BAD INFLUENCE
2073 Words
CHAPTER THREE.
RHIANON’S POV.
I take calm, quiet steps further into the living room, my mind reeling from the shock of seeing Layla here so early in the morning and the moment she notices me, she rises from the sofa, smiling widely.
“Good morning.” She greets cheerfully and I’m tempted to ask her what the hell is cheerful about this morning. Her unexpected presence is not the only thing getting on my nerves, but the ridiculously short and tight-fitting dress she’s wearing. It’s far, far above her thighs and it’s exposing a lot more cleavage than a corporate outfit should.
Is this the kind of outfit she wears around my husband on a daily basis at work?
“Layla, why are you here so early?” I ask in a quiet but dangerous tone.
“As Alpha Fabien’s secretary, I’m here to drive with him to work so that I can debrief him on his schedule for the day.” She explains and then creases her brows as if she just remembered something. “And why am I even explaining myself to you?”
“Layla.” Fabien’s voice calls and we both turn to look at him. I’m grinding my teeth hard against each other as I impatiently wait for him to come and meet us in the living room. When he does, he stands by my side while staring at Layla in confusion.
“I didn’t know you were coming over.”
“Yeah…” She chuckles. “I called to tell you a while ago, but you didn’t answer.”
Oh.
It’s the call he ignored when we were still in bed.
“I was doing something important.” He smiles down at me and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. “Since you’re here, join us for breakfast.” He offers and my jaw drops to the floor.
“Really?” Layla yelps excitedly.
“Yeah. Come on.” He says and starts leading the way towards the dining room. I stay planted on my spot as I watch them walk away together like a happy couple. All my senses are screaming for me to object and start a scene right now by telling Fabien how much I hate that Layla is here and that I don’t want her driving to work with him, but I know doing that will only cause tension and ruin my day. I will talk to him about it in the evening when we are both in bed.
“Aunt Layla!” Lucien’s excited scream reverberates throughout the living room and my heart falls out of my body when I look up and see him flying down the staircase at the speed of light.
“Lucien, stop running, else you’ll fall and hurt yourself.” I warn, but he doesn’t listen. He maintains the speed until he arrives at the living room and Layla stoops down and opens her arms for a hug. He happily crashes into her outstretched arms and they both share a warm hug that makes bile churn in my stomach.
I feel like screaming and reminding her of when she tried to make me miscarry Lucien when I was pregnant with him.
“I’m so happy to see you, Aunt Layla.” Lucien says once they’d disengaged from the hug. Layla smiles brightly and gently pats his cheeks.
“I’m happy to see you too, big boy. How’s your stomach?”
“My stomach is okay. Mummy was just worried for nothing.”
No, I wasn’t!
“Aunt Layla, you look so pretty this morning!” He compliments her and jealousy crawls up from the pit of my stomach and spreads through my entire body like poison.
“Why, thank you very much, Lucien. That’s so sweet of you.” She says and looks up at Fabien who is smiling down at her. “He’s such a gentleman!”
“He takes after his father.” He brags and I roll my eyes at their encounter.
“Aunt Layla.” Lucien calls again and Layla returns her attention to him.
“Yes, baby.”
I feel like marching over there and sweeping my son away from her closeness. My heart sinks into my stomach as I watch Lucien bring his mouth close to her left ear and whisper something into it. Whatever he said must be really funny because Layla bursts into a loud, hysterical laughter.
My jealousy spikes.
I don’t like that she is having so much fun with son.
“Alright then, big man. That will be our little secret.” She says and Lucien gives him a thumbs up.
“He likes you.” Fabien remarks warmly and Layla shoots him a proud smile,
“Of course, he does. You know I’ve always been good with children.”
“Yes, you have.” He picks Lucien from his feet, into his arms and kisses his cheek. “Let’s go eat.” He says and the three of them head to the dinning, caring less if I join them or not.
Throughout breakfast, I am nothing but a third wheel. Fabien and Lucien spend their time conversing with Layla like she’s the only one on the table and it takes me a great deal of effort to stay calm and not haul Layla out of this house.
“Lucien, let’s go.” I tell Lucien as we all exit the dinning. Horror stuns me when he rushes over to Layla and hold s her hand.
“I don’t want to ride to school with you, mummy. You’re too strict. You never let me do anything fun during the car ride. It’s always, don’t do this, don’t do that, stay still. But Aunt Layla doesn’t say any of that. She lets me do whatever I want. She’s fun and I want to ride to school with her and daddy.” Lucien cries and my body tenses with shock. His words slap me in the face like a hundred hands at once.
Something snaps in my chest when he smiles up at Layla who gives him a proud wink.
