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.

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to hear what they’re saying, but the glass is too thick. Their voices are just

noise that makes my frustration spike

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 one standing beside him,

before he voiced them.

clicked from the outside when the maintenance guy “accidentally” shut me in here twenty minutes ago. Emma had been so apologetic, promising she’d

after she finished “just one quick

Twenty minutes ago.

glass

But being trapped while watching this, watching

that used to define me, is making my chest feel tight

something outside. Damien follows, standing beside her as

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

business

sight makes my

Emma is telling

asks what looks like

obvious enthusiasm.

a team.

used

on the screen. He

her smile. Not the professional smile she’s been wearing all morning-a

kind of smile that would make any

my palms. I’m being ridiculous, I know that. Emma is doing her job. Damien

here, nothing

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214

doesn’t make

close my eyes and try to center myself, try to find some of that

I feel hollow. Like I’m trying to draw water

an empty well.

is checking his watch.

stack of papers. They’re

remember that I exist and come let me

leaving, Emma walks around the desk and settles into the chair-*my*

door, pausing to say something

acknowledgment.

And then he’s gone.

her fingers moving

completely in

I’m sitting on the floor among boxes of