Filed to story: Watch Me Win Alpha (Olivia & Ethan)
Ethan’s POV
The balcony doors shut behind me with a quiet thud as I stepped out into the cool night air. The ballroom buzzed be- hind me-clinking glasses, soft music, voices layered over voices. I felt like I needed a break right now.
I lit a cigarette, dragged in the smoke, and tapped Fin’s number.
“Where’s Olivia?” I asked without greeting.
“Still at her parents’ place,” Fin said.
I grunted. “Alright.”
I hung up, and headed back inside.
Chole was waving a glossy auction catalog at me the moment I walked back in.
“Ethan,” she cooed, latching onto my arm, “which do you think is better-this sapphire ring donated by Mrs. Donald or the blue diamond necklace from Mrs. Janet? I can’t decide which one I want you to get me.”
I wasn’t listening. My eyes had landed on the page she pointed at.
The blue diamond necklace.
A rare, ocean-deep shade. Delicate and striking.
I bought that necklace for Olivia last year on our anniversary. A one-of-a-kind set I had flown in from Europe.
Why was it listed here under Mrs. Janet’s name?
My mind immediately flashed to the empty drawers in Olivia’s locker at the villa.
I raised my phone and took a picture of the auction listing. My fingers hovered, then I hit send-to Olivia.
Blocked.
I stared at the screen.
I tried calling.
Also blocked.
My gut twisted. This didn’t seem normal to me. I had to figure this out by myself. Right now.
I stepped back from Chole. “Have fun on your own. I’m heading out.”
“What?” She grabbed my wrist. “You can’t leave now. Tonight’s important-for us.”
I looked down at her, frowning. “What are you talking about?”
Before she could answer, a hush fell over the ballroom.
My mother had stepped up on stage, elegant in emerald silk, holding a mic like it was a scepter.
“I’d like to make a special announcement before we begin the auction,” she said with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
I took a step forward.
What the hell was she doing?
She glanced at Luna Madeline-Chole’s mother-and then said it:
“We are thrilled to announce the engagement of my son, Ethan Hawthrone, to Chole Windsor.”
The crowd gasped. Clapped. Champagne glasses clinked.”
My feet turned cold.
She wasn’t done.
“As a token of celebration, we will be auctioning off the finest item in tonight’s collection, a priceless blue diamond necklace, as a gift to my future daughter-in-law-the soon-to-be Luna of Hawthrone Pack.”
My ears rang.
What?
Olivia’s POV
The ballroom erupted with applause, clinking glasses, and well-wishes. Smiles stretched across every face-except mine.
I stood at the entrance, watching the celebration unfold like a grand lie draped in velvet and glitter. The chandeliers above cast a sharp shimmer across the marble floor, and every spotlight seemed fixed on Ethan and Chole. My dress -a deep red tulle that trailed behind like spilled wine-swished with each slow, deliberate step I took forward.
The room noticed.
Whispers spread like wildfire.
“Isn’t that…?”
“Olivia? Ethan’s ex?”
“Oh God, she came. She really came.”
Some murmured that I was here to cause a scene. Others whispered that I was the one wronged. A few brave ones said aloud,” She was just dating an alpha. Not her fault he traded her out.”
I kept walking. My heels didn’t falter. My face remained neutral, my makeup sculpted into cool, ruthless elegance. I wasn’t here to scream.
Chole turned pale. Her fingers trembled on Ethan’s arm. Amelia’s poised expression cracked for the first time, just slightly. And Ethan-Ethan looked like someone had punched the air out of him. His feet shifted instinctively toward me, but Chole tugged his sleeve like a drowning girl grasping at driftwood.
“We’re engaged” Chole’s voice cracked across the ballroom. “We’re getting married! You should just let it go, Olivia.”
I stopped.
“Shut up,” Ethan muttered under his breath, yanking his arm away from her. “Not now.”
Chole’s lip trembled as if she were about to cry. I had seen that performance before. It wasn’t special anymore.
As Ethan tried to come closer again, a voice sliced through the tension.
“You’re going to embarrass Chole in front of everyone forher?” It was Felix Windsor, Chole’s brother, stepping for- ward like a guard dog.
Ethan’s jaw flexed. “Move, Felix.”
Felix didn’t.
But I didn’t need Ethan to clear the way. I was already standing in the center of the ballroom now, the silence growing heavy with each step I’d taken. Eyes from every elite pack in the region were on me.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?