I froze. "Why would you think that?" "If you weren’t the president of Bluewater Corporation, how could you be so determined to recruit me? Telling me to report to light Corp under your name? Only someone at the top could make that happen." I smiled and admitted it outright. "Since you’ve already guessed it, I won’t keep up the act. Yes, I’m the president of Bluewater Corporation. And yes, I really do want to bring you into the company." There was no point hiding it anymore. As a high-level executive at light Corp, Simon would find out soon enough anyway. "Alright, I understand now. Thank you, President." He bowed his head in gratitude. I accepted his thanks without issue, smiled at him, and turned to leave. But before I could step outside, a werewolf suddenly blocked my way. "Andrix?" I was startled. "What’s wrong? Don’t want to see me?" Andrix grinned. I took a step back and said coldly, "If you’ve got nothing important to say, don’t show up in front of me again. Just the sight of you makes me sick." He shook his head and sighed. "Meeting like this must be fate. Since we’re both here, why not sit and chat? Who knows, you might be very interested in the truth behind what happened to my mom..." He suddenly mentioned Madam Regina, making me stop in my tracks. I turned to look at him. "What are you trying to say?" He motioned toward a nearby seat. "I’m proposing a deal. Something I think you’ll want to hear." I hesitated for a second, then sat down across from him. "Fine. What kind of deal?" "It’s one you’ll definitely be interested in," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I know you’ve been investigating and gathering evidence to prove it wasn’t you who hurt my mom, but Taylor. You’ve worked pretty hard to clear your name, haven’t you?" His words made my chest tighten. I frowned. "So what’s your point?"I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. "I’m saying that Taylor was indeed the one who orchestrated all of it—everything from the incident with my mom to the deaths of Ruby and her mother. Of course, I wasn’t involved in any of it." He laid it all out without hesitation, leaving me completely thrown. According to Aiden, the two of them had clearly teamed up. So why was Andrix suddenly throwing her under the bus? "What exactly are you getting at?" There was no way I believed Andrix had suddenly turned into a good guy who wanted to help clear my name. "I’m saying that if you agree to one condition, I’ll help you prove that Taylor’s behind everything." Alarms were going off in my head, but I forced myself to stay calm. Trying to sound impatient, I said, "Spit it out. What’s the condition?" "Marry me. Be my mate." I shot to my feet. "No way." "Don’t be so quick to refuse. I’m not asking you to be with me forever—just pretend for a while. When the time’s right, we’ll sever the bond." "Why would you do that?" Pretend to be together? That meant he didn’t even like me. So what exactly was he getting out of this? "I have my reasons," he said. "If you’re interested, you can let me know anytime." Andrix stood up, clearly ready to leave. "Oh, and don’t bother with recordings." His words startled me. "I brought a signal jammer," he said, pulling a small device from his pocket and tossing it onto the table. "So don’t waste your time trying to tape me." "Mr. Salvatore, you’re full of tricks," I said coldly, while quietly slipping my recorder back into my pocket.Damn it. He really had me figured out. On the way home, I kept thinking about Andrix’s motives. He was clearly using Taylor as a bargaining chip. Now that she had no more value to him, he was ready to throw her away. And I really didn’t have any other evidence right now to prove Taylor tried to hurt Madam Regina. My only hope was for Madam Regina to wake up. But who knew when that would happen? So then, his goal had to do with bonding with me. I was still deep in thought when I got home. After leaving Midnight Pack, I bought a villa in the Southside area. It was close to the hospital and made it easier for me to keep an eye on Madam Regina and look for evidence. I got out of the car and walked up to the front door, but before I could unlock it, I noticed someone standing outside the neighboring villa. I didn’t think much of it at first—until the figure turned around and called out to me. "Raelyn." I stared in surprise. It was Randall. Someone I hadn’t seen in a very long time.