Get S
The moment the gag was removed, Laura inhaled sharply, relief flooding her lungs. The cloth had stifled her for so long that the first cough burst uncontrollably from deep within her throat, harsh and rattling, coloring her cheeks with a flush of embarrassment and lingering pain.
Through the haze of discomfort, the sight of Preston’s polished shoes came into view. Laura hesitated, a flicker of dread creeping over her, when suddenly a strong hand gripped her chin and forced her gaze upward. Her eyes locked with his- eyes sharp, cold, and brimming with an unmistakable, simmering menace.
“I’m in a foul mood,” Preston warned, his voice low and clipped. “I don’t have the patience to waste. You’d better answer every question truthfully and immediately.”
A pulse hammered in Laura’s chest. The pressure of his gloved fingers pinching her chin tightened cruelly, relentless and merciless. Pain blossomed fiercely, stealing her breath and pulling tears from the comers of her eyes.
“Why are you targeting Georgia?” he demanded.
Georgia. The name echoed again like a dark refrain, relentless and suffocating. Why was it always Georgia? Why did Jeveryone revolve around her, their thoughts and grudges tangled in her shadow?
Laura clenched her fists inside, burning with a secret, unspoken envy she dared not admit aloud. But at this moment, facing the cold fury before her, there was no room for defiance–only submission. Her voice trembled as she forced out, “I’m not targeting Georgia.
Preston’s eyes narrowed with icy contempt. “I don’t want to hear your lies.”
His grip tightened like a vise, the gloved fingers crushing with such force it felt as though her jaw might snap. Agony exploded across her face, tears streaking freely as a faint, sickening crack reverberated in her bones.
“I’ll talk,” Laura gasped, surrendering to the nightmare of his presence. The man before her was no longer human–he was a monster cloaked in elegance and menace. Chapter Unlocked, Enjoy Reading! with a fierce hatred for Georgia, who had dared to plead on her behalf before this merciless alpha.
She cursed Georgia in silence, hating the woman whose name had become the axis of her torment.
Yet all the venom in her heart could not overcome the terror that held her still.
“It’s Mr. Foster,” Laura whispered, her voice trembling but defiant.
Preston raised a brow, a flicker of recognition flashing in his cold gaze. “Dominic?”
“Yes,” she confirmed, bitterness creeping into her tone. “I liked Mr. Foster, but Georgia… she seduced him. If Georgia had just behaved, I wouldn’t find her so unbearable. But she didn’t. She’d do anything for money. Mr. Foster doesn’t know who she really is. I won’t watch him get fooled by a woman like her. She only wants his money.
Laura’s confession was more than a statement of facts, it was a selfish attempt to tamish Georgia’s name in the eyes of the man who ruled them all. She wanted Preston to see the ‘truth‘ about Georgia, to finally believe what she refused to admit about herself–her jealousy.
Lorenzo stood silently nearby, brow furrowed, watching the exchange without a word
Preston’s face hardened, expression unreadable as he regarded Laura with cold appraisal.
*Do you have proof of Georgia seducing Dominic?” he asked, voice smooth but sharp as a blade.
“Yes,” Laura’s eyes sparked with a mixture of fury and scom. “I caught them kissing in the stairwell.”
Preston’s gaze sharpened, the air around them growing thick with unspoken tension.
“You did?”
“I saw them. Mr. Foster and Georgia, kissing like they belonged to each other.”
A flicker of cold fire ignited in Preston’s eyes, frost creeping across his handsome features. Lorenzo, who knew Preston better than most, was the first to notice the subtle shift–a predator awakened.
< Chapter 70
“That’s not all,” Laura pressed, her voice dripping with resentment. “Mr. Foster treats Georgia better than anyone else. Last time she fell, he helped her up, holding her waist. Who would let a well–mannered woman do that?”
The atmosphere grew oppressive, suffused with an icy dread. Preston’s face was a mask of ruthless calculation.
“Maybe Dominic seduced Georgia,” Preston offered, the possibility hanging like a shadow.
Laura’s scom boiled over, her pride momentarily overpowering her fear. “How could that be? What does Georgia have to be proud of? Her looks? Her body? Her family? Her education?”
She failed to notice the flicker of something unreadable crossing Preston’s face.
“Georgia has nothing.” Laura spat. “Who knows what tricks she used to reel Mr. Foster in? Maybe she played the poor, pitiful victim to get his sympathy. After all, Mr. Foster had never met anyone like her before.”
Her words spilled out unchecked, the venom in her voice a bitter confession of jealousy and spite. This was her moment to expose Georgia, to prove the woman’s true nature in front of the pack’s Alpha.
Lorenzo’s frown deepened as he glanced between the two women–innocence and cruelty tangled in one, mercy and judgment in the other. He felt uncomfortable, knowing the gravity of the moment. Laura seemed oblivious that her bitterness landed on ears that had already been begged for mercy by Georgia herself.
Preston’s patience snapped like a brittle thread. Slowly, deliberately, he released his grip, flinging Laura’s chin aside as if discarding a worthless object.
He rose, towering over her, looking down with undisguised disgust.
“Disgusting,” he breathed, voice low and filled with cold revulsion.
Laura blinked, confused. “A woman like Georgia is disgusting,” she shot back, defiance flickering.
Preston’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “You’re wrong. You’re the disgusting one.”
Shock froze Laura’s features.
“I finally understand why Dominic gave you to Titus, Preston continued, voice a sharp blade. “Because you’re disgusting.”
“Me?” Laura’s disbelief was raw and fierce. “I’m better than Georgia…”
Preston cut her off with icy finality. “Don’t compare yourself to Georgia. You can never match her–in any way.”
Three years ago, Georgia had it all: the looks, the education, the pedigree. Preston felt a pang of regret, fleeting but real, for the life he had destroyed.
Now, Laura mocked Georgia for those very things.
A sharp mental ping from Lorenzo pulled Preston back to the present.
He looked down at Laura, voice cold as winter steel “Georgia’s act–the drowning scene–was a setup by Dominic.”
Laura’s face drained of color, her eyes widening in horrified disbelief,
“You lied to me!” she cried. “Mr. Foster is a good person!”
Preston almost laughed–bitter and dark.
“Good person? Dominic?” he echoed mockingly.
