Chapter 105 Chapter 105 There are five hundred things I should be doing right now.
Tot 4410 Like sleeping. Crying. Repacking my bags. Rewriting the Unity Event proposal for next week as I have told the board of directors-I was fucking confident on that speech. Hell, even bleaching my eyeballs after the shitshow that was Enoch's sudden regression into hormonal territory-marking toddler mode carlier.
He's a King for god's sake! Yet I have never even seen him behave like one.
But instead, I'm in the palace's dusty ass security room, staring at twelve screens and trying to pretend I'm not here for this. There's no one in here right now after I used Enoch's name, and considering that batard is only soft on me, they can't risk having their heads beheaded.
Thanks for that, I guess.
The tiny, crusty fan in the corner of the room keeps rattling as if it's about to give up on life. The chair I'm sitting in is squeaking underlike it's judging all of my life choices.
"Just pull the footage and leave," I mutter to myself, clicking through the timestamps. “You're here for evidence, Taryn. You're being rational. Smart. Cool- headed. Definitely not unhinged and obsessed and stalking your maybe-mate who practically ruined your fucking life." Click.
"Totally emotionally stable." Click.
I'm only here to get more footage of Celeste's death. That's it.
The camera view shifts to the hallway outside Enoch's office. My fingers hesitate. My stomach clenches as though it already knows what it's about to see.
The tstamp reads two days ago. Right before I found Brooke in his office. Do I really need to watch this? My heart pumps wildly staring at the screen-blue light hitting my face.
Before I knew it, I hit play.
The scene comes in the hallway, her hair up to reveal her shoulder blades in those thin strapped dress. She knocks once yet with no purpose as she doesn't really wait.
I watch as Brooke walks in Enoch's office as if she owns the damn place. I stare harder and it doesn't take a genius to see she's trying to seduce him with her hips swaying like a bad movie villain with cheap heels and worse intentions.
My fist clench as she just lets herself in, walking over to Enoch who's signing a heck of a paperwork. Whether he reads it or not is beyondwith how fast he's picking and putting the paper back.
Also, did I mention how hot he looks in those glasses? I've never seen him wore one. He's shifted back into his seat as he stares at a paper, he spins the chair to the balcony at his back as he reads, the moonlight penetrating through hits his face.
I lean in closer.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe ausucks-garbled static with the occasional blip of a word—but the video's clear.
Brooke leans across his desk and Enoch spins back to his office table only to find her nestled on it already, the documents scattered all over the table and on the floor. Her mouth moves fast. Angry. Desperate maybe? She slams her hands down. Then-fuck. She climbs on top of his desk like she's reenacting a porn parody of The Secretary.
1/5 12:27 Sun, 20 Apr Chapter 105 42% My breath catches in my throat. This is what I saw and heard. She was convincing him to leave me. My brain replays and I hear her tempting voice again, "She made her choice." However, I stare harder and yet Enoch doesn't move. He doesn't even stand. His arms are crossed. His jaw tight. He mutters something-sharp, clipped which made Brooke flinch. Whatever it may have been must be scary for her to react like that.
Did he reject her? Then, Brooke leans in closer to Enoch's face and my heart drops and I clench the mouse harder.
One, Two, Three seconds.
Nothing really... happens. Their lips don't touch, yet I was out the door and Brooke's back was onas she leaned in, so does that mean... Oh man.
Fuck me... did I see it the wrong way? He stands, finally, and walks around his desk, but only to grab her wrist and shove her off his desk. Roughly as she landed on the floor. With all the grace of a royalty and the brutality of someone who looks as though she just touched something that offended his entire bloodline.
I wince as she hits the ground and I could hear that thud from a mile away. Brooke says something else, wild- eyed now and points at the door.
And then she storms out.
Not a kiss. Not even a hug. Nothing. Absolutely nothing happened.
I pause the video and I lean back the chair as I sit there in silence. Let that raw, sick, tight thing in my chest loosen just a little.
"Goddammit," I whisper, dragging my hands down my face. "You didn't betray me." A small smirk edged to slip out of my lips and my heart is pumping happily in my chest.
That doesn't mean I didn't still walk away. Or that the damage hasn't already been done.
But it does mean one thing.
Brooke's a lying, manipulative bitch.
And now I've got receipts to show to court. She killed Celeste and as much as I don't like that woman, her death needs justice. Plus, this is for rewriting my perfectly written article and publishing it under my name.