That b***h!
I wear a fake smile as I go over to where they are standing and gently pull my son away from Layla’s hold.
“Baby…” I call, stooping down in front of him. “Daddy and Aunt Layla have somewhere important to be right now. They can’t drive you to school.”
“We have some time to spare.” Layla cheerfully interjects. I raise my head and shoot her a scorching glare which for some reason, makes her smile.
“Layla is right. The first meeting of the day doesn’t start until ten am. We can take him to school.” Fabien confirms.
“But…” I start to object but Layla cuts me off.
“Let’s go sweety.” She says to Lucien who gleefully rushes over to her and wraps his tiny hands around her index finger again. My heart twists so suddenly, almost making me lose my balance and drop to the floor. Tears burn at the back of eyelids as I watch the three of them walk out of the living room, smiling happily at each other without Lucien or Fabien kissing me goodbye like they always do. I collapse on the floor from sheer exhaustion.
Layla has come back to destroy my home. Nobody can tell me otherwise.
LATER THAT DAY.
“Luna Rhiannon, can I please have a word with you before you leave?” Lucien’s teacher asks very politely and I quickly nod my head in agreement.
“Yes. Of course.” I turn to Lucien who is still jumping with excitement because I just told him the chefs have made his favorite meal at home. “Lucien, you stay right here while I talk to your teacher. I’ll be back soon.”
“Yes mummy.” He agrees and goes back to the toys he was playing with when I came in. I rise to my feet and start following the teacher to the other end of the classroom. As I do that, I can’t help but admire all the little pups playing around with various toys. I am extremely jealous of the amount of cuteness this teacher gets to experience on a daily basis while looking after these babies.
I should have been a kindergarten tutor, not a doctor.
“Luna Rhiannon, I would like to discuss with you a strange, disturbing trait that Lucien portrayed in class today while interacting with the other kids.” She calmly reports and my brows crease.
This sounds serious.
“A strange, disturbing trait, you say.” I ask, shocked and she gently nods her head.
“Yes, Luna.” She clears her throat and I can sense her hesitation to say what she wants to say. She looks almost terrified to report my son to me. I know it’s because of our status and that makes me feel so bad.
“Mrs. Lawson, you don’t have to be scared to report Lucien to me. If he did something wrong in class today, tell me. There’s nothing wrong with that.” I calmly assure her and she nods.
“It’s just…” She stops and exhales heavily. “Lucien is such a sweet boy. He always treats his friends with so much love and care and concern, but today… today, it felt like I was dealing with a completely different child.”
“I… I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“He uh… he bullied his classmates all day and kept ordering them to do whatever he asked them to do because he was their future Alpha. Even when I tried to reprimand him, he asked me to shut up if I didn’t want him to report me to his father, the Alpha.” She calmly narrates and I stand unblinking, trying to process her words.
“Please tell me you’re joking.” I say breathlessly.
“I wish I was Luna, but I’m not.”
I cover my mouth with my hands to stop the sob boiling in my chest from bursting out. I had expected to hear something like Lucien peeing on himself or starting a fight with his friends, but not this. Not him being a tyrant with his peers. I am completely heartbroken.
Right now, I’m so ashamed to make eye contact with the teacher because I know she must be thinking I’m responsible for Lucien’s obscene behavior.
“Mrs. Lawson, I’m so sorry about Lucien’s behavior today. I’m going to warn him and I promise this will never happen again. Thank you very much for your keen observation and for reporting the issue to me.”
“It’s nothing Luna. I’m just doing my job.”
“Thank you.” I say and take Lucien out of the classroom. I am inattentive to his chit-chatting all the way to the car because I keep trying to think of who could have poisoned his mind as such. Fabien and I know better than to do such. His nannies would never do that either. The servants at home don’t even have access to him.
I cannot really think of someone who could have done this.
“Why are you so quiet, mummy?” Lucien asks once we are both settled in the car and that brings my attention back to him. I clear my throat and scoot closer to him.
“Baby.”
“Yes mummy.”
“Your teacher told me about your attitude towards your friends in class today. She said you kept bullying them and ordering them to do things for you. And that you even mentioned the fact that you were the future Alpha of the pack.”
“But mummy it’s true, isn’t it?” He asks, staring at me with his big, innocent eyes. “I am the future Alpha of the pack, therefore they all have to do as I command.”
“Honey…who told you that?” I ask in complete shock and disbelief. It seems to be something that has been planted deep into him and has taken root.
Very strong roots.
“Aunt Layla told me on our way to school today and daddy even agreed.” He calmly reveals and all the hair on my body stands erect.
Layla did what?
- Writer
