Chosen by the Beast Alpha

Chapter 79: Chapter 79

Dominic’s POV

Samuel sat across from him, a cup of tea in hand, grinning like he’d just stumbled onto some juicy gossip. "So, when did things start heating up between you two? You’re even wearing rings now?"

"Rings?" Dominic looked at him, totally lost. He had no clue what Samuel was talking about.

Samuel tipped his chin toward Dominic’s phone. "Lena’s Instagram. Go look."

Dominic opened her profile and saw the post right away. Two silver rings resting on a piece of white cloth, bathed in warm light.

His brows pulled together at once. Just this afternoon, they’d been yelling at each other, and she’d demanded he end the agreement. And now she was posting this?

"You didn’t buy them?" Samuel asked.

Dominic remembered what Lena had said before, about the post Eliza had made aimed at him. Lena’s post had clearly been planned for Eliza to see. It had nothing to do with him. This was just Lena hitting back at Eliza.

"No."

Samuel paused for a second, then smiled into his tea.

"Hmm," he said. "If she bought the rings herself, then she must really be into you."

Dominic let out a cold scoff. Lena wasn’t into him, not even close. She was just using their agreement to get at Eliza.

He thought of her from that afternoon, face flushed red with anger, standing by the door and shouting like she was about to explode. Then he picked up his phone and liked her post.

Lena’s POV

Dominic’s like caught her completely off guard.

She had expected him to mock her, or tell her to delete the post just to keep Eliza happy.

She’d already braced herself for another fight. But instead, he actually liked it, and Eliza would definitely see that.

Seriously, she could not figure this guy out.

Did he even like Eliza or not? If he did, then why let Eliza see him liking Lena’s post? And if he didn’t, then why did he rush over every single time Eliza called?

Fine.

Let Eliza feel bad about it.

This wasn’t even her endgame. The real move was still coming. Right now, Lena only wanted Eliza to see the post, see Dominic’s like under it, and feel sick to her stomach.

She had never been this petty before. But lately? Not gonna lie, it felt weirdly satisfying.

She scrolled through her phone for a while until her stomach let out a loud growl. She checked the kitchen. Empty. Not even a decent snack in sight.

With her phone in hand, she headed for the door. The second she pulled it open, the elevator doors slid apart too. Dominic stepped out, and their eyes met head-on.

Lena shut the apartment door and walked right past him toward the elevator.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I’m hungry." She slipped through the narrowing elevator doors and pressed the button for the lobby.

He turned without a word and followed her in.

She cut him a quick glance, but he was only staring straight ahead, face unreadable. Neither of them spoke.

Once outside, she walked in front while he trailed behind, not too close, not too far, like he’d measured the distance on purpose. As far as she was concerned, she hadn’t done anything wrong.

She stopped at a roadside barbecue stand, ordered grilled skewers and corn, then sat down on a plastic bench outside.

She texted Anna and asked if she wanted to come eat with her.

Anna sent back a voice message. "Your poor girl is still trapped in the office."

Lena puffed out her cheeks. Fine. Whatever.

Dominic sat down beside her. He pulled a napkin from the tissue box and started wiping the table in front of him. He glanced at the napkin, frowned, then pulled out another one and kept wiping.

After cleaning his side, he moved to hers too. Lena quietly scooted farther down the bench, putting more space between them like he was carrying some kind of plague.

He gave her a flat look, expression blank, and said nothing.

Lena secretly snapped a photo of him wiping the table and sent it to Anna.

"Is this a date??" Anna replied.

"As if. He followed me out and is currently disinfecting literally everything."

Anna sent a helpless laughing emoji. "You really posted the ring photo. So, how did he react?"

"He didn’t say a thing. He just liked it."

Anna dropped a shocked emoji, and Lena couldn’t help laughing under her breath.

Dominic’s phone buzzed on the table. He lowered his eyes and checked it.

Lena quickly texted Anna: "Bet you anything, it’s Eliza looking for Dominic again."

