Chapter 99

Darius

I hated waiting.

More than that, I hated being watched while I waited.

The walls of the guest house felt like they were caving in, suffocating with the scent of false elegance and desperation. Every hour wasted was another missed opportunity. Every passing glance from Liam or that damn Beta of his was a reminder that the timing wasn’t right.

And Claire?

Claire was the cherry on top of my damn misery.

She stood at the bar, swirling a glass of red wine she wasn’t even drinking, her mouth twisted in a smirk that had long since lost its charm.

The woman was simply enjoying the show.

“You know,” she said, voice too light, too amused, “I thought you were better than this. For a man who did not like failure, I did not really expect you to be giving up so easily. But then again, you might have realized what I was going through.”

I didn’t answer.

Because I knew that if I did, she was just going to keep finding a