KASMINE.
Why the hell was I letting this get to me?
I had no right to feel this way-no right to feel… jealous. Offended. Hurt.
Gods, I was being so stupid.
I clenched my fists, pressing my nails into my palms, anything to ground myself before my emotions spiraled into something I couldn’t control. I wasn’t supposed to care. Not about Kester. Not about what-or who-he did behind closed doors.
And yet, the image of him-of her-was burned into my mind, playing in an endless, torturous loop.
I hadn’t seen Kester all day. Hell, he hadn’t even stepped out of his damn room this morning. He’d told the driver and his guards to take me to the office.
I never meant to knock on his door. I swear I didn’t.
But anger was a reckless thing. It had a way of moving my body before my mind could catch up. I was too angry, too shaken, too in need of something close to an explanation that I didn’t even know when my knuckles were rapping against the heavy wood of his door, pretending-so fucking badly-that I only wanted to check if we were leaving for the office together.
Lies.
But, to my utter dismay, June was the one who answered the door. She was in a different nightie from the one I had seen her in last night.
I didn’t need to be told what that meant.
Kester had ruined the other one. Torn it apart. Probably while he was deep inside her.
My stomach twisted violently, but I swallowed it down, forcing my expression into something indifferent. Unbothered. But all I could see was the image of her on her knees, her lips wrapped around his cock while he…
Stop.
I forced myself to breathe. Forced my lips into a polite, meaningless smile.
“Is Kester inside?” I asked, my voice perfectly even as if I wasn’t seconds away from breaking my own damm neck just to make the agony stop.
And what did she say? “Oh, Kasmine, Kester is a bit too tired this morning. He says you should go ahead of him.”
My heart almost stopped at her words. My knees nearly buckled. I barely held my balance, biting the inside of my cheek so hard I swore I tasted blood.
Too tired.
Too tired to even get out of bed?
Kester never missed work. Never. Not for anything. Not for anyone.
But today?
Today, he was “too tired.”
Because of her.
Because he’d spent the entire night fucking her senseless.
The bastard. The shameless bastard!
It was past 2 pm already, and he was still not here. Still probably fucking June. Asshole.
Yet He had the audacity to pretend with me, spin his pretty little lies, and act as if I meant something to him.
Only a fool would take Kester’s words seriously. And maybe-just maybe-I was the biggest fool of all.
“Kasmine!”
Jake’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts, and for the first time, I hated that he was here.
Why didn’t he have a different office? Better yet, why did Kester even have to bring him to Zamford?
Couldn’t he just let me be?
“What?!” I snapped, harsher than I intended, and when he flinched, looking so damn innocent, a pang of guilt hit me square in the chest.
His voice was softer when he spoke again. “Is everything okay, babe? You look-”
“I’m fine, Jake,” I cut him off, forcing my voice into something controlled, something not reflective of the chaos inside me. “Sometimes I just need to be alone.”
He hesitated, and then, in that gentle, maddeningly considerate tone of his, he said, “I’m sorry. It’s just… it’s hard seeing you upset and not wanting to make you feel better.”
Oh, poor Jake.
I hated that he cared so much. Hated that he was standing here, looking at me like I was something precious, when all I could think about was Kester and the mess he’d made of my mind.
This was all Kester’s fault.
It’s his fault that I couldn’t keep myself together. His fault that my mood was all over the place. His fault that I couldn’t even look at Jake without feeling wrong.
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Jake.”
“It’s alright.” He gave me a small, reassuring smile before adding, “Sylvia asked you to bring the Jon Del Vanero files you were working on.”
And just like that, my mood plummeted again.
Sylvia.
That name was quickly becoming the bane of my existence. If I had the chance to avoid her for the rest of my time here, I’d gladly take it. But how could I when she always found a way to make my life miserable? When she always chose to make me work on things I should not even be working on?
Before I could respond, another unwelcome interruption arrived.
“Hey, bestie!”
Claire’s overly vibrant voice rang from the doorway, her head peeking in dramatically.
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. One disturbance was more than enough for the day, but Claire? She was a handful. And right now, I had neither the patience nor the energy to fake a single damn smile or laugh with her.
I’d rather face Sylvia than pretend to be in a good mood.
“Sylvia asked me to-” Claire started as she stepped inside, but I cut her off before she could finish.
“I know. I’m on it.”
She raised a brow, crossing her arms. “Wow. That was harsh.” But instead of taking offense, she smirked. “This is about Sylvia, isn’t it? I told you to tell Kester how she treats you, but you refuse.”
