Chapter 100 the dissolution certificate Left Behind
Wine spilled down Isabella’s chin, soaked into her blouse. Teeth clamped shut, face twisted in pain.
"Enough." Alpha Sebastian’s hand locked around Eira’s wrist. "Eira. Enough."
Lila crossed her arms. "Alpha Sebastian, she chokes down a few ounces of wine and you’re already losing it? Where were you when someone was forcing stuff on Eira?"
Alpha Sebastian froze.
He hadn’t seen the state Eira was in that night.
But he’d seen what came after, water flooding the hallway. Seen her later at Dr. Wood’s clinic, drained white, hollowed out.
His grip loosened.
Lila leaned in, voice sharper. "So your family only picks on her ’cause she’s got nobody? News flash, times changed. She’s got me now."
She snatched the glass back, pressed it to Isabella’s mouth, tipped it without mercy. Last of the wine went down. Set the empty glass down, hard clink.
Eira let go of her jaw.
Isabella crumpled, coughing hard, trying to force it back up. Nothing came. Panic set in.
"Sebastian, call 911! Call someone!"
He dropped down, arms around her. "There’s nothing in it. It’s wine. You’re fine."
"There is something in it, I know it!"
Lila laughed, cold.
Eira dialed her lawyer, didn’t even look away from the two of them. Spoke clear, loud enough for both to hear. "Yeah. Dropping the charges."
Hung up. Looked down at Isabella.
"Last warning. Got your whole confession on tape tonight, motive and all. Come near me again, and nothing’s getting dropped next time."
Isabella’s eyes went wide. "You recorded me? You sneaky-"
Eira was already turning to Lila. "We’re done here."
Lila grabbed her bag, crouched, set the megaphone and the vitamin bottle right in front of Isabella’s tear-streaked face.
"Keep ’em. Souvenirs."
Isabella grabbed a pill, bit down. Sour. Just vitamin C.
She burst into tears from the relief alone.
Alpha Sebastian pulled his sister up, turned to follow Eira. Isabella grabbed his arm with both hands.
"Sebastian, my legs, I can’t-"
"You’re fine. Go home."
He shook her off and headed for the elevators.
--
Eira and Lila were already inside the elevator when he rounded the corner. Eira’s finger hovered over the first-floor button. Then she spotted him.
"Close it," she muttered.
"Trying." Lila’s thumb was already hammering the button like her life depended on it.
Alpha Sebastian broke into a jog. Two steps away-
Doors slid shut.
Both women let out a breath.
"Thank God," Eira whispered.
"Clingy as hell," Lila muttered back.
Eira’s phone buzzed. Text from Alpha Sebastian: Wait for me downstairs.
She reached over, hit four random floor buttons instead.
"Pick one," she said.
Lila grinned. "Sixty-six. I’ve got a suite up there. You’re crashing with me tonight. Weekend anyway, and you already quit your job, right?"
They got off on sixty-six.
Alpha Sebastian, meanwhile, took the other elevator straight down to the lobby. No sign of them. Rushed outside. Still nothing.
He called her.
No answer.
Half an hour later, a text finally came through: Phone died.
By then he was already driving Isabella home. Called again immediately.
"Why didn’t you wait downstairs?"
"Didn’t want to see Isabella."
The bluntness threw him for a second. The old Eira never talked like that, so direct, no cushion. She used to soften everything, even when it came to his family.
From the passenger seat, Isabella’s voice shot up. "Oh, like I wanted to see her, that manipulative little-"
Alpha Sebastian hung up.
He’d been trying to smooth things over. Instead, the gap between them just kept widening.
A guy who could handle boardrooms and corporate politics without breaking a sweat, and he couldn’t manage his own family to save his life.
Alpha Sebastian rubbed his face, wiped out. Then slammed his palm against the steering wheel.
"Isabella. You want me to divorce her? Is that what this is?"
Isabella flinched. "Whose side are you even on?"
"Whose side are you on?!"
"Dad’s! Mom’s! Serena’s! I’m on our family’s side!" Isabella crossed her arms. "None of us like Eira, that’s not our problem, that’s hers. If she was worth liking, we’d like her. Everybody loves Serena. Why? Because Serena’s just better."
Alpha Sebastian slammed the brakes. "Get out."
"No."
"Get. Out."
"You leave me on the side of the road, I’m calling Mom and Dad right now."
"I said get out."
He needed to find Eira. Didn’t have time for this.
Isabella grabbed the handle above her seat. "You are not leaving me here! I’m calling them right now!"
"Hey Siri. Call Dad."
The call connected instantly.
"Dad! Mom! Help! Sebastian’s kicking me out of the car! He’s picking Eira over his own sister and he’s about to dump me on the street!"
Alpha Sebastian’s head throbbed.
Their father’s voice boomed through the speaker. "You’d actually leave your sister stranded on the side of the road?"
Their mother jumped in next, voice shrill, dripping drama. "If anything happens to Isabella, I swear I won’t survive it, Sebastian! You hear me?!"
Isabella sniffled loud enough for the phone to pick it up. "He hates me. He actually hates me."
"Enough." Alpha Sebastian shot her a look, cold, sharp, completely out of patience.
Isabella’s breath caught. She hung up fast and went dead quiet.
Alpha Sebastian started the car again, drove her home without another word.
The silence was worse than any yelling. Isabella kept texting their parents under the seat, shooting nervous glances at her brother the whole ride. He caught every single one. Said nothing.
When they pulled up to the house, their parents were already waiting in the foyer.
Their mother lit up. "Sebastian! You’re home!"
Like the phone call five minutes ago never happened.
"Just grabbing something from the study. Then I’m out."
He walked straight past both of them.
The second the study door swung open, their mother shot up out of her seat.
"Wait-!"
Too late.
The Mate Bond Dissolution certificate was sitting right there on the desk, along with both his Registered Mate Bond certificate.
She’d figured keeping that stuff lying around was bad luck, meant to toss it out days ago, and then completely forgot.
Now Alpha Sebastian was two seconds away from seeing all of it.