Chapter 56 Where’s My Surprise?
Emilia’s POV
I knocked hard on Linda’s door like I was trying to break it down.
The door opened quickly. Linda stood there in her messy pajamas, hair all tangled, face angry. "What do you want?!"
I crossed my arms and gave her my coldest smile. "Didn’t I tell you last night? Breakfast is at seven-thirty on time in this pack house. Or did you forget?"
Her eyes went wide. "I—"
"You’re making me look bad in my own home," I interrupted her, looking at my watch. "Get dressed. Now."
The change was immediate. The spoiled princess who had always been mean to me suddenly looked like a scared rabbit. "I’ll get ready right away!"
She actually stammered. Linda Taylor, stammering.
I had to stop myself from laughing as she hurried back into her room.
Downstairs, I found Tiffany talking excitedly to Mila, but when I came closer, they both stopped talking.
Strange.
"Good morning," I said carefully.
"Emilia! You work so hard. Why is your sister still sleeping? Doesn’t she know we don’t accept lazy people here?" Tiffany complained.
"Tiffany, don’t be so rude," Mila’s voice sounded like a gentle warning.
Alpha Titus looked up from his newspaper. " Where is that man? ? Still hiding in his room?"
I knew exactly who he meant. "Sebastian had an early meeting at work. He already left."
The lie came easily. The truth was, when I woke up this morning, his side of the bed was cold and his car was gone. He probably left early to avoid me after last night’s problem.
The rest of the morning dragged. By the time I got to Hanson Group for work, my arms were aching badly.
Every time I raised them during meetings, pain shot through my shoulders—Sebastian’s punishment from last night still making itself known.
"Emilia, are you alright?" Scott asked with concern during our afternoon meeting. His hand reached toward my arm.
I pulled back, putting on a professional smile. "I’m fine, Mr. Hanson. Just a bit tired."
His expression changed—hurt, maybe disappointment—but he nodded. "If you need to take the afternoon off..."
"I’m perfectly able to do my job," I said.
Ever since I’d realized Scott’s feelings went beyond work relationships, I’d been keeping my distance.
Scott’s face remained carefully calm, the perfect gentleman. "Of course. Let me know if you need anything."
The meeting continued, but I could feel his gaze on me, heavy with unspoken words.
When I finally got home that evening, I was exhausted and my arms felt like they might fall off.
I was thinking about a hot shower and maybe confronting Sebastian about his strange behavior when I nearly bumped into two figures coming out the front door.
Sebastian and Linda. Walking side by side.
"Going somewhere?" I kept my voice light, curious.
Linda’s smile was pure smugness. "I’m visiting a friend. Sebastian offered to give me a ride."
"How... thoughtful." I looked at Sebastian, who met my gaze with his usual unreadable expression.
"Be careful, then," I said sweetly to Linda.
She blinked, clearly surprised by my politeness.
"We should go," Linda said, turning away with a little victorious bounce in her step.
"Wait."
They both stopped. I walked over, stood on my tiptoes—my arms hurting from the movement—and pressed a kiss to Sebastian’s cheek. His skin was warm under my lips, and I caught that attractive scent of cedar and mint.
"Don’t be out too late, dear," I said loudly, making sure Linda heard every word. "I have a surprise waiting for you tonight."
Sebastian’s eyes widened slightly. Linda’s face went from smug to embarrassed very quickly.
Either way, I felt oddly satisfied.
Dinner was awkward without them. Tiffany kept giving me knowing looks while picking at her food.
"Your sister certainly got special treatment today," Tiffany finally said. "Sebastian never drives me anywhere, even when I beg."
"He was heading that direction anyway," I said, though something in my chest disagreed with my diplomatic answer. "It was convenient."
"Still," Tiffany mumbled into her plate.
I focused on my food, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling in my stomach.
Sebastian returned halfway through dinner alone. He barely looked at the table before heading upstairs.
A few minutes later, my phone buzzed. A text message.
"Finished eating? Come here."
I stared at the screen. Sebastian Simons, the man who communicated mainly through glares and sarcasm, had sent me a text message. An actual, almost-polite text message.
The world was definitely ending.
"Excuse me," I said, standing. "I’m finished. Thank you for dinner."
Upstairs, his door was slightly open. I pushed it wider and found him standing by the window, lit by the evening sun.
"You wanted to see me?" I asked.
He turned, and something in his expression made my heart beat faster. Then he held out his hand toward me with a slight smirk.
"Where’s my surprise?"
I was stunned at first, then laughed coldly. "I said if you came back early, I would give you a surprise, but now it’s not early, is it?"
"Is it late now?" he replied, deliberately raising his watch toward me. "Look carefully, you have one too." Then, he lifted my hand as well.
"Ouch..." I cried out in pain. Unfortunately, my originally flexible arms now seemed unusable.
"Stop pretending." Sebastian roughly threw off my arm.
I screamed again, completely angry. "Are you mentally unstable? Two days ago you were so good to me, but these two days you’ve been making my life miserable? I’m telling you, I can’t stand it anymore. I want..."
Actually, I originally wanted to say I wanted a divorce, but rationally, I forced myself to swallow the rest of my words.
"What do you want?" he asked.
"To sleep."
I replied unnaturally, then walked into my secret room. After taking out my pajamas, I didn’t dare enjoy Sebastian’s expensive comfortable bathtub again, so I held my clothes and went directly to Tiffany’s room.
"Emilia, what are you doing?" Tiffany asked.
"Can I borrow your bathroom?" I asked.
"Isn’t there one in my brother’s room?"
"He’s using it," I lied.
"Why don’t you wait until he finishes?"
"He takes too long to shower, I can’t wait," I said.
Tiffany nodded stiffly and pointed to the right. "Oh, okay, go ahead."
I didn’t use the bathtub, but stood directly under the shower. Standing under the shower, I felt somewhat upset. I should ask Sebastian why he suddenly got so close to Linda. He clearly hated Linda coming last night! Was he deliberately trying to make me angry?
After showering, I went back to Sebastian’s room without hesitation. I wanted to figure out my confusion, but the room was empty.
I whispered to myself. "Where did he go?"
He might be downstairs, so I turned and went downstairs. However, he was nowhere to be seen. His car was still parked in the yard, so I thought he shouldn’t have gone far, and decided to go upstairs to wait for him.
When I got to the stairs, I noticed the light was on in the room next door.
Had Linda come back?