er 5
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Just as Mr. and Mrs. Blake were about to answer, Shelly answered first.“No one. You heard wrong.” Her parents looked at her in surprise.
Julian ignored their strange looks and pulled Shelly to his car.“Good, you’re here. You must be done chatting. Come with me.”
The ride was silent. When the car stopped, Shelly realized he had taken her to a luxury store. The sales assistant brought out a huge pile of clothes, shoes, and bags for her to try on. Shelly frowned, her eyes full of confusion.“What are these for?”
Julian pushed her into the dressing room.“Just try them on,” he said. His tone brooked no argument.
Shelly was about to refuse, but the sales assistant had already closed the door and started unboxing. She tried on outfit after outfit.
Julian took a photo of her in each one, then pushed her back in.
This went on for hours. Even an Alpha would be exhausted, let alone a Beta. Her heels were bleeding from the shoes.
She finally pushed the assistant away, tiptoed to Julian, and spoke in a low voice.“You don’t have to buy these. I don’t need your apology…”
“Besides that wine–red evening gown, wrap up all the others and send them to Miss Grace at the pack house.”
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Shelly’s words caught in her throat. She watched him swipe his card. Her voice was hoarse.“You brought me here to try on clothes for mate?”
Julian nodded carelessly, a faint smile on his lips.“Yeah. I want to buy her some gifts, but I’m afraid they won’t fit. You two have similar figures, so you’re the perfect model.”
‘Cheer up. We have more places to go. The dessert shop, the jewelry store, and the cosmetics store are upstairs. You can try everything. For me. For Grace. I want the very best.”
Shelly couldn’t take it anymore. She couldn’t control her anger.“Julian! I am not a tool for you to please your mate!”
Julian had never seen her so mad. He looked up, stunned. Her eyes were red. Do you even know? I never saw you as a friend with benefits. We were mates, for Goddess’s sake! Every hug, every kiss, every single night in your arms… I meant every bit of it! You can reject me, you can choose her, but you can’t treat me like I meant nothing!
Her voice was choked and trembling. Julian was stunned. He wanted to explain, but Shelly had already turned and left. He watched her disappear into the crowd. His eyes flickered. But the next second, they were back to normal.
Back home, Shelly packed a suitcase. At dinner, she heard her parents talking about Julian. “I heard Julian booked Universal Studios for three days to celebrate Grace’s birthday? The roses were even air–shipped from Europe. He’s so thoughtful.”
“Just two days ago, he brought her to see Grandpa Blake. He bought several expensive collectibles, saying they were gifts from Grace. The old man was so happy and kept praising Grace.”
Shelly was silent whenever they mentioned the Blake family.
Phoebe would grumble softly at his name, but she no longer begged Shelly to win him back. Her wolf instincts could feel their mate bond slowly fading.
She ignored everything else, turning down all invitations to gatherings where she might run into Julian.
A few nights, Julian, pretending to be nonchalant, messaged her to pick him up after he got drunk.
She never went.
Her friends, after a few drinks, would ask, their voices full of curiosity.“Julian, how come your Beta isn’t following you around lately?”
Julian didn’t take it seriously.“She’s sulking with me. Don’t worry. She’ll be fine in a bit.”
But time passed. Shelly didn’t show up. She even stopped replying to his messages. The day before his birthday, he finally couldn’t hold back. He sent her an invitation.
This time, Shelly replied with one word.“Nope.”
14:45
