Vanya's POV
For these past three months, he had been sending people to secretly monitor me, but they were all blocked by Theodore's men. His people couldn't even catch a glimpse of my back.
I looked into Cliff's eyes, seeing the fury there, and sneered, "What do you think?"
"Bitch!" Cliff shoved me hard, and I fell back onto the sofa with a thud. But inside, I felt a strange sense of relief.
Seeing Cliff's explosive temper, I was reminded of my despair in my past life.
In that life, Cliff had cared nothing for me, his wife, all for Melinda.
Even when I was hemorrhaging in the pack hospital, Cliff refused to come see me, refused to use our mate bond to heal my wounds.
Cliff was a murderer!
He had been willing to let me die just so Melinda could take my place as Luna in the Silver Moon Pack.
Now, all I was doing was having normal interactions with Theodore, yet Cliff was making a big deal out of it.
So he could be jealous, could lose his temper like this.
I pushed myself up from the sofa, my eyes full of mockery for Cliff. "I've told you what you wanted to know. Can I leave now?"
"Stop right there!" Cliff grabbed my wrist. "Where do you think you're going? To see Theodore again?"
"Let go!" I shook off his hand and said coldly, "Who I see is my business, not yours."
"But you're my wife!" Cliff took a step closer, tugging at his tie. "Didn't you used to like me? Want to be with me? I'm giving you what you wanted. You won't go to Theodore anymore!"
I was stunned and said, "Cliff! Have you gone mad?"
"I am mad! Mad for letting you run around for so long!" Cliff clamped down on my wrist, pinning me to the sofa, his eyes full of possessiveness. "Tonight, you won't leave the Silver Moon Pack."
"Cliff, let go!" My struggling only fueled his anger.
"Let go? Didn't you used to want this?" Cliff tore at my dress.
Cliff grabbed my chin and leaned down.
The next second, I slapped him hard across the face.
"Don't touch me!" My eyes were full of undisguised disgust.
The slap seemed to bring Cliff back to his senses a bit.
I heard his voice return to calm, though it was still hoarse. "You're rejecting me because of Theodore?"
Hearing this, I still found it laughable.
"Cliff, don't make me despise you," I said coldly, glancing at him before turning and heading upstairs.
Cliff's POV
I felt like I had used all my strength just now. Leaning back on the sofa, I felt an unprecedented weariness.
I called Elliot and said wearily, "Find out everything about Kendrick. I need it by tomorrow."
"Alpha Cliff, we've already started investigating Kendrick's personal information, but... this person is a mystery. Our network hasn't found any information on him," Elliot replied.
"Then contact M Group. I want to meet him," I ordered.
"Yes, Alpha Cliff," he said.
After hanging up, I rubbed my temples.
Lately, I couldn't focus on work at all. Vanya... did she really despise me that much?
She actually felt disgusted just by my touch.
The next morning, I was eagerly waiting for a response from M Group, but instead, I got the news that M Group had refused to meet me. And this news quickly spread throughout everywhere.
This news must have been deliberately leaked by someone internally. It was a clear sign that the up-and-coming entrepreneur wasn't giving me, the big shot of Los Angeles, any respect.
As a major figure, I was losing face because of M Group's refusal. It was as if my dignity had been trampled on.
The business world was in awe of M Group's CEO's audacity.
After all, I wasn't just anyone.
Who else in Los Angeles would dare to openly disrespect me like this?
At that moment, in my office, I was looking at the news online.
A tweet titled #Todd_Group_CEO_Humiliated_by_M_Group's_Rejection had gone viral.
Everyone was curious about the mysterious boss behind M Group, who had such a strong backing that they dared to refuse me!
Elliot quickly said, "Alpha Cliff, this news was definitely leaked on purpose. I've already sent people to investigate. We'll have results soon."
"No need to guess. M Group is behind this," I said coldly.
I had just wanted to meet this Kendrick to see what he was about.
But he had completely broken the rules and even turned it into a viral tweet.
He had used the Todd Group's name to boost M Group's visibility. This move of leveraging our reputation was quite clever.
"Alpha Cliff, we need to take down this viral tweet immediately. Otherwise, it will affect how people perceive us," Elliot said.
In the past, everyone knew that the Todd Group was the leading enterprise in Los Angeles.
But with this viral tweet, many people might think this mysterious M Group was even more powerful than Todd. This was not good.
"Suppress the viral tweet and organize a business gala," I ordered.
"Should we invite M Group?" Elliot asked.
"No, every company can attend except M Group!"
If M Group wanted to be so independent, I would isolate them completely!