Page 34 of Alpha's Impostor Bride

She doesn’t meet my gaze. “After the miscommunication with your designer.”

“Miscommunication!” Harriet’s face is growing red, and I have a feeling she’s seconds away from exploding. “You deliberately—”

“I made a mistake. I know I crossed a line. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t sound sorry,” Harriet retorts.

“Well, I am!” Bella snaps at her.

“Is that how your apologize for something?” Harriet demands.

“Harriet, please,” I say quietly.

Bella glares at the older woman before saying, her voice tense, “Things got out of hand. I should not have implied that Cedric and I were lovers. I grew up with him. I don’t see him in that way. Neither does he look at me in that manner. He was pretty angry that I manipulated you, and I’m sorry about that.”

“You’re sorry he found out, you mean?” I get to my feet. “You’re not sorry for what you did but that your plan didn’t work.”

She bristles. I can see that apologizing is not easy for her, but she’s still standing here, and that means something.

“Why did you come here now? If he fired you so long ago, shouldn’t you have been here sooner?”

Her eyes search the ceiling. “I worked hard as the royal advisor. I thought Cedric was just angry with me and would eventually give me back the position, but he says he won’t. I put a lot of blood and sweat into managing this castle and starting certain programs. I know I made a mistake, and I’m willing to apologize for it.”

“You do realize that if you become the royal advisor, you will be working for me. Not with me but under me. You will be answerable to me. You will have to respect me and my decisions.”

She doesn’t look very happy about it, but she nods. “I understand.”

Bella has a lot of knowledge about the castle that I don’t. Letting her back into her position might be helpful.

“No.”

She goes pale. “Excuse me?”

I study her, hardening myself. “I know having you in that position could be very beneficial, Bella, but you don’t like me, and I don’t trust you. I can’t work with somebody I don’t trust, especially one who’s looking to stab me in the back at any given moment. You haven’t given me any reason to trust you. I’m sorry, but I cannot ask the king to reinstate you.”

Harriet blinks at me and then tries to hide her smile.

“But I came here and apologized!” Bella protests.

“You don’t mean it, though. And if you ever got an opportunity to hurt me again, you would.”

Her silence speaks volumes, as does the guilt in her eyes.

“If I were to speak to the king, he might listen to me, or he might not, but the fact is that you will try to undermine my decisions, based on my experience with you. I won’t allow that. My job is to manage this castle and the local nearby villages. I’m trying to get some new programs off the ground. I don’t trust you not to sabotage them.”

It takes a lot of effort to stand up for myself like this, and I’m stunned that I’m managing to do so. I also know that the only reason this is possible is because my mate is currently guarding my back. The moment he chooses to revert to his previous behavior, I will once again be in the position I was before. This is why I’m trying to work so hard. Even if he changes his mind, if he thinks I’m useful, he might…

Well, I don’t know what he will do, but I’m starting to think this place isn’t as bad as I initially thought. If I can just stay here and be useful, I might be able to carve out a niche for myself. I’m still living in Princess Vivian’s shadow, but the mark I leave on this place will be my own.

Bella looks like she has something to say to me, but she bites her tongue. “Fine. I should have known it was pointless.”

As she turns around, I see the glimmer of tears in her eyes. I divert my gaze. My intention was not to hurt her, but that was inevitable. I have to protect myself.

“There’s no reason for you to feel bad for her.”

I’m standing on the terrace of the bedroom when a large coat is dumped on me. The scent coming from it is instantly comforting, and I look over my shoulder to see Cedric standing behind me. Despite my apprehension toward him, since I am his mate, his scent brings me a comfort that I’ve never experienced before. I know it is my wolf’s reaction to his, but if I close my eyes and bury myself in his coat, I feel safe.

“What are you talking about?” I ask innocently, trying to discreetly wrap myself up in the warm coat.

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