I download the footage. Transfer it onto my phone and two flash drives. One goes into my bra. The other gets shoved in the sock I still have in my bag. Liam taughtthat trick. Hide things where people least expect. Ten minutes later, I'm lurking in the hallway outside Enoch's wing like sunhinged goblin.
I don't tell anyone. Not even Beta Jacob to help. This isn't a group project. This is me, personally handling the snake that's been hissing in my ear since the Maldives. The door to his room creaks open.
And there she is.
12:27 Sun, 20 Apr Chapter 105 Brooke.
Hair perfect. Lip gloss on. Smirking like a cat who just rolled around in milk and secrets. "Oops," she says sweetly, fake-surprised. "Didn't realize you were still here." 42% My blood boils. But I smile. The only reason I'm not freaking our that she just cout of his room is the fact that I am a million percent sure he's still in his office and not there. Which would mean she might have done something inside Enoch's room-again.
This crazy bitch. I wont be shocked if she touched herself and got off with Enoch's clothes.
"I'm full of surprises." I smirk.
Her eyes narrow. She tilts her head, still acting. "You shouldn't lurk in hallways, Taryn. It makes you look desperate." I step forward and shove my phone in her face. The screen lights up with the paused footage of her hurling herself over Enoch's desk like a deranged gymnast.
She freezes.
Her smile gone.
I let the silence stretch until she finally hisses, "Where did you get that?" "Does it matter? I have back ups anyway" I arch a brow. "You can wipe that smug expression off your face now. You didn't fool me. You never did." Brooke scoffs, but it sounds more brittle than bitchy. "You think this proves anything? He'll still choose me. Because he has to." "Funny," I say. "Last I checked, the royal family didn't allow cousins to fuck each other on office furniture." That hits. Her whole face crumples for a second. Then-like someone yanked a switch-her whole expression shifts. Wow, that's ssociopath bullshit right there. Is she bipolar? "I loved him first," she says, her voice low. "But that's not even why I did it. I needed him to kill my father. You have no idea what it was like growing up in that house-do you even know what that man did to me?" She yanks up the sleeve of her blouse.
And I freeze.
Scars. Thin, white lines trailing down the inside of her arm. Another one peeking from under her collarbone.
Holy shit.
"I wanted Enoch to kill my father. That article? That wasn't about revenge-it was salvation." Her voice cracks, for the first tsounding less like a villain and more like someone who's just... unraveling.
But I don't soften.
Because her pain doesn't excuse what she's done to me.
"And now what, you're in love with him?" I scoff like it's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, "He saved me," She whimpers and my walls drop, until that whimper turns into a creepy smile, "And I will do whatever it takes for my hero to be mine." She murmurs.
Oh my goddess.
315 12.21 Sun, 20 Apr Chapter 105 "You're a sick fuck." I mutter, taking a step back.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm42% "That man saved me. I don't see why our shared bloodline matters." she shrugs,
taking a step forward. "And besides... isn't that what royals doy Marry their royals d relatives" She smirks. She reaches forward. "Now, now. Givethe footage." I pull it back in the air, shaking my head. Goosebumps rise in my arm from how her head works. "Not a fucking chance." Then-fast, so fast-I don't even register it until I'm stumbling backward, Brooke lunges for my phone.
We immediately collide.
"Elitist fucking bitch!" she screams.
"Psychotic cousin-fucker!" I yell back, elbowing her as we grapple for thè e phone. We're both in human form but growling anyway, nails digging, fingers clawing.
She slapshard enough to sting. I shove her against the wall.
Then she runs.
Wrong move.
I chase her down the hall, heart pounding, rage pulsing hot in my temples. She heads for the stairs and I grab her wrist before she can make it any further.
"Let. Go." "No!" She kicks backward and she catches my shin.
I stumble-but not before I catch myself on the railing, wincing at my leg.
I grit my teeth, "You fucking-" This time, I lunge again, but she shoves me-hard.
And then tseemed to have stops as I watch in slow motion how she slips.
Her foot catches the edge of the stairs. No, no, no.
And she goes down. No!
She tumbles, her limbs flailing.
Before crashing into the step like'a ragdoll in slow motion.
"BROOKE!" I scream, running to the landing.
She's twisted at the bottom-not moving. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck- Footsteps thunder behind me.
"Taryn?" Enoch.