Reborn ‘The Alpha I Called a Mistake’

Chapter 9

Aurelia’s POV

“The night I kissed Vespera…” His jaw tightened. “I was drunk. Not tipsy. Not buzzed. I was so far gone that I could barely remember my own name.”

I opened my mouth to speak.

I wanted to tell him that being drunk did not erase responsibility. That I had heard enough excuses from people who had been caught doing things they regretted. But before I could say anything, he continued.

“She took advantage of me.”

The words hung heavily between us.

“I know how it sounds,” he said quickly. “I know what you must think. But I can prove it.”

My brows drew together.

“I brought her here.”

My blood ran cold.

“You what?”

“She’s outside.”

Before I could stop him, Ryan crossed the room and opened the door.

“Vespera. Get in here.”

She entered slowly.

Vespera Nightbane—the celebrated heiress, the woman whose name alone could open doors most people could never reach—looked nothing like the polished, untouchable woman I knew.

Her blonde hair fell loosely around her face. Her shoulders were tense, and she kept her eyes lowered as though she could barely stand to look at me.

Ryan turned toward her.

“Tell her,” he said coldly. “Tell her the truth.”

Vespera flinched.

For several seconds, she remained silent.

Then she slowly raised her head.

Tears glistened in her dark eyes.

“He only ever loved you.”

My heart clenched.

“It was me,” she continued. “I pursued him. I used my family’s connections to get close to him, to push my way into his life. I thought if I could make him notice me, if I could make him want me, eventually he would forget about you.”

She swallowed hard.

“But he never did.”

Her voice trembled.

“He never saw me as anything more than a friend. And that night…”

She stopped, her breath hitching.

“That night, he was so drunk he could barely stand. I told myself it was my chance. I convinced myself that he wanted it, that maybe if I pushed hard enough, he would finally choose me.”

A tear slipped down her cheek.

“But he didn’t.”

The room seemed to shrink around me.

“I let you believe that he had chosen me,” she whispered. “I let you hate him. I let you hate me. And I deserved it. I’m sorry, Aurelia. I’m so sorry.”

I stared at her.

I did not know what I was supposed to feel.

Anger came first—a hot, bitter wave that made my entire body tense.

But beneath it was something far more dangerous.

Hope.

The fragile, foolish hope that perhaps the man I had loved had not become the monster I had convinced myself he was.

Ryan stepped toward me.

“I know I failed you,” he said softly. “I should have told you the truth from the beginning. I should have protected you from this. I should have given you the choice to decide what you wanted instead of letting you believe the worst.”

He reached for my hand.

“I’m here now, Aurelia. And I’m not going anywhere.”

His fingers closed gently around mine.

“Please. Give me one more chance.”

And my foolish heart—that traitorous, hopelessly romantic part of me that still loved him despite everything—decided to say yes.

For a while, I thought I had made the right choice.

The weeks that followed were almost enough to convince me that Ryan had truly changed.

He called every morning and every night. He remembered the smallest things I told him. He listened when I spoke instead of waiting for his turn to answer. He brought me flowers, but not the extravagant arrangements he had once favored. Instead, he chose simple wildflowers that reminded me of the fields near my childhood home.

He showed up when he said he would.

He kept his promises.

Little by little, he became the boy I remembered—the one who had held me during thunderstorms, who had whispered promises to me in the darkness, who had once made me believe that no matter what happened, he would always choose me.

And slowly, cautiously, I allowed myself to believe that perhaps we could find our way back to each other.

Then came the job interviews.

I had interviews with two companies that month.

The first was the Blackwood Groups. The most majestic building I had ever seen and an atmosphere so polished that it made me feel like an outsider the moment I stepped through the doors.

Then I saw his name on the directory.

Ethan Black.

His company.

My stomach tightened.

I could already imagine what it would be like to work there—to see him across conference rooms, to pass him in hallways, to pretend that nothing had happened between us.

I was not ready for that.

I walked out before the receptionist could even call my name.

The second offer came from Ryan.

He had been promoted—or perhaps he had simply claimed the position everyone had always expected him to have. He was now the CEO of Hart Entertainment, the company his family had built over three generations.

He offered me a position in the marketing department, one that suited my skills and paid considerably more than I had ever earned.

Then he asked me to move in with him.

His penthouse overlooked the entire city, its floor-to-ceiling windows turning the skyline into a sea of lights every night.

I said yes before I could convince myself not to.

We moved in together on a Sunday afternoon.

For the first few days, everything felt almost perfect.

Almost.

I applied for the position at Hart Entertainment, and I got the job.

That was where Vespera returned to my life.

I saw her in the hallway on my first day.

Our eyes met for a brief, electric moment.

She said nothing.

Neither did I.

But something about that silence unsettled me.

Ryan and Vespera never openly interacted in front of me. They never spoke unnecessarily. They never gave me a reason I could point to and say, There. That is proof.

And yet, I noticed things.

I noticed how people deferred to her.

I noticed how employees lowered their voices when she walked past.

I noticed how she seemed to have an invisible authority that extended far beyond her official position.

Vespera had the upper hand in the entertainment industry. Her influence was enormous, and everyone knew it.