My Alpha Didn’t Want Me… Until I Disappeared Chapter 09

My Alpha Didn’t Want Me… Until I Disappeared Chapter 09

The coworker produced a video, which was a screen recording of a FaceTime call he had with his wife.

“It was right around the time we were supposed to start our shift, and my wife called to check up on me.”

“I was holding the phone, panning it around to show her the site.”

“The camera caught someone acting incredibly suspicious right behind your brother, completely unbuckling his safety harness.”

“I didn’t recognize the guy and was just about to shout over to ask what he was doing, but before I could open my mouth, he shoved your brother right off the edge. All of us were completely frozen in shock.”

“Later on, the construction company told us to come collect some cash. We all knew it was hush money, but nobody dared to say a word. We just quietly took the money and left.”

“A few days later, a masked woman showed up. She had a butterfly tattoo on her left wrist, and she threatened every single worker on site, telling us that if even a whisper of this got out, she’d make sure we paid with our lives…”

“Over the last few years, I haven’t dared to spend a single dime of that money. I was the one who brought your brother into construction work in the first place. He was such a hardworking, honest kid… I never imagined he’d end up like that…”

Every word from that coworker felt like a whip soaked in brine, lashing violently against my already scarred and bloodied heart.

But I also extracted the crucial piece of information.

A woman, masked, with a butterfly tattoo on her left wrist.

The memory of Nicola smashing a beer bottle over my head came rushing back.

She had a butterfly tattoo right on her wrist.

It had been Nicola’s warning to me.

The moment I uncovered the truth, a string snapped inside my brain.

My brother died because of me.

By the time Julian walked back into the hospital room, Nicola had already left.

He sat down heavily on a chair, his voice laced with deep regret.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t think she would take things this far…”

“I will personally compensate you for all the damage to your boutique.”

Compensate? Of course, Julian had more money than he knew what to do with. The total damage to the boutique probably amounted to less than the cost of his breakfast.

But I didn’t want his money.

I wanted Nicola, that murderous monster, to watch her entire family legacy burn to the ground.

“Juniper, it feels like it’s been ages since we just sat down and talked like this.”

It had been. Ever since attending his birthday gala.

I had been actively avoiding him.

When he came to the boutique to find me, I pretended to be swamped with work while secretly watching shows in the back lounge.

When he invited me out to dinner, I told him I had already eaten and had no appetite, while browsing food delivery apps on my phone.

I let out a mocking scoff. “Julian, don’t tell me you’ve actually fallen in love with me.”

Meeting my cynical gaze.

He stared at me blankly, his eyes pooling with an intensity akin to molten lava, the silence around us so profound that I could hear his heart hammering erratically against his chest.

After a long pause, I finally heard him whisper, “Yeah.”

I thought my ears were playing tricks on me.

“Juniper, I love you. I’ve loved you for a very long time.”

“But because of my arrogance and my ridiculous pride, I refused to admit it. It wasn’t until you vanished from New York that I finally realized I had truly lost you.”

“I’ve spent all these years searching for you, but I could never find a trace.”

“I went to every church to pray, begging for a chance to see you again, even if it was just from a distance.”

“The scarf you knit for me back then… I never threw it away.”

“And the specialties your father gave me, I didn’t throw those away either. The housekeeper tossed them out without my permission, but the moment I found out, I dug through everything to retrieve them…”

“And the tattoo…”

He pulled his collar apart, revealing my initials inked over his collarbone.

It was identical to the one I had seen in the bar all those years ago.

He poured his heart out, desperately trying to convey his clumsy, belated affection.

But I found it entirely irritating.

His love had arrived far too late; I was no longer the naive girl from six years ago who daydreamed about romance.

For the past six years, I had been surviving in a living hell, consumed entirely by the burning desire to uncover the truth about my brother’s death.

It was an agonizing existence, yet one I had to face.

The current Julian served only one purpose in my life.

He was the perfect bait to reel in Nicola.

Only he could make Nicola show herself willingly and expose her vulnerabilities.

“Julian, I don’t want to hear any of this.”

“Whatever Nicola did, you don’t have the right to apologize on her behalf.”

“Arrange a meeting with her tomorrow at the coffee shop right next to the hospital. I have something to say to her.”