Even Alphas Bow to Her Chapter 04
By the time I sat down at my desk, Charlotte had already organized the day’s flow.
“Vivian, regarding the background check on Apex Technologies–the investment team found something.
The core conceptual framework behind their flagship product, NEXUS, aligns almost perfectly with the paper
you published.”
“They initially assumed it was an affiliated project, but
your name isn’t on any of Apex’s filings.”
Charlotte hesitated. “If we need to pursue intellectual
property-”
“No need.”
“But-”
I didn’t care. I’d written it for people to try. “A concept
that stays in a notebook is nothing.”
My phone lit up again.
The Family Group Chat. Everyone was tagged, so
muting it didn’t matter.
Lily: [My Alpha’s on his way! Everyone send good vibes!]
Then a private message from her:
[Sis, Ethan said you didn’t reply to him. Please just do
this for me, okay? He’s really nervous.]
[Sis, did your phone die? Did you even see my messages?]
[……Answer me! You’d better not be dead in a ditch
somewhere.]
Wow. Real sweet.
I closed WhatsApp.
8:50 AM.
Charlotte poked her head through the door.
“Vivian, Ethan Hawthorne from Apex is at the front desk. Forty minutes early. Should I put him in the
Conference Room?”
I raised an eyebrow. That desperate? About to go under
or something?
“Just run it normal. Tell him to come in at 9:30 on the
dot. Not a minute early.”
He wasn’t busy.
I was.
Two minutes to 9:30.
Charlotte gave a soft knock from outside.
I closed the report I’d been reviewing.
My phone lit up on the desk.
A Voice Memo from Lily.
“Fine, ignore my messages. But Ethan messaged you and you blew him off too. How long are you going to keep this grudge going?”
“Vivian Sterling, if Ethan’s meeting falls through
today, I’m telling Mom and Dad it’s your fault. That
you took your spinster bitterness out on us. That
you’ve been cursing us all along=”
This wasn’t her whining anymore. This was a tantrum.
Then my mom Margaret called right after.
“Vivian, are you fighting with Lily again?”
“No.” I took my time answering. It wasn’t like I was
the one sweating in a Conference Room.
“Then why won’t you help Ethan? All I asked was for
you to make a few calls. It’s five minutes of your time.”
I rolled my eyes. The answer was right in front of them.
Years ago, I’d told them my company name in the chat history.
No one had ever bothered to remember.
I didn’t want to keep talking. “Mom, I’m at work-”
“What’s there to work at in that little company of yours? Ethan’s business is the real priority here. Can’t
you tell what matters?”
“Mom-”
“Don’t ‘Mom‘ me! Let me tell you something, Vivian Sterling. If you won’t even lift a finger for this family, don’t bother coming home. You left right after college. You missed your sister’s Mating Bond ceremony. You weren’t there when your dad had surgery. Six years! What have you ever done for this family?”
I leaned back in my chair.
Outside the window, the September sun was blinding.
“You’ve always been like this. So competitive. Always
trying to one–up your sister. And what did it get you? What’s all that struggle even for?”
From somewhere in the background, a distant voice-
Lily’s: “Mom, stop. She has her reasons.”
I knew it. She’d been the one stirring things up.
Margaret sighed.
“Fine. Don’t help. You never really cared about this
family anyway.”
Click.
She hung up.
I set my phone down on the desk.
The day I rang the bell at NYSE, hundreds of people
were cheering below. I stood on that stage, watching the confetti rain down. The lights were hot.
And in that moment, the only thing on my mind wasn’t success.
It was I wish Mom could see this.
Later, I sent that video to the Family Group Chat.
No one replied.
Two hours later, Lily posted: [Sis, are you on vacation?
Fancy!~]
Then the chat moved on to debating the color of
Ethan’s new Porsche.
My wolf let out a low whimper.
All these years, she’d followed me overseas. Lived in
this crowded city. Suppressed every instinct. Every
longing for the Pack. Every ache for the wild, for the forest- But at least business was interesting. Every new
milestone fed our hunger for conquest.
We’d made it this far. My wolf and I. Strong enough.
“Vivian.”
Charlotte’s voice came from the doorway.
“We’re ten minutes over. Should I bring Ethan
Hawthorne in now?”
I opened my eyes.
“Bring him in.”
Footsteps echoed down the hallway.
Polished shoes on hardwood. Steady. Confident.
Charlotte’s voice came first: “Mr. Hawthorne, this
way.”
The door swung open.
Ethan Hawthorne stood in the frame.
Tom Ford suit, sharp. A bound Pitch Deck in his hands.
A practiced smile on his lips–the one he used on
strangers he needed to impress.
He looked up.
His gaze swept the office. The floor–to–ceiling windows.
Then landed on me.
The smile dropped.
The files slipped an inch between his fingers.
His lips parted. The sound came out strangled.
(( ..V……Vivian?”