Anna went quiet for a bit before replying: "Send her the photo you just sent me! Post it. Now."

Lena hesitated, thumb hovering over the screen. What if she posted it and Eliza called right away? What if Dominic got up and left on the spot? Then she’d look like a total clown again.

She told Anna exactly what she was worried about.

"You’re not in love with him," Anna replied. "The point isn’t to win. The point is to annoy her. If she gets mad, mission accomplished. We’re just having a little fun, that’s all."

That actually made sense. To Lena, Dominic was nothing more than material.

The barbecue finally arrived. Lena snapped a photo of the grill packed with food. Across from her, Dominic looked up, caught the smile on her face, then glanced at the grill and frowned.

She put two pictures together and posted them—one of the skewers, one of Dominic wiping down the table, though she cropped out his face.

"Night like this. Honestly, this is all I need."

Her mood lifted in an instant. The skewers smelled amazing, tasted even better, and suddenly life felt pretty great.

Dominic didn’t eat. He just sat there scrolling on his phone. Then he saw her post, and his brow creased.

Samuel had already left a comment: "Which part do you need? What’s on the table, or the one sitting across from it?"

Dominic immediately replied to Samuel: "Delete that."

Samuel didn’t answer.

Lena was reading the comments too. She replied to Samuel: "Obviously the table."

Samuel was clearly camping in her comment section. "Come on, at least eat something better than that."

Biting her lip, Lena grinned at the screen. "What, you’ve seriously never had amazing street food?"

Dominic watched the two of them go back and forth on the phone, his jaw locked so tight it looked like it might crack.

"Oh, so you’re a woman of refined taste now?" Samuel shot back.

"Obviously. Otherwise how would I survive all this?"

"Is it really appropriate to flirt with another man online?" Dominic’s voice cut in out of nowhere, cold and sharp.

Lena looked up. "Huh?"

His expression was dark, and yeah, he was clearly in a bad mood.

"What exactly did I say? Which part counts as flirting? Dominic, don’t start." She took another bite of her skewer and kept scrolling like she couldn’t be bothered.

Dominic kept checking his phone over and over, like he was waiting for something. Probably Eliza.

Lena ate her barbecue, cracked open a beer, and took slow little sips, enjoying the warm night breeze brushing past her skin. A ridiculously handsome man sat across from her at a cheap plastic table in front of a barbecue stand, wearing the most miserable expression imaginable. Honestly, the whole scene was weirdly perfect.

She had no clue why he had followed her out here. He obviously hated places like this. He’d wiped the table four times already, hadn’t eaten a single bite, and still refused to leave. Total mystery.

"Don’t you have anything to say to me?" Dominic finally snapped. Her phone was practically glued to her hand, and she kept smiling at it like an idiot. He was clearly done watching that.

Lena lifted a brow. "Nope."

He drew in a deep breath. "The rings. What did that mean?"

"I bought them." She shrugged. "So?"

"We’re not in love," he said stiffly, every word sounding forced.

She nodded. "I know."

"Then that caption..."

"Had nothing to do with us."

His gaze turned even darker. "Then who was it about?"

"It has nothing to do with anybody," Lena said lightly, like the whole thing was no big deal. "Dominic, I know exactly what this is between us. You really don’t have to keep reminding me there’s nothing emotional going on. Relax. I’m not interested in you at all. If you want to end the agreement, I’ll cooperate right away. If you don’t, that’s fine too. We can just live in peace and stay out of each other’s business, okay?"

She tilted her head and gave him a small smile.

"Actually, shouldn’t you move back to your own place?" she added, this time sounding genuinely serious. "I mean it. You’re staying at my place right now, and if someone wants to come see you, wouldn’t that be kind of inconvenient?"

That line smashed whatever calm Dominic had left. His expression darkened on the spot, like a storm cloud rolling in without warning.

"So what you’re really saying is it’s inconvenient for you," he said coldly, "because you need to see someone."

Lena didn’t deny it. She even nodded, open and blunt about it. "Okay, yeah. A little."

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