I Married The Beast Commander, Not His Match Chapter 05

I Married The Beast Commander, Not His Match Chapter 05

The next morning, I was getting ready to head out to the property when the doorbell rang.

Chloe stood on the doorstep.

The sweet, harmless act was gone. She looked like she’d already won.

She pushed past me before I could get a word out and walked straight into the living room.

“You already know, don’t you? The compatibility results were wrong. You’re not Gideon’s true mate.”

I leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. “So what?”

“Which means you don’t belong with him.” Chloe’s voice went razor-sharp, every trace of sweetness stripped away. “The truth is out. Do the smart thing. File for divorce and disappear.”

“If he wants a divorce, he can come tell me himself. Sending you to do it is a classy move for the empire’s top commander.”

Chloe’s face twisted.

“Don’t test me. If that match hadn’t been a Registry error, you wouldn’t have gotten within a mile of this family. And now what? You’re going to cling to him and refuse to leave?”

“I’ll say it one more time. Unless Gideon shows up and asks me himself, I’m not signing anything.”

I didn’t budge.

Chloe was shaking with rage. Her eyes locked on mine, furious.

“Fine. I tried being nice. Remember that when things get ugly.”

She turned on her heel and stormed out.

[The FL is such a queen! Kick this squatter out already!]

[Girl, just let go already! Divorce him and make room for the real one!]

[Can’t wait to see her lose everything lol. She’s SO done.]

I ignored the comments. By the time I was standing at the edge of my property, the noise in my head had gone quiet.

The little house was almost finished. Two bedrooms, a living room, a small front yard. Clean and cozy.

Green shoots had pushed through the soil.

The livestock were thriving.

Days slipped by. Still nothing from Gideon.

One afternoon, a fleet of tinted SUVs rolled up to the edge of the property.

A man stepped out.

He had a refined face, almost soft, with small light-gray wolf ears and none of the predatory edge purebloods had.

Everything about him seemed polished, calculating, and warm in equal measure.

It was Julian Sterling.

He looked out over the green rows, surprise flickering across his face.

“It really is you. I thought there had to be a name mix-up.”

“Gideon lets you play farmer?”

I didn’t dance around it. “We’re getting divorced.”

His eyebrows rose, but he didn’t pry.

“I’m here because I want to talk business.”

“You’re not planning to bulldoze this place and throw up condos, are you?” I looked at him.

He laughed and shook his head, surveying the land with what looked like genuine admiration.

“I want to build a high-end agritourism retreat. Farm-to-table, hands-on experiences, the whole package. Your land happens to be exactly the right location.”

That was exactly what I’d been planning.

But Julian as a competitor? That was a weight class I couldn’t compete in.

Time to play this smart. If I pushed too hard, I’d lose the land and maybe a lot more.

“I won’t sell. But I’ll put the land up as equity. Make me a partner.”

“If that works for you, we can keep talking.”

He studied me for a long moment.

“Deal. But we’ll hold off on signing anything.”

I knew exactly why.

If the divorce wasn’t finalized, the land could be classified as marital property. He didn’t want that mess.

“Fine by me. Once the divorce is done, we’ll sign.”

The second Julian left, I drove home, opened my laptop, and drafted the divorce papers.

No cars. No houses. No alimony.

All I wanted was those three acres of dark soil.

Hopefully, Gideon still had that much decency left.

But my finger hovered over the send button.

He hadn’t made a single move in days. What was he waiting for?

The Gideon I knew would have filed the second he found out the match was wrong.

So why had he gone silent instead?