Vanya's POV
Cliff's words surprised me a bit.
I knew he hadn't been this way with Melinda before.
What was going on today?
Had his wolf lost its sense for her?
Soon, I realized it was probably because of that reporter's question earlier, making Cliff cautious.
Hearing Cliff's words, Melinda's eyes couldn't hide her disappointment.
But she obediently nodded, "Okay, I'll go back now."
Watching Melinda's lonely departure, a flicker of regret crossed Cliff's face.
I guessed he was thinking if his tone was too harsh just now.
"A girl's heart is very fragile. If you want to comfort her, go ahead," I said softly, looking at Cliff.
"You want me to comfort her?" Cliff frowned, his tone filled with suspicion.
"Isn't she your true mate? How can it be that her sadness doesn't affect your wolf?" I explained calmly.
Cliff pursed his lips and didn't say a word.
Seeing his lack of response, I continued, "If you don't go now, it'll be too late. Elliot drives very fast."
"There's no need for such tactics," Cliff said, taking my hand.
He spoke indifferently, "You are the Mrs. Todd."
I was taken aback, feeling a mix of emotions.
Cliff was already leading me out of the venue.
I looked up at his profile, my thoughts involuntarily drifting back many years ago.
It was the first time I saw Cliff, when I was a twelve-year-old mischievous girl.
He was just a seventeen-year-old boy, studying.
He held my hand like this and took me home.
At that moment, I made a silent wish in my heart, if one day I could marry this man with such a handsome profile, how wonderful it would be.
However, times had changed, and I was no longer that girl with a girlish crush.
Thinking of this, I gently pulled my hand out of Cliff's grip.
Feeling the emptiness in his palm, Cliff turned back and looked at me standing there, asking, "What's up?"
"There are no reporters here. No need to hold hands," my tone was very plain, but it had already carried a faint alienation.
This tone obviously made Cliff feel it.
Seeing him silent, I had no patience to wait.
"Just go home," I walked faster, not waiting for Cliff behind me.
When I walked far, I looked back and saw Cliff still standing there.
I got on the elevator and shouted at him, standing outside, "Alpha Cliff!"
Theodore's POV
I held the dart tightly in my hand, my mood gloomy.
The inexplicable anger in my heart surged, and with a flick of my hand, I threw the dart fiercely at the TV.
With a "crash," the originally intact screen of the TV instantly cracked into several large gaps.
Like a broken spider web, it looked terrible.
"My ultra-high-definition 4k ninety-eight-inch big TV!" Derrick saw this and rushed to the TV.
He acted as if he had lost some rare treasure, holding the TV with both hands and actually crying out loud.
After crying for a while, he turned his head and glared at me fiercely.
He cursed through gritted teeth, "You jerk! It has accompanied me through so many days and nights. Just because you are in a bad mood, you destroyed my precious TV! What the..."
"I'll buy you a new one," I interrupted him before he could finish those scolding words, coldly throwing out such a sentence.
Derrick heard this and immediately sniffed, his facial expression changing faster than turning a page.
He immediately changed his words, saying, "Cool!"
I was in no mood to fool around with him at the moment, my heart full of other troubles.
Derrick was still talking to himself, "Vanya is showing affection with Alpha Cliff on TV. What's there for you to be unhappy about? I think you should give up on Vanya as soon as possible. It is a kind reminder for you."
"That's just playacting," I replied to him indifferently.
I was very clear about this matter. There was no real affection between Vanya and Cliff. It was just a show.
"She deliberately got close to Wilmot at school. Is that also playacting?" Derrick looked at me skeptically, his eyes as if saying that I was deceiving myself.
"I expected it," I responded coldly.
I understood in my heart that Wilmot was a very valuable resource for Vanya, just blatantly in front of her. With Vanya's character, she would definitely take action.
Sure enough, in just a few days, Wilmot and Vanya got to know each other.
And this time, the Hammond family seemed to be helping Vanya more or less behind the scenes, but not entirely for the sake of maintaining their family's reputation.
After all, if they wanted to disassociate and smear Vanya a bit, the Hammond family would probably be very happy to see it.
Vanya was Cliff's wife. Their two families had never gotten along.
But this time, the Hammond family didn't do so, probably because Wilmot deliberately helped in the middle.
"You expected it, and you're not angry!?"
"Wilmot is not her type," I said with certainty.
Derrick listened to my words. His eyes almost rolled up to the sky.
After holding back for a long time, he finally blurted out, "When you go out, don't say you're my bro."