99 Times for Alpha’s Bestie novel Chapter 178

“The bond was rejected ages ago, Claire. Isn’t that what you announced to everyone willing to listen while I was at my lowest in the market?” Liam’s voice cut like shards of glass.

“Now we are nothing more than familiar strangers. Who I see and what I post on my socials are none of your concern. I don’t answer to you anymore.”

“Liam, if you had chosen anyone else, I would not care.” My entire body trembled with rage as I wrenched open the Porsche’s rear door. “But Nora f*****g Jones? And then you had the nerve to compare me to her placeholder? That is where I draw the line!”

My sudden outburst made Liam’s brows knit together. He could see I was rattled. But the way he sat there, I suspected he was yet again missing the point and thinking that I still cared.

Barely containing his smirk, he deliberately leaned back, adopting an air of deliberate aloofness.

“What is this? Don’t tell me you are jealous; I am picking up Nora from the airport. What’s wrong, Claire? Are you having regrets? So much so that you chase me down the highway, driving like some madwoman?”

“Regret?” I barked a humourless laugh, my nails digging into my palms as I stared at his shadowed silhouette. “Liam, have you truly forgotten everything that woman did to me at university? How could you possibly post those things about me, and praise someone who literally made my life hell? Why do you keep dosing fire with more gasoline and call it love and compassion?”

I stood rigid and unblinking.

Once, during our inseparable days, he was the one person who knew all my secret pains and hardships; he was the one who had witnessed every wound Nora had inflicted on me. Now, his face only showed blankness.

What had Nora done?

“Claire,” Liam waved his hand as if I were nothing more than a bug pestering him. “Don’t involve me in your silly, petty girl dramas. It has nothing to do with me. All I stated online was the truth. Nora is an upgrade. All this other stuff you are buzzing about is ancient history from another lifetime!” he retorted.

I vibrated with fury, hearing his dismissal of my internal scars from Nora and her viciousness.

Liam’s smugness swelled.

“Who even remembers that far back? Even if you two had issues back then, so what? We are not together, remember. Again, who I date now and what I post online is none of your business.”

I stared at him. The last traces of warmth vanished from my expression, replaced by glacial fury. “Who even remembers?” Those three words burned like a brand pressed to my skin, shattering every dream I had stitched into our shared history.

Liyah’s voice lashed out like a whip c***k. “Liam, every humiliating stunt that woman pulled on Claire is seared into my memory, and I was not even there half the time! But you, were once her damn mate, have the gall to play dumb and to accelerate the matter by adding your own jabs. You are-”

Her fist clenched, trembling as she fought the urge to smash it into Liam’s face.

My icy fingers wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back.

“Let it go, Liya. My mother always said that you can’t fix stupid. I was a fool to think that, despite everything Liam and his family put me through, there was still a decent guy in there; someone who wouldn’t resort to bullying himself. I was wrong. Perhaps that makes me the stupid one of the pair?”

I had thought my heart was numb by now. Yet here it was, a rusty knife sawing relentlessly through my chest, the agony too raw to ignore. Clutching my shirt, I folded in on myself, sinking to my knees.

For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then Liam’s grin stretched wide with a smug, self–satisfied look. He misread my hunched posture as silent weeping, and his arm jerked forward instinctively to pull me into an embrace.

I gave the empty bottle a mocking shake, my lips curling into a frosty smirk.

Liam’s enraged roar cut through the air. “Claire!”

However, I noticed that his wolf was absent this time. He swiped at the wine dripping from his face. His designer shirt and perfectly styled hair were now drenched in crimson, sending fury crackling through him like lightning.

“About damn time, Claire!” Liyah cheered, clapping before letting out a sharp whistle. “I personally wouldn’t shatter the bottle over his inflated head, if it were me!”

“Let’s go.” With a cold laugh, I hurled the bottle in a flawless arc into a nearby trash bin and jumped back into Liyah’s sports car.

“Claire! You b***h! Get back here!” Liam scrambled after me, completely humiliated. Again.

My gaze landed on Liyah’s freshly opened yogurt cup. With a swift motion, I grabbed it.

A creamy missile smacked Liam right in the face. He froze, too stunned to react until the freezing, gloppy mess dripped down his skin. The yogurt blended with the red wine, turning his face into a slapstick mask.

From the driver’s seat, I looked down at him with disdain. “Perfect for meeting the she–b***h! She lives for drama, self–created or discovered. This look will leave her totally thrilled.”

Liam’s furious roar rattled the windows of the service station. But the engine of Liyah’s car roared louder. I did not glance back as I slammed the accelerator, leaving Liam sputtering in our dust.