Ridian’s POV
“Darling!” Jane said when she came out of her bedroom. She was wearing a short sun dress and a pair of blue flip flops. She smiled and hugged me when she got to where I was. Her perfume filled the entire room. “Welcome back! I’ve been waiting for you.” She pulled away when I didn’t put my arms around her. “What is she doing here?”
“Since when did her duties include bathing a grown woman?” I asked.
“I’m sorry, darling. I didn’t mean to ask her to do it. I was just feeling very tired. It will never happen again so let’s just forget about it.”
“What about the punishment? Since when were you in charge of punishing people in this pack.”
“I’m sorry, dear. I was so angry. Ever since that bastard mark kidnapped me, I find it very hard to control my emotions,” she said, her voice breaking. She looked to be on the verge of tearing up. “I don’t know how to stop this, dear. Sometimes, I feel like I’m going crazy.”
Why did I even waste my time confronting her when she would just find excuses to defend herself?
I glanced at Cilla and noticed how uncomfortable she was.
“Cilla, please leave. Let me deal with this.”
Without a word, Cilla stepped out. I turned to Jane and almost caught a certain expression on her face. She quickly masked it with a sad look. Either I was seeing things or Jane had become someone else. This Jane seemed very manipulative, very unlike the sweet young woman who had been taken away from me.
“I don’t know how to deal with this, Jane. I’m trying very hard to believe you but sometimes it gets really hard. This is not the Jane I know. You can’t be this insensitive to other people’s feelings. I know people change but this is too much. What are you up to? Did that man really kidnap you or left by choice?”
Jane started sobbing, but I was not planning to let myself be emotionally manipulated this time round. I had no interest in playing games with the woman before me.
“How can you think that after everything I’ve told you? That experience has changed me and I don’t recognise myself anymore. I need time to get back to normal. But that time will be useless without your trust. You don’t trust me at all. You think I’m a liar.”
“I sorry but you should understand things from my perspective as well. The old Jane would have never acted like this, unless you were pretending to be someone you were not this whole time. You need to understand that we can’t pick up from where we left off as if nothing happened.”
“I can’t believe you, Ridian Jamison. I was there for you, helped you through your problems and now that it’s your turn to help me, you want to run. I can’t believe this. You have changed as well, and I wonder why. Is it because of her?”
“Who?”
“Cilla Markle. I have seen the way you like at her. I have heard of all the things you have done for that woman. I don’t think you could do that for any slave. You never paid much attention to the slaves before she came. What are you hiding, Ridian?”
“You’re trying to take the attention of yourself,” I commented. “But it won’t work.”
Jane chuckled and went to sit on the couch. “I know everything, Ridian. I know that she’s your mate.”
I sat on the nearest couch. “Okay, then you must understand that I’m stuck in a complicated situation. How did you know?”
“I have my sources.”
“I don’t want to repeat myself.”
“I will not say anything even if you torture me. I’ve been through enough torture and more won’t hurt. I don’t feel much anymore.”
“And you were just saying you can’t control your emotions. What a drama queen.”
“Call me whatever you want but I know the truth. Why don’t you just accept her and live happily ever after. Save the rest of us heartache.”
“When did you find out?”
“Mark told me.”
“Why did you come back if you knew I had a mate?”
“I came back because I love you, Ridian. You’re the only man I have loved. I can’t stop my heart from feeling that way. But apparently you can, and you did. You threw the love we shared in the trash.”
“Yeah, let’s say that I did not suffer at all when my fiancée ran out on me on our wedding day. No, it was all fun and bliss for me. You win the award for the most insensitive person, Jane Willow.”
I marched out of the room and slammed the door closed before she could say a word. There was only one logical explanation for what was happening. Jane Willow had been pretending to be a nice and sweet girl the whole time. I was almost glad that I didn’t marry her. I dodged a bullet.
I didn’t know what to believe, so I decided to carry out an investigation. I had never bothered to follow up the case before because I felt sure that Jane had run away. Now, I was not very sure, having heard her side of the story. The probability that she was lying was high, but I did not want to make decisions based on probabilities. I needed to be sure in order to avoid regrets in future.
I avoided Jane the rest of that day. The next day, I spoke to one of my men, Johnson Muller. He was very good at investigation. I sent him off with enough funds to go and search for information from outside. Someone out there knew something, and if anyone could find out, it was Johnson Muller.
When Johnson had set off, I returned to the house and went to my office. Work was the only thing that could distract me from the women issues I was facing.
Johnson returned to the pack two days later. When I saw his face, I knew he had discovered something. I took him to the woods outside the pack and asked him to spill after making sure there was no one nearby.
Johnson told me that Jane had left willingly. In fact, she and Mark had stopped at a restaurant in the nearest small town. She had seemed happy and carefree, not like someone who was being held forcefully. Johnson found this out accidentally. He had been having lunch at the restaurant and staring at the photo when a waiter spoke to him, saying he knew the beautiful woman.
When asked how he did, the man spilled what he knew. He remembered the woman because he had crushed on her. He had felt a certain longing for her but she seemed too happy with her man to even notice him. Over the past months, he claimed to have thought of her a lot, but sadly he could never get her. Johnson had continued to search for more information but he didn’t get much. Until he decided to look for records of the time she had escaped. He didn’t find anything in that town so he proceeded to the nearest city and checked the papers and magazines their as well.
He found it. The murder of Mark Hubert. There was only one person who could have done it, and she was in my pack. We couldn’t figure out what happened between the two but it was clear she had killed him and left. What if she was telling the truth? It seemed he had actually kidnapped her. I was about to believe it until Johnson told me that he had snooped around and someone linked him to the man who had inherited the house Mark had been killed in.
Apparently, the man had left someone to take care of the place while he went to Europe. That person was missing and he was the major suspect. Johnson was still following up leads. I encouraged him to continue with the investigation because that man was the only one who could tell us the truth about Jane and Mark.
After parting ways with Johnson, I returned to the house while he went off to follow more leads. Jane was waiting for me in my living room. Annoyance washed over me the moment I saw her.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I miss you a lot, Ridian. I can’t be so close, and yet so far from you. It’s killing me. You may not feel the same because you no longer love me but I can’t take this anymore. I need you.”
“I’m really tired, Jane. Can we talk some other time?”
“I want the truth, jane. Did you leave here willingly or not?”
“How many times do we have to talk about that?”
“Answer the question.”
“Yes, I did. I thought life would be more fun out there. I’m very sorry.”
“I knew it, but I needed to hear it from your mouth. How could you do that to me? Why didn’t you tell me that you were no longer interested in marriage instead of running away on our wedding day? What did I do to deserve this?”
“See, this is why I didn’t want to talk about this. Please forgive me. I’ve realised my mistake.”
“I desperately want to forgive you but it’s not right.”
“Everything will be alright, darling.” She said, rising and coming to sit next to me. She placed an arm around me. I felt disgusted but pretended to be okay with it.
I was furious, but didn’t show it.
She had left me for no-good reason and thought that could easily be swept under the rag.
No, I was going to take my revenge in a way that she would never see coming.