Chapter 146: Party And Lies

Lorali Pov

I settled into the deep leather booth of the high-rise restaurant, the cold glass of the exterior wall pressing through the thin fabric of my shirt.

To my right sat Susie, currently dissecting the menu as if it contained the secrets to the universe. To my left was Oracle. He was trying his absolute best to blend into the shadows of the ambient lighting.

On the other side of the long marble table sat Vanya and her mate, Julian—the dark-haired Alpha with the sharp suit and the million-dollar smile—alongside two of their private security detail who looked like they’d rather be anywhere else on earth.

The atmosphere was ostensibly chatty. Silverware clinked against fine china, waiters in crisp white jackets glided past pouring expensive sparkling water, and the quiet hum of high-society conversation filled the air.

"I just think we should stick to white lilies and pale eucalyptus for the table arrangements," Vanya was saying, leaning back against Julian’s arm. Her voice had that light, melodic tone she used when she was pretending the world was a completely peaceful place. "It keeps the entire aesthetic clean, don’t you think?"

"Oh, absolutely," Susie agreed, taking a sip of her water. "Lilies are timeless. Plus, they match the accenting on the invitation cards."

I stared down at my glass of iced water, my jaw clenching so hard I thought a molar might crack.

Oh girl, please.

I took a slow, agonizing breath, desperately trying to keep my eyes from rolling right into the back of my skull. Are we seriously sitting in a five-star rooftop restaurant talking about eucalyptus? Six months ago, I would have been right there with them, leaning over the table, passionately arguing about whether cream silk napkins complemented brushed gold cutlery. I would have cared. I would have thought it mattered.

Now? I couldn’t give a single damn if they decorated the entire wedding venue in neon pink toilet paper.

My life had literally been blown to shreds. I was carrying a venomous bond mark on my shoulder that felt like liquid fire half the time and yet I was forced to sit here listening to a twenty-minute breakdown of floral arrangements.

I was so bored I was practically hallucinating.

Why on earth did I agree to come to this? I thought bitterly, stabbing a single piece of lettuce with my fork. I could be anywhere else. I could be staring at a blank wall in my room and it would be a hundred times more intellectually stimulating than this.

"Speaking of the schedule," Julian chimed in, offering the table a smooth, charismatic grin as he adjusted his cufflinks. "We still need to clear next weekend for the doubles match. Susie, you haven’t forgotten, have you?"

Susie laughed, waving a hand. "Are you kidding? I’ve been practicing. Tell Kassian he better be ready this time. He was dropping standard returns last month."

"Oh, don’t worry, Kassian’s is ready," Vanya said, smiling softly as she looked up at Julian. "He might beat you this time."

"He really is terrible when he loses," Julian added with a light chuckle. "He brooded for three days after Susie beat him at the estate courts."

"He deserved it!" Susie shot back, grinning brightly. "He tried to call a line fault on a serve that clearly hit the tape. I had to put him in his place."

They all laughed, a synchronized, pleasant sound that echoed off the glass.

I sat there, chewing my lip, watching the three of them chatter away about badminton tournaments, private estate courts, and Kassian, Vanya’s other mate who wasn’t even here tonight.

Everything looked fine. It sounded fine. It was just a normal, wealthy friend group talking about sports and weekend plans. But deep down, right in the pit of my stomach, a quiet, stubborn knot of unease began to twist.

Something in the air felt entirely wrong.

It was subtle, like a faint static charge right before a thunderstorm. The way Julian’s eyes flicked to Susie a second too long before he checked his watch. The way Susie’s voice pitched just a fraction higher than normal when she brought up Kassian. The way Vanya sat there, looking completely serene, yet holding her wine glass so tightly her knuckles were turning white.

It was giving pure calm-before-the-storm energy.

They’re all lying, I realized with a sudden, cynical clarity. I don’t know what they’re lying about, but not a single person at this table is saying what they’re actually thinking.

Before I could sink any deeper into my own paranoia, a heavy vibration rattled against my thigh.

I reached into my pocket, pulling out my phone. The screen lit up with an incoming call from Astrid.

Thank God, I thought, practically weeping with gratitude inside my own head. A way out.

I slid out of the leather booth, pressing a hand to my chest and putting on my best apologetic face. "I am so sorry, guys. I really need to take this call. I’ll be right back."

"Is everything okay, Lorali?" Vanya asked politely.

"Yeah, just pack stuff. I’ll be two minutes," I lied smoothly.

As I turned to head toward the private restroom corridor, Oracle immediately shifted his weight to follow me.

"Should I come, Mistress?" he asked in a low, rumbling murmur, his dark eyes hovering over me.

I held up a hand, shooting him a flat look. "No, Oracle. It’s fine. I am literally going to the bathroom. I think I can survive the thirty-foot walk without You."

"Understood," he grunted, stepping back, though his gaze never left my back as I walked away.

I pushed through the heavy wooden door of the lounge rest area, stepping into the quiet, marble-tiled hallway. The second the door swung shut behind me, isolating me from the restaurant din, I swiped the screen and brought the phone to my ear.

"Astrid, you are literally my savior," I breathed into the receiver.

"Girl, where the hell are you?!" Astrid’s loud, music-blaring background noise leaked through the speaker, accompanied by the thumping bass of a heavy track. "The party is going on! Things are about to be absolutely lit there, and I’ve been standing outside the building waiting for your ass for twenty minutes!"

"Dude, I am stuck at a restaurant right now," I said, leaning my back against the cold marble wall and rolling my eyes. "But I’m coming, don’t worry about it. There is literally nothing happening here. I’m dying of pure boredom."

"What?!" Astrid shrieked over the phone. "At first I thought you were going to ditch me because you said you were going to get some hot tea or information from your academy friends!"

"Honestly, I thought I was going to!" I admitted, letting out a heavy sigh. "I thought there was some crazy drama going down, but it looks like everything is completely fine."

"What are you even talking about? What happened?"

"Okay, listen," I said, dropping my voice to a conspiratorial whisper as I checked the bathroom hallway. "So I was with my friends from the academy, right? And we were trying on bridesmaid dresses, and out of nowhere, one of my friend’s mates—Julian—starts staring at Susie. And I don’t mean just looking at her, Astrid. He was looking at her with this look. Like he was calculating the exact measurements of her waist in that satin dress. It rubbed me so wrong. I was ready to snap."

"Ooh," Astrid hummed loudly over the line. "Scandalous."

"Right?! But then Vanya, his future wife, walks into the room, and the second he looks at her, his entire face changes," I explained, gesturing dramatically to the empty bathroom mirrors. "He looked like he was head-over-heels in love with her. Soft eyes, kissing her cheek, pulling her close, the whole nine yards. So I realized I was just being completely dramatic about the whole situation. He just loves his wife."

Astrid snorted loudly over the speaker. "Maybe not, babe. Those two are probably fucking."

My mouth fell open. "Nah, man! Susie would never do that. She’s my friend."

"If you say so, sweetie," Astrid replied, her tone dripping with shameless cynicism. "People do crazy shit when they are in love. But whatever! Are you coming or what?"

"Yes! I am leaving right now," I said, tapping my foot impatiently against the floor. "Send me the location, we’ll just drive straight over and meet you at the entrance. Things are so boring on this side, man. It’s so boring I can’t even tell you. I need a drink and loud music before my brain melts."

"Hurry up! See you in ten!"

Astrid hung up. I shoved my phone back into my pocket, checked my hair in the mirror, pulled my long purple waves forward over my left shoulder to ensure the dark, veiny mark was completely hidden, and marched back out into the dining room.

I walked straight up to the table, not even bothering to sit back down.

"I am so sorry, guys," I said, putting on a weak, pained expression and resting a hand against my stomach. "I really have to leave. Something came up."

Susie paused, her fork halfway to her mouth. "Really? Can’t you just stay a little longer so we can actually catch up?"

"Yeah, Lorali, we barely got to talk," Vanya added, her brows pulling together in polite concern.

"I would love to, honestly, but I’m feeling really sick all of a sudden," I lied smoothly, giving them a miserable little half-smile. "My stomach is just totally turned upside down. I think I need to just head home and lie down."

Julian stood up politely, buttoning his suit jacket. "Do you need us to call a car for you?"

"No, no, I’ve got my Oracle," I said, gesturing toward Oracle, who instantly straightened his posture behind me. "Oracle, let’s go. I’ll see you guys next time. I’ll see you at your wedding ceremony, Vanya."

"Feel better, Lorali!" Susie called out as I turned away.

"Thanks!" I called back, already picking up my pace toward the exit.

The second we stepped into the private elevator and the doors closed, sealing us off from the restaurant, the pained expression wiped clean off my face.

Oracle looked down at me, his sharp brows pulled tight over his eyes. "Are we returning home?"

"No," I said, pulling out my phone to pull up the address Astrid had texted me earlier. "Change of plans. Drive us to the high-rise on 4th and Main. The rooftop club."

Oracle frowned, his jaw tightening. "Why?"

I whipped my head up, shooting him a cold, lethal glare. "Because I said so, Oracle. Just do it."

He clamped his mouth shut, his chest rising and falling in a tight breath before he bowed his head slightly. "Understood."

Twenty minutes later, the heavy base of top-forty hip-hop and electronic synths was vibrating straight through the soles of my shoes.

The rooftop venue was absolute, chaotic insanity. The sky was pitch black above us, illuminated only by blinding neon pink and violet strobe lights cutting through heavy clouds of artificial fog. Dense crowds of people were packed shoulder-to-shoulder across the open-air wooden deck, shouting over the music, holding up sparkler-clad champagne bottles, and dancing like the world was ending tomorrow.

Astrid was waiting right by the VIP velvet ropes, holding two glowing green shots in her hands.

"Finally!" Astrid yelled over the roaring bass, shoving one of the glasses into my hand the second I walked up. "I thought you died in that fancy restaurant!"

"I almost did! From boredom!" I yelled back, slamming the shot down my throat without missing a beat. The harsh, burning alcohol hit the back of my throat, making me wince, but the instant heat flooding my veins was absolute bliss.

Standing right behind me, towering over the entire crowd like a grim reaper at a neon rave, was Oracle. He looked completely, utterly out of place in his dark, formal suit, his sharp eyes darting frantically across the writhing crowd of bodies as if expecting an armed assault at any given second.

Astrid leaned in close to my ear, pointing a manicured nail straight at him. "Why did you bring him?"

I shouted over the music, rolling my eyes as I looked back at him. "Remember I told you about that stupid venomous mark I have? He needs to go everywhere with me so I don’t collapse. I’ll be a bitch to everyone if I’m in pain so I need him not to feel it."

Astrid deadpanned, staring at me with a flat, unimpressed expression. "Girl, I feel like you’re a terrible human being even without the pain."

I gasped, shoving her shoulder hard. "Astrid! I seriously will punch you right in the face!"

She burst out laughing, dodging my fist. "There! So you are in pain then!"

"Whatever!" I yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her straight toward the crowded center of the dance floor. "Come on! Let’s drink!"