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Ava blinked her eyes when she heard Ian. She realized that there were so many things about her that he did not know. Everything had changed in four years.
But she was surprised that he still remembered that she was afraid of darkness.
She remembered once he told her,
“Come to me whenever you feel afraid of the dark. I will always be there for you.”
Ava’s face turned cold as she shoved the old memories. He was the man who put her in the darkness, the darkness from where she needed three and half years to come out.
She gathered her strength and pushed his hand away from her mouth.
“Alpha Ian, what the hell are you doing?”
Because of her push, his other hand, which held a lighter, moved. The flame blew out.
The room returned to darkness and silence.
The man in the room expected her to ask him to light it again. However, she proved him wrong when she stated,
“No, I am not afraid of the darkness. Not anymore.”
His brows furrowed as he was not expecting this. He was mad at himself for why he came here. He should not have come here in the first place.
“Alpha Ian, you came to my workplace to disturb me, didn’t you? Or…”
She paused as a smile appeared on her face which he could not notice.
She moved aside and started to walk. He thought she would leave. But instead of leaving, she went to the window. She remomed the blinds and opened the window.
The sunlight streaming in from outside illuminated the entire room.
Ian’s gaze rested on her face. He turned around and leaned his back against the wall.
“Or what? Miss Taylor?” he asked, raising a brow.
She could clearly see he looked mad. But he tried to pretend he was not.
She leaned against the window, folding her arms against her chest.
Both of them were too close a while ago, but they are now very far apart.
With a grin on her face, she replied,
“Or are you surprised to see me as a famous designer?”
The tone of her voice mocked him. His eyes grew sharper as they keened.
“So sorry! I could not let you enjoy your temporary pleasure. You must be really happy to see me as a waitress. Wait, let me guess, what did you think?”
She looked away from him, rolling her eyes, looking here and there as if she was thinking about something. “You may have believed that without me, this idiot could not move forward. How stupid did you think she was?”
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Without his knowledge, the darkness within his eyes began to fade. He was listening to her with his back against the wall.
“Keep dreaming about your company’s win. I will not allow you to steal any of this company’s deals as long as I am here.”
“Are you challenging me?” he asked with a deep voice.
She was taken aback to hear his voice after such a long time She realized that the conversation she was having with him was unnecessary. She did not have to pay much attention to him.
“Consider it a challenge or an alarm for
your future. I am going to win this competition,” she declared confidently.
Her eyes were filled with passion, which sparkled. It was visible that she was very confident about her work.
“What if you won’t?”
“No chance.”
“Let’s see,” he said with a dark chuckle.
She blinked her eyes and rubbed her palm with her fingertips. She thought,
‘Was I overconfident when I said that?
She shrugged her shoulders and walked toward the door, deciding to exit the room.
Ian noticed her movements and asked,
“How long have you been with this company?”
Her steps came to a stop. She turned to face him and asked,
“Why? Are you going to bankrupt this company because it gave me a job?”
Her tone was cold. She did not want him to engage in nonsense, but rather in direct conversation. She was not a friend with whom she could talk or gossip.
“So you know I have the ability to do so,” he muttered, placing a cigarette between his lips.
He bit the cigarette while smirking at her.
Ava froze for a brief moment. He looked like a mafia boss who came to kill his enemy. His maniacal appearance may appeal to other women, but to her, he was nothing more than an arrogant bad boy. He did not deserve her kind behavior.
After lighting the cigarette, he blew out a smoke. He removed it from her lips while holding it between his two fingers.
She kept her gaze on him. He had not changed in the slightest. He was still a chain smoker. He could not stay without smoking for a while.
There was no way she would let him try to blackmail her again. She would not fall into his trap again. She said, “This company is unbeatable, as everyone knows. My Alpha built this company with his own hands.”
The moment she mentioned Dane, she saw Ian’s eyes briefly turn red. She was internally stunned. Its blood red color demonstrated his wolf’s strength. For a moment, her wolf whined inside. But she did not express it in front of him.
2/3
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“How dare you refer to that man as your Alpha?” he groaned.
She showed no reaction. Instead, she approached him and halted in front of him.
He would have to face Ava today, who was not afraid of this bad boy.
He was surprised to see her get closer. He remained motionless as he stared at her.
“Dare? He is my Alpha.”
She spoke each word slowly and calmly, looking into his eyes.
His jaw clenched.
Ava chuckled as she noticed his aggressive expression.
“You have not talked to your gamma since last night, have you?”
He was silent, glaring at her. He assumed she was only trying to show him that she was with other men.
Without warning, he put his hand around her waist and asked,
“When are you going to stop whoring around, huh?”
She gave him a smile and answered,
“Whore, slut, bitch, prostitute… how many names you have given me. But there is a new title you need to add….”
She rose to her tiptoes and tilted her head to whisper in his ear.
“Your Rival’s Luna.”
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