle Kane looked at me with confusion. "I'm sorry, who are you?" "She's nobody important, darling," Senator Kane interjected easily. "Just a junior expert from the base. Probably wants to thank the General." "Actually, I" My throat closed up. What was I going to say? That I'd been sleeping with her fiancé for six months? That he'd told me he loved me?
In front of all these people, those words would make me sound crazy. Desperate. Delusional.
Which was probably exactly what Marcus wanted. "Miss Harris, this is wrong." Marcus's voice was sharp now. Professional. "If you need to speak with me about work issues, you can schedule an appointment through proper channels." "Work matters?" The words burst out of me, loud enough that people nearby definitely heard. "You sent me a dress, Marcus! You told me you couldn't wait to see me tonight!"
Gasps spread through the crowd. Isabelle's smile disappeared. Senator Kane's eyes narrowed with anger.
Marcus's face hardened. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never sent you anything." "Yes, you did! The shiny dress! With a note that said, "Miss Harris, I think you've had too much to drink." Marcus cut me off, his voice carrying across the now-silent hall. "I don't know what fantasy you've constructed in your mind, but I have never been involved with you in any capacity beyond professional courtesy."
The crowd was staring now. Everyone had stopped talking, stopped moving, stopped everything to watch this disaster unfold. "Professional courtesy?" My voice rose higher. "We've been together for six months! You said you told me, "I told you nothing except that you needed to improve your work performance." Marcus's voice was ice-cold now. "Yes, I've taught you because I felt sorry for you. A child omega is trying to make it in military intelligence when they clearly lack the skills. I gave you extra care to help you succeed. If you mistook my kindness for something else, that's unfortunate but not my duty."
The words hit me like physical blows.
Around us, people whispered. Some looked at me with pity. Others with disgust. Like I was some pathetic girl who'd dreamed a relationship that never existed. "You're lying," I whispered. "You know you're lying." "Am I?" Marcus stepped closer, his voice dropping so only I could hear. "And who do you think people will believe, Charlotte? An honored General engaged to a Senator's daughter? Or a nobody analyst with fantasies of importance?"
Tears burned my eyes, but I wouldn't let them fall. Not here. Not in front of him. "I have proof," I said frantically. "I have the dress you sent. The texts you sent me. "Texts?" Marcus's laugh was cruel. "Show me these texts then. Show everyone."
I fumbled for my phone with shaking hands. I'd deleted a lot of our texts because Marcus said we needed to be careful. But there had to be something left. Some proof that I wasn't crazy.
I pulled up my message records with Marcus's number.
Empty.
Every single text was gone. "No. No, they were here. I know they were here. "Miss Harris, this is becoming embarrassing." Senator Kane's words cut through my panic. "Security, please escort this disturbed young woman out before she makes more of a scene."
Two large guards started moving toward me. "Wait," I looked at Marcus one more time, begging him quietly to tell the truth. To admit what we'd been to each other.
But his eyes were empty. Cold. "You were an escape for a few boring months," he said quietly, making sure his voice didn't carry beyond me. "Nothing more. A distraction I've already forgotten. You should have stayed unseen, Charlotte. You were better off that way."
The guards reached me, hands closing around my arms. "Come with us, miss."
The crowd split as they started leading me toward the exit. I could hear the words following me like knives. "How embarrassing." "Poor crazy girl." "Can you imagine thinking someone like General Steele would want someone like her?"
I wanted to escape. To sink into the floor and never be seen again.
This was going to be the night everything changed. The night I finally became somebody important.
Instead, it was the night I learned I'd always been nobody.
Just as I reached the hall doors, ready to be thrown out into the snow like garbage, something happened.
The huge entrance doors burst open with a sound like thunder.
Every single wolf in the ballroom froze.
The temperature dropped so suddenly that I could see my breath.
And a voice deep, powerful, filled with authority that made my wolf automatically want to bow spoke from the doorway. "Release her. Now."
I turned, and my heart stopped completely.
Standing in the entrance, ringed by six massive warriors in formal guard uniforms, was Alpha King Daemon Blackwood.
And his storm-gray eyes were locked straight on me.