Chapter 3
I don’t even know when things changed between Kael and Riley.
It was like I blinked, and suddenly… the lunch our housekeeper sent over from home came with three sets of utensils.
I stared at the takeout bags, my voice shaking. “There’s nothing here I even like.”
Kael didn’t even look up from his reports.
“We’re doing salads today. Riley says it’s good to cleanse the system once in a while…”
Riley slid into the seat next to me, holding her designer coffee like it was a prop in a rom–com.
“Oops! My bad, Talia~”
Her manicured nails tapped on the lid, sending out a hollow rhythm.
“I forgot you’re not into salads. But hey, grown–ups do need to eat healthy sometimes, right?”
She left the rest unsaid–but the smug curve of her lips finished it for her.
I looked at her, my voice quiet but steady.
“You keep saying my name like we’re best friends or something. Newsflash–you’re older than me. Should I be calling you
grandma?”
The office went dead silent.
For a second, Riley looked like I’d slapped her. Her perfectly winged eyeliner twitched.
That’s when Kael finally looked up from his desk–just to frown at me.
“Talia, that was uncalled for.”
Once upon a time, he punched a kid for calling me a crybaby.
Now, he was scolding me–for bruising another Omega’s ego.
I laughed once, short and sharp, and turned on my heel to leave.
Kael instinctively reached for me.
But when he pulled me into his arms this time, I caught a different scent on his shirt–Riley’s perfume.
Even his compromise felt dismissive.
“Alright, alright. I’ll tell the housekeeper to make you steak tomorrow, okay?”
Riley’s face twisted for a split second.
And that was the beginning of the end.
From the next day on, Riley turned it up a notch.
I walked into the office with my light pink tote, a tiny Lina Bell charm dangling off the zipper.
The moment she saw it, she gasped dramatically and pitched her voice to theatrical levels. “Oh. My. God. A Chanel tote
Chapter 3
and a cartoon keychain? That’s… a bold combo, babe.”
A few of the male coworkers chuckled behind their screens.
At lunch, I pulled out a disinfectant wipe and gave my disposable chopsticks a quick swipe.
Riley leaned over, smiling like we were besties. “Aw, that’s cute. You still do that?”
She turned to the guy next to her and added in a stage whisper, “I swear, she treats everything like it’s biohazard season.”
They both laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d heard all week.
Then came the annual department reshuffle at Ashveil Enterprises.
I was lugging my monitor across the room, arms aching, when I finally stopped to catch my breath.
Riley slammed her desk for attention like she was about to break into a comedy routine. “Everyone look! Disney princess down! Any brave knight wanna help our damsel in distress?”
She and the others burst out laughing. Some even clapped.
It was humiliating.
Kael–at least at first–would frown and mutter,
“Cut it out. Don’t go too far.”
But Riley always laughed sweetly and brushed it off. “C’mon, I’m just joking! Talia’s always so uptight–I’m just helping her
loosen up!”
And Kael… paused. Then nodded. “She has been kinda sensitive lately. Girls these days, I guess…”
Riley grinned and playfully punched his shoulder.
“Hey! Don’t lump me in with her. I’m not the same.”
Kael chuckled, his eyes softening.
Like she was something special.
My chest tightened.
So that’s how he saw me now–delicate, moody, too much.
To Kael, anime was childish.
Being tidy meant I had “issues.”
Quiet meant I was “too shy.”
But once, just once… he used to call all those things my sparkle.
