Mated to My Fiancé’s Alpha King Brother

124 Chapter 124

Seraphina’s POV

The storage room smells like cleaning supplies and old paper. Dust motes drift through the afternoon light streaming from the small window, and I press my palms against the one-way glass, trying to steady my

breathing.

I can see everything.

Emma Rodriguez sits at my old desk-*my* desk-her perfectly manicured fingers flying across the keyboard

with the kind of confidence I used to have. Her hair is swept up in an elegant chignon. Her burgundy blazer

fits like it was tailored specifically for her body. Even from here, even through the glass, I can see the way she

holds herself. Straight spine. Shoulders back. Every inch the competent professional.

I catch my reflection in the glass and wince. My hair is falling out of the ponytail I hastily threw it into this

morning. There’s a stain on my sweater-probably from Lily’s last feeding. My eyes look hollow, ringed with

the kind of dark circles that no amount of concealer can hide.

*Human nanny.* The words echo in my head, Emma’s voice from yesterday when she saw me at Damien’s

door.

The office door opens, and my heart clenches as Damien walks in. He’s wearing the charcoal gray suit I

bought him for his birthday last year, the one that makes his eyes look almost silver in certain light. He looks

every inch the powerful Alpha he is-commanding, confident, untouchable.

Emma stands immediately, and I watch as she moves around the desk to greet him. She’s close. Too close.

Her body language is professional, but there’s something else there. The way she tilts her head slightly when

she speaks. The way she touches his arm briefly while handing him a file.

My chest tightens with something ugly and familiar that makes me feel small and pathetic.

Damien doesn’t seem to notice her proximity. He’s focused on the documents she’s showing him, his brow furrowed in concentration. But that’s how he’s always been-single-minded when it comes to business. It’s one of the things I used to love about working with him. We were a perfect team.

Now I’m on the wrong side of the glass, watching someone else take my place.

08:12

1/4

the glass is too thick. Their

noise that makes my frustration

fingernails on a chalkboard. It’s a perfect laugh -not too loud, not too soft, just professional enough to be appropriate while still showing she has a sense of humor. I used to laugh like that in meetings. Used to be the

before he voiced them.

outside when the maintenance guy “accidentally” shut me in here twenty minutes ago.

back after she finished “just one quick thing”

Twenty minutes ago.

against the glass and try

while watching this,

me, is making my

pointing at something outside. Damien follows, standing beside

she’s showing him. They’re silhouetted against the afternoon light, two

discussing business

sight makes

Emma

He nods, asks what

obvious enthusiasm.

a

used to

pulls out her phone, shows him something on

her smile. Not the professional smile she’s

exactly the kind of smile that would make any man

ridiculous, I

There’s nothing inappropriate happening here, nothing

08.12

214

doesn’t make it hurt

to find some of that inner strength that used to come

I feel

an empty well.

I open my eyes, Damien is checking his watch. He says something

stack of papers. They’re

will remember that I exist and come

Emma walks around the desk and

the door, pausing to say something over his

acknowledgment.

And then he’s gone.

moving across the keyboard with

home, completely in control of her

and slide down until I’m sitting on the floor among boxes of