CHAPTER 74: 74-WE ALL TRAUMATIZED HER.

Troy:

I felt Clementine’s words against my cheek like a slap when she asked me to walk away.

I did not see it as a task to go after Yorick. I saw it as her way of wanting to be alone with her mate. That was so messed up.

The fact that Haiden had been her bully for so long, but she was suddenly helping him with his revenge, being overly sweet with him, going out shopping and letting him choose a gown for her, just bewildered me.

Was it that easy for someone to earn her forgiveness? Then why was I being put on a stake, especially when I was a victim of her rumor?

I rubbed my face in my hands as I walked out of the hall, headed straight downstairs, to the garden to find Yorick. But then I heard someone come after me and call my name.

"Alpha Troy?"

I recognized the voice. It was Clementine’s stepsister. I turned around and gave her a look, watching the way she passed me a full glance, almost too hungrily. There were some things I hadn’t told Clementine, and I was afraid of them being exposed to her.

"What is it?" I asked, groaning at her.

"Come on, don’t be a stranger," she said in her very dramatic and seductive tone.

"Actually, you dropped your handkerchief when you were storming out," she said, batting her eyelashes and holding a handkerchief up for me.

"It’s not mine," I said, keeping a distance, my hands in my pants pockets, which made the coat rise a little from the edges.

"Alpha Troy, did something happen between the two of you? I saw you guys were having an argument," she uttered, and I was instantly taken aback.

She had been watching us all this time. I must tell Clementine to be careful of her.

"What?" she asked. "I was only looking at you."

It was almost as if she read my mind.

"Well, you shouldn’t. I’m not yours to look at," I reminded her, taking a step back when she walked toward me.

"Come on, Troy, don’t act like we never did it before. Do you remember that one night when you were here to meet Clementine, but then you ended up bumping into me? And that same night we had—"

She clicked her tongue as she didn’t finish. She didn’t have to. I had a one-night stand with her in the past, and I was not proud of it. Because I knew once Clementine found out about it, she would not be happy.

Not because there was something going on between me and Clementine, but because there’s a certain boundary you’re not supposed to cross, especially when her stepsister is her bully.

"The very one-night stand that made me realize I should really focus on getting to know the person first, because sometimes some chicks are not really good down there." The minute I commented that, I watched her smirk start to fade.

"Does Clementine know?" Before she could finish again, I intervened.

"You can go ahead and tell her. You think I’m afraid of her? You think I’m afraid of anyone here?" And then, with a hand gesture to dismiss her, I walked away. I could almost imagine her seething with anger.

But the truth was that I did not want Clementine to find out about it. Even though she should not matter to me. We ended our friendship a long time ago.

But still, there was some part of me that was so cautious around her. I did not want to make any mistakes.

And I wondered why Clementine wasn’t thinking the same way toward me. She would shamelessly talk to other people as if they were her best friend in her past, instead of trying to come and mend things with me.

And then, right after I had stepped onto the big road, I found Yorick standing against one of the cars and drinking.

"Yorick, come on dude." I reached him, grabbing the bottle out of his hand and pulling it away.

"What does she think of herself?" Yorick started, and I already knew who he was talking about.

"Just let it be. She is getting all the attention that she never got, I guess. She is finally gaining her confidence," I said, trying to make sense of Clementine’s changing behavior.

"No, it is not that. She had always been this way. Cold and so distant. Even when I broke things off with her, not once did she cry for me," Yorick complained, pointing in the direction of the mansion as we stared at it from afar.

"But dude, it’s not like you loved her." I reminded him that it was just a bet he had with a cheerleader.

I know I hated Clementine, and I have said it many times. But that day when I found out someone had a bet against her and they were going to ruin her character, I just couldn’t help but take her out of the relationship.

And I did it in a way that Yorick’s alpha ego could not bring enough courage to tell others that he got cheated on.

He did not tell anyone he had seen footage of her kissing me. He just told everyone that he thinks Clementine is cheating on him. He could not go into the specifics of it.

So he lost the bet. Because he was supposed to make her fall in love with him and make out with him, instead of cheating on him.

"That is what you think?"

That is when Yorick snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned to look at him. My hands in my pants pocket while the bottle rested on top of the car’s roof.

"Why, isn’t it the truth?" I asked Yorick.

"It is true that I had a bet. But it is also true, Troy, that during that one month I grew very possessive of her. And I broke that deal with that cheerleader just one week into the relationship with Clementine." The minute he said that, I felt a heat rush from my heart to all parts of my body. I just had no words. I kept watching him.

"So yeah buddy, you should have first asked me for the specifics of the bet instead of just ruining my relationship with her." He patted my back almost too sarcastically.

"But I can’t even blame you because the minute I confronted her, she just backed down. She did not beg me. She did not message me."

He took a break and then reached for the bottle again before I stole it from him, hiding it behind my back and shaking my head at him as a way to tell him he already had too many drinks.

"You know, Troy, every time I see her laugh and talk to someone else, I feel this burning sensation in me. If it were me who had been accused of cheating, I would have begged her until she gave me a chance to tell her. That is when I realized she was never serious about me either." As tears started to form in Yorick’s eyes, he began to clean them with the back of his hand.

"And now look at her. She is unbothered inside, having too many eyes on her. There is no way she will ever realize now how wrong she was for treating me this way." The way he was speaking, I just couldn’t help but think about my own relationship with Clementine.

And that is when I had to break the sad news to Yorick.

"That is because of the traumas she has," I uttered almost in too much guilt.

"What trauma?" Yorick asked.

"She tried to explain herself to me when I was breaking up my friendship with her," I said, my eyes slowly lowering down.

"Then what did you do?" Yorick asked.

"I told her in a way that she stopped trying too hard for anyone," I admitted, and then I stretched my hand out and started chugging down the rest of the wine down my throat.