Kester.
The last name I wanted to hear right now.
I took a slow breath, forcing myself to let it slide.
“I can’t tell Kester,” I muttered, reaching for the files I had stored away in the drawer. “She’s his favorite staff. If I complain, it’ll only make things worse.”
Of course, Sylvia was one of his favorites. Who knows if he was also fucking her?
Claire huffed. “I can tell him if you want.”
I nearly laughed.
Not because she was offering but because I knew exactly what she was doing. Any excuse to be around Kester was a welcome idea for her. And wasn’t that just pathetic?
I didn’t bother responding. Didn’t spare her or Jake another glance.
I just picked up the files, turned on my heel, and walked the hell out.
I stalked down the hallway, my grip on the files so tight my knuckles ached.
I hated this.
Hated that I was letting Kester get to me. Hated that Sylvia had this much power over me. Hated that I was stuck in this godforsaken office, forced to answer to people who thrived on making my life hell.
By the time I reached the third floor, my chest was tight, and my breaths were shallow. I had intentionally used the stairs instead of the elevator just to punish myself a bit for letting Kester fool me.
The hall was busy-workers moving about, voices blending into a dull, meaningless hum. My heels clicked against the polished floor as I made my way toward Sylvia, who stood near the center of the hall, surrounded by a few employees.
She turned the moment she saw me, her eyes narrowing in immediate displeasure.
I barely had a second to prepare myself before I heard her voice, “Finally,” she drawled, folding her arms. “I was beginning to think you got lost on your way here. Do you always take this long to deliver something as simple as a file, Kasmine?”
I clenched my teeth, but I refused to let my temper show, “I’m sorry. I was-”
“Don’t care,” she interrupted, snatching the files from my hand without bothering to look at me. “Let’s see if you at least did something right for once.”
A few people turned to watch as she flipped through the documents. My stomach twisted. I already knew what was coming.
It only took a few seconds before she clicked her tongue, her expression shifting from mere irritation to full-blown disgust.
“This is a joke, right?” She flicked the papers at me, a sneer curling her lips. “Tell me you’re not actually expecting me to approve this mess.”
I swallowed hard. “I did everything exactly how you asked me to,” I said, keeping my voice steady even though my insides felt like they were crumbling.
Sylvia’s laugh was cruel. Loud. Deliberately designed to embarrass me.
“You did everything exactly how I asked?” she mocked. “Oh, honey, that’s adorable. But if you actually followed my instructions, then this wouldn’t be absolute garbage.”
A few muffled chuckles rose from the people nearby. My chest burned. I could feel the heat creeping up my neck, the humiliation sinking deep into my bones.
“I-I did,” I insisted, my voice quieter now, but she didn’t even let me finish.
“Shut up.”
The words slapped me like a physical blow.
My throat tightened painfully, and I barely held back the stinging in my eyes. I refused to cry. Not here. Not in front of her.
Sylvia tilted her head, her smirk widening as she took a step closer. “You really think you can do whatever you want because you’re the Alpha’s stepsister, huh?” Her voice dripped with condescension, emphasizing the last word to make me feel less of the Hamiltons. “You think that title gives you the right to be lazy? To turn in half-assed work and expect a free pass?”
I wanted to scream at her, to throw the damn files in her face, to do something other than stand here and let her humiliate me.
But I was frozen.
Every word she spat at me felt like a knife, cutting deeper and deeper, stripping me of my dignity in front of an audience that didn’t even have the decency to look away.
Then-
I felt a sudden shift in the atmosphere as the sound of those familiar, commanding strides approached us from the entrance.
Kester.
Dressed in a crisp, tailored black suit, his dark hair slightly tousled, his deep green eyes unreadable as they swept over the scene in front of him.
Sylvia straightened up immediately, and I was certain she had wished Kester hadn’t seen or heard her say those cruel things to me.
On the contrary, I wish he heard them. And for a single, stupid moment, I thought-hoped-he would step in. That he would say something. Do something.
That he would stop this.
But I was wrong.
He walked past.
Just like that.
No pause. No glance in my direction.
Nothing.
He didn’t even slow his steps.
Like I wasn’t there.
The sting of shame and disappointment… My heart almost cracked open.
Sylvia blinked, stunned for half a second-then her lips curled into a slow, victorious smile.
My breath shuddered as I fought to keep the devastation from showing on my face, but Sylvia saw it. Oh, she saw it, and she was reveling in it.
I had never hated her more than I did at this moment.
But more than that-I had never hated him more than I did right now.