He Chose Her, I Took Back Everything Chapter 01

He Chose Her, I Took Back Everything Chapter 01

Helena Voss’s POV

My brand-new Cullinan, the one I’d picked up that morning, was totaled. Front end caved in, frame bent beyond saving. Courtesy of Caleb Reed’s new Omega secretary.

That made three cars that month.

“I let the first two slide. This one doesn’t even have insurance on it yet. So how exactly are you planning to pay me back?”

Chloe Bennett flinched, shrinking into herself. Tears streamed down her face.

“Mrs. Reed, I’m so sorry. I’ll pay you back, even if I have to sell everything I own.”

Caleb, who had never once sided against me, stepped in front of Chloe. His Alpha scent rolled off him, cold and heavy.

“Helena, do we really have to do this?” His voice was sharp with accusation. “It’s a car. I’ll cover it.”

I reached for his card, but Chloe knocked it right out of my hand. The same girl who’d been shaking thirty seconds ago.

“Mrs. Reed.” Her chin lifted. “Every cent you spend is Mr. Reed’s money. And you have the nerve to ask for more?”

Caleb let out a low laugh. “She’s just being greedy.”

The Voss Pack Bank card lay on the floor. It was linked to my account. My name was on it.

I looked down at it, and something in me went very still. Then I smiled.

When a man stopped playing by the rules, you didn’t wait for him to come around. You replaced him.

I turned on my heel and walked out. Before I was through the door, I was already calling my assistant.

“Shut down every Voss Pack Bank card tied to the Reed family. All of them. Now.”

…

Earlier that afternoon, my phone had rung. The Rolls-Royce dealership.

“Mrs. Reed, your Cullinan came in, and it’s in rough shape. The repair costs would exceed the vehicle’s value at this point. We’d recommend declaring it a total loss.”

I froze. “What?”

“Your husband had it towed in. He said to bill the repairs to your account. But the damage is so extensive, I wanted to check with you first.”

I was in a cab before I’d even hung up.

When I got there, I barely recognized it. Fresh off the lot. Black on black, understated, but the kind of understated that cost over a quarter of a million.

I loved that car. I’d driven it exactly once.

Now it was scrap metal. Didn’t need a detective to guess who’d done it. Caleb’s precious secretary had struck again.

I left the dealership and went straight to Reed Group. I didn’t stop at reception. I walked right into Caleb’s office.

Caleb and Chloe were leaning over a contract together, heads close. Close enough for her sweet she-wolf scent to cling to the collar of his suit.

When the door swung open, Chloe sprang back like she’d been caught.

“Mrs. Reed.” She straightened up, all composure. “It’s polite to knock.”

I didn’t even look at her. My eyes stayed on Caleb.

“You gave my Cullinan to Chloe again? To practice driving in?”

He didn’t even flinch. Like he’d been expecting this.

“Come on, Helena. What’s with the attitude? It’s just a car.”

I held his gaze and laid it out for him, slow and deliberate.

“Two weeks ago, you took my SUV and gave it to Chloe. She wrapped it around a tree the same day. Totaled.”

“Last week, you took my Bentley. She drove it into a river. Walked away without a scratch while my car sank to the bottom.”

“And now the Cullinan, barely driven, destroyed.”

“One month. Three cars. And she doesn’t have a mark on her.”

“You don’t find that the least bit suspicious?”

Caleb frowned. “She just got her license, Helena. Of course she’s not going to be perfect behind the wheel yet. That’s the whole point of practice. You can’t call it sabotage just because she walked away. Chloe’s just lucky.”

Caleb had buried both previous accidents. No police reports. No insurance claims. He didn’t want anything on Chloe’s record.

And that was exactly how she got the chance to do it a third time.

I gave a cold laugh. “Three totaled cars and not a scratch on her. Yeah. Lucky doesn’t even cover it.”

“I told you after the first two. She can practice all she wants, just not in my cars. And you went ahead and gave her the Cullinan anyway.” I stepped closer. “Did you even ask me?”

Caleb tilted his head, that lazy smirk spreading across his face.

“What’s yours is mine, Helena. We’re mated.”

Inside me, my wolf lifted her head. Cold. Alert.

The mate bond, the one that used to feel like a warm pull in my chest, suddenly felt like a joke.

I turned to Chloe.

“I let the first two slide. This one doesn’t even have insurance on it yet. So how exactly are you planning to pay me back?”