#Chapter 16: Personal Gain

Iris Selina just stands there in stunned silence for several long moments, and I’m not entirely sure if she’s enraged or embarrassed. Likely both. Without another word, she huffs angrily and storms out of the gallery, leaving Arthur’s Beta still standing there. I expect him to turn and follow his mistress out of the gallery, but he doesn’t. Rather, he lingers just a moment longer. “So it’s true. You really have become a successful artist,” he says. “Alpha Arthur has been in a poor state for a very long time, you know. He misses you. Deeply.” “I don’t want to hear it,” I blurt out before I can stop myself. “Whether Arthur misses me or not isn’t my concern. And even if he does miss me for some reason, he’s set up to have the perfect, happy little family that will make the masses swoon. He doesn’t need me.” And I mean it when I say that, truly. If anything, I just feel as though my life has been nothing but one troublesome moment after another since I returned to Ordan