Tori's POV
To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I stared at her, her lips pimped up with a smirk as though she loved the look of surprise on my face. Adrian Trent cleared his throat, obviously sensing the discomfort that surrounded me. "Hazel, you should go now," he said, his voice holding the same nonchalance it did when talking to me too. That seemed to comfort me. She was not that important to him.
She turned to look at him now, her eyes temporarily leaving mine, and I could almost sigh with relief. I was a few seconds away from crumbling under the weight of her eyes. "But why, baby? I have not even seen Cade. He is inside, is he not? I will just pop in and say hi before leaving." She said, but Trent stopped her again.
"Cade would like to be left alone for now. And I don't want you hanging around my son when I'm not around. You can come back later," he said. She scowled a little, but shrugged, walking towards him and planting another kiss on his lips, her eyes basically stripping him naked. "I will be back later in the evening, babe, and maybe then, we can have this conversation more..." She trailed off, turning to give me a once-over before she finished her statement. "...privately," she finished.
The car seemed stuffy all of a sudden when we finally got into it, Adrian speeding in the direction of the hotel. "You will be seeing Hazel a lot more around the house, so get used to her presence," he suddenly said, jolting me out of my uncomfortable thoughts. I waited for him to add something, maybe an explanation of who she was or why she looked at me like an opponent, but none came.
I cleared my throat. "Is she really your girlfriend?" I asked. "That is not in your place to ask. Your job in the house concerns Cade and not me. She comes to visit me, so as long as she is not with Cade, you don't have a right to ask about her," he said. I gaped at him, my mouth opened for what felt like minutes before I finally closed it. How was he so cold to me?
The car only got stuffier, and when finally, I saw the largeness of the hotel, I could almost jump up in joy. He had barely stopped the car before I dashed out, muttering some excuse of going to check in before rushing out of the car. I could feel myself suffocating with the amount of time I spent in that suffocating car, and when my lungs finally got a whiff of the breeze outside, they were grateful.
Even though I had run up to the receptionist, he still managed to catch up with me, not one hair out of place, bringing around with him the same suffocating air that I was trying to run away from. I tried to focus on the cool steel of the keys in my hands as I walked towards the elevator, but it was so hard to focus when he was so close, his natural minty scent stinging my nose.
"Tori! Oh, really, it is you. What a pleasant surprise to run into you here," the voice said, and I paled internally. It was a voice I recognized anywhere, mostly because I was so used to hearing it at every party that Adrian deemed fit to throw. I was accustomed to the fake laughs and her fake batting of lashes as she pointed out my flaws in organizing the party.
I turned around, giving her a fake smile of my own as I looked at her. "Hi, Georgia, it's such a pleasure to see you again after all this time. I hope Harden is well," I asked, even though I was hoping secretly that somehow, Harden has ended up on his deathbed. She batted her fake lashes at me as usual, toying with her synthetic hair.
"Oh, he is fine. He sent me to come pick up a few documents from one of his clients. But you must have seen my shock the other day!" She said. I pursed my lips as I looked at her. "What other day?" I asked.
"Oh, you know, at the party Adrian threw. He officially announced your best friend as his new wife, and I was shocked. I wondered why he would do such a thing. You are such a lovely girl, Tori. Oh, it's so sad," she said, but I could see through her fake lashes and her chemical-bleached teeth. She was just a sniveling gossip, looking for the next best news that she could share with her friends.
If anyone was happy about my downfall, I was willing to bet that she was part of them. "Well, it's what happened. I'm no longer in charge of the parties so you can go complain to my best friend now whenever the food is not to your liking." I said.
My heart ached. The fact that while I was drinking away, he was partying made me sick. I wished the elevator would move faster, just so I could escape her eyes and curled up lips.
Her gaze finally settled on alpha Adrian and she immediately seemed unnerved.
She gave me a fake laugh as she looked at me.
"I was wondering why he would do such a thing, but now I can see why. I hope you have a good relationship with alpha Adrian." She said and just then, the hotel elevators chimed and she squeezed her way out.
My heart was thudding and slowly, I could not feel myself breathing.
My vision was lined with black dots as I struggled to figure out how to breathe.