Claimed by My Ex's Half-Brother-Chapter 132 she cried out

Victoria’s POV

The wine sloshed across my face wasn’t an accident. Catherine Watson stood there, her hand still raised, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.

"You..." her friend trailed off, clearly at a loss for words.

"Catherine," Damien’s voice cut through the tense silence, edged with an Alpha’s chilling command. "Don’t you have something to say?"

Catherine’s jaw tightened before she spoke. "What do you want me to say? Yes, I’m jealous of her. You said you had important business, but it was just to have dinner with her? Why can you make time for her but not for my birthday?"

Her voice grew increasingly pitiful, tears welling in her eyes. To anyone watching, she might have appeared to be the victim in this situation. I could feel the shift in the room, the hushed whispers blooming like ugly flowers as people started speculating if Catherine was Damien’s heartbroken girlfriend, catching him red-handed.

Damien noticed the sideways glances and murmurs too. "You’re my employee, Catherine. I’m your boss. Nothing more. Why would I need to attend your birthday? If I attended the birthday of every one of my company’s thousands of employees, when would I have time for anything else?"

His voice hardened further. "Ms. Watson, you’ve crossed a line. Starting tomorrow, don’t bother coming to work. The company can’t afford to employ someone who behaves like this."

As Damien took my arm to guide me back to our private dining room, Catherine’s composure cracked.

"No!" she cried out. "Mr. Sterling, please don’t! I wasn’t thinking clearly. I’m so sorry!"

"I’m not the one you should be apologizing to," Damien replied, his voice still unforgiving.

Catherine turned to me, desperation evident on her face. "I’m sorry, Ms. Lancaster. I lost my head. I was angry and took it out on you. You can throw your drink at me if you want—do whatever you need to feel better. Just please ask Mr. Sterling not to fire me. I’ve been with Blood Moon since graduating college. I can’t lose my job."

With her head bowed, I couldn’t see her expression, but my wolf Nora sensed the hatred radiating from her. Catherine was planning something; this apology was just buying time. She couldn’t afford to leave the company—it would mean losing access to Damien completely.

The other diners finally understood what was happening: a woman with an unrequited crush on her boss, lashing out at anyone she perceived as competition. Classic workplace drama.

As someone unfamiliar with the inner workings of Blood Moon Pack, I didn’t feel it was my place