The Substitute CEO Bride

CHAPTER 5

Rosalie’s mind suddenly went blank.

“What did you say?” tanong ni Theodore.

Pumikit si Rosalie sa desperasyon. Kanina lang, inakusahan siya ni Theodore na parang madali niyang gustong tapusin ang lahat sa pagitan nila, sinabing hindi pa sila hiwalay. Pero kitang-kita naman na siya pa ang nagmamadali makasama si Cynthia!

“Pagod na ako. Matutulog na ako.”

Ang malupit na realidad ay nagwasak sa lakas-loob ni Rosalie. Hindi siya makakabit sa Cynthia. Hindi man lang siya karapat-dapat maging kalaban ng babaeng iyon kasi si Cynthia lang ang tanging babaeng kayang mahalin ni Theodore.

Ang mga pangarap ni Rosalie na mai-save ang kanilang kasal ay naging katatawanan na lang!

“Sige, magpahinga ka na.” Nanatiling walang emosyon ang boses ni Theodore.

Nang matapos ang tawag, nahulog si Rosalie sa kama at nag-iyak nang malakas.

“Theo, dalawang buwan na akong buntis,” bulong niya sa sarili.

Kinabukasan, nagising si Rosalie na pakiramdam ay hilo. Nang tingnan ang oras, alas-dose na ng tanghali. Masakit ang katawan niya habang bumangon. Nang tapusin ang pagpapaganda, tumunog ang telepono.

Si Rebecca.

“Hello, Lola.”

“Rose, bakit ganyan ang boses mo? May sakit ka ba?” tanong ni Rebecca nang may alala.

“Okay lang ako, natagalan lang ako ng tulog kagabi.”

“At si Theo? Nasa iyo ba siya?”

“Kakalabas lang niya.”

“Kakalabas?” Napakunot ang noo ni Rebecca. “Hindi siya kasama sa birthday mo? Hindi yata siya ganyan!”

Tahimik si Rosalie.

Oo nga pala, ngayon ang kaarawan niya. Pero para sa kanya, wala nang halaga ang mga kaarawan. Kung hindi tinawagan siya ni Rebecca, baka nakalimutan pa niya. Siguradong hindi naman alintana iyon ni Theodore.

“Lola, hindi po iyon. Nasa labas siya, naghahanda ng surpresa para sa akin. Sabi niya gusto niyang magbigay ng surpresa.”

“Ganun ba? Tatanungin ko siya tungkol diyan,” sabi ni Rebecca na medyo may alinlangan.

“Lola, huwag niyo po siyang i-pressure. Hayaan niyo siyang mag-focus sa pagpaplano ng surpresa. Kung hindi niyo po siya tiwala, ako na lang po, di ba?”

Nang marinig ang tono ng boses ni Rosalie na parang nasaktan, yuminig si Rebecca. “Sige, nagkamali ako. Mabuti at naaalala niya ang kaarawan mo. Kayo na lang magkasama mamaya. Huwag kayong mag-alala, kami ng mga magulang mo ay hindi kami makikialam.”

Tumango si Rosalie, nahihiya. “Sige po.”

Matapos ang tawag, nag-isa si Rosalie sa kwarto. Pakiramdam niya ay nawawala na siya. Nais niyang magsabi ng totoo kay Rebecca, pero hindi niya magawa.

Pagkalipas ng ilang minuto, tinawagan siya ng kaibigan niyang si Stephanie Carter para batiin siya ng maligayang kaarawan. Punong-puno ng hinagpis pero hindi makapagsabi kay Steph, nagpatuloy na lang si Rosalie sa pagpapanggap, sinabing kasama niya si Theodore sa buong araw.

Pagkalipas ng dalawang oras, muling tumawag si Rebecca, tinanong kung bumalik na ba si Theodore. Paulit-ulit lang ang sagot ni Rosalie na naghahanda pa rin ito ng sorpresa para sa kanya at aalis siya para makipagkita sa kanya.

Walang ibang nais gawin si Rosalie kundi makaiwas sa mga tao at hindi makipagkita sa kahit kanino, kaya nag-book siya ng hotel room at nagpunta doon mag-isa. Nag-ikot-ikot siya sa TV para lang may mapanood.

Biglang lumabas sa screen ang isang segment ng tsismis, ipinakita si Theodore na binubuksan ang pinto ng sasakyan para sa isang misteryosong babae na nakadikit sa braso niya at may sinasabi sa tainga niya. Magkasama sila at parang sobrang intimate nila. Kahit hindi nakita ang mukha ng babae, kilala na agad ni Rosalie kung sino iyon.

Sino pa ba kundi ang babaeng iyon ang kayang magpasaya kay Theodore?

Pakiramdam ni Rosalie ay parang hinila ang puso niya mula sa katawan.

Pagkatapos ng segment, nag-ere ang isang comedy show. Ngunit hindi pa rin nakangiti si Rosalie. Parang wala na siyang pakialam sa mga nangyayari.

“You killed Kyle just so you could claim me?” Neah blurts out, her voice shaking.

"Yes," I answer, feeling the weight of my words.

"I’m not... I’m no one special. You’re an Alpha. A powerful one. I’m just..." Her words trail off as she struggles to understand.

“You are an Alpha too,” I say, trying to make her realize the truth.

AAA

The room goes silent after that. Neah doesn’t say anything, just asks if she can be alone for a while to think. It’s frustrating. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. She was supposed to be happy, not scared and angry. She was supposed to want me to claim her, not want to run away.

“This is your fault,” I snap at Aero. “You couldn’t just leave things alone. Now look at the mess we’ve made.”

“In my defense,” Aero responds, “I thought she’d be happy to find out she’s mated to the greatest Alpha. Maybe you should’ve started with that instead of telling her about the prisoner first!”

I run a hand through my hair, heading to the kitchen. I spot Raven, stuffing her face with food. “Are you always eating?” I ask, irritated.

"I'm hungry." She shrugs. "And something’s clearly bothering you."

I slam a mug down too hard, and the handle breaks off. Raven looks up and adds “mugs” to the shopping list.

"We won’t have any left at this rate," she mutters as she sits back down. "So what happened?"

"I told her," I grumble, not wanting to relive the conversation.

Raven’s eyes widen. “You told Neah she’s your mate?”

“What else would I be talking about, Raven?” I snap.

“Whoa, okay. I take it it didn’t go as planned?”

“Do you see her?” I gesture around the room.

Raven wipes a crumb off her lip. “I’d be mad too.”

“Thanks for the support,” I mutter.

"I'm just saying, not everyone is like Charlene or Daisy or Veronica... or whoever else you think you understand."

“That’s enough, Raven!” I cut her off.

She shrugs and continues to eat, unfazed. “Do you think Neah expected to find a mate? For most of us, it’s a big deal. But maybe for her, it wasn’t. You probably surprised her with it when she wasn’t ready.”

“She can’t sense the bond. How else was I supposed to tell her?”

"It doesn't matter now, does it? It's too late, and you can't change how you told her. But you should be with her right now, not down here talking to me."

“Alright, smart-ass. I’m going,” I mutter, heading upstairs.

Neah stares at me when I enter the room. There’s that pull again, stronger than before. She’s sitting on the edge of the bed, almost like she’s been waiting for me.

I won’t admit it to Raven, but I know she was right. I should’ve stayed with Neah from the start.

“It makes sense now,” Neah whispers, almost to herself. “You wanted me to stay in here. You didn’t want me alone with Jenson. You didn’t want anyone else touching me. It wasn’t just about the contract, was it?”

“No,” I admit, feeling the weight of the truth sink in.

“Because you knew?” Her voice is surprisingly calm, like she’s trying to piece everything together.

“Yes. I thought about telling you many times. About claiming you right away. But I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be with me just because of the bond."

"So you used a contract instead?" She raises an eyebrow, a slight frown tugging at her lips.

“When you say it like that, it sounds just as ridiculous.” I rub the back of my neck, frustrated with myself for making such a mess of things. There’s no easy way to fix it now.

She stands up, pulling off her sweatshirt to reveal a tight white tee. My eyes follow her movement as she walks to the laundry basket and dumps the sweatshirt inside. She turns to face me, placing her hands on her hips.

“If you claim me... does that mean you can sense everything I need? Will you know when I need help?”

“I’ll know everything about you. Your needs. Your desires. When you need me... I’ll feel it all.”

She sighs softly, loosely tying her hair back, then closes her eyes for a moment. When she opens them again, she looks at me, her voice barely above a whisper.

“Claim me then.”