Chapter 236

"He'll be here to pick me up in about thirty minutes," I said, my fingers nervously tapping against my phone screen. "But that's not what's bothering me. It's Beatrice. I can't reach her at all. We haven't spoken since she left yesterday."

Giselle's expression faltered for a brief moment before she wrapped her arms around herself, as if trying to hold back the worry creeping into her voice. "That doesn't sound like her," she murmured. "Beatrice always answers your calls."

I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting with unease. "Exactly. Something feels off."

The silence between us stretched, heavy with unspoken concern. The bright morning sunlight streaming through the windows suddenly felt too harsh, too indifferent to the gnawing dread settling in my chest.

Giselle exhaled sharply, her fingers tightening around her elbows. "Have you tried tracking her phone?"

I shook my head. "She turned off her location sharing last week after that argument with Tyler. Said she needed space."

A shadow crossed Giselle's face. "You don't think... he had something to do with this, do you?"

My pulse spiked at the thought. Tyler had been charming at first, but lately, his possessiveness had started to unsettle even Beatrice. "I don't know," I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. "But I'm going to find out."

Just then, my phone buzzed—a message notification. My breath hitched as I swiped it open, only for my hope to shatter.

Unknown Number: Stop looking for her.

The screen blurred as my hands began to shake.

Giselle's sharp inhale told me she'd seen it too. "Lillian," she said urgently, "we need to call Sebastian. Now."

But before I could react, another message came through—this time, a photo.

My blood turned to ice.

It was Beatrice.

And she wasn't alone.

I was in worse shape than when I'd started.

Slowly, I peeled off my dress and slipped back into my pajamas, twisting my hair into a messy knot before heading to the bathroom to scrub away the smeared makeup. The tears wouldn’t stop. I shouldn’t have been this upset over Sebastian canceling on me.

He wasn’t my real boyfriend. This was just an arrangement—mutually beneficial, nothing more. I needed Donovan out of my life, and he needed his family off his back. That was the deal. We both got what we wanted. I’d known the terms from the beginning, so why did this sting so much?

But my wolf didn’t seem to care about logic. She was devastated, just like when Donovan had chosen Evelyn over me. I’d sworn I’d never let myself feel this way again, yet here I was, drowning in foolish disappointment.

I decided to lock myself in my room for the rest of the night. Facing Giselle and Lucien wasn’t an option—I couldn’t handle their pity on top of my own mess of emotions. Better to hide, to bury myself under the covers and pretend sleep would come.

The next morning, I slipped out before dawn, avoiding them both. I wasn’t ready for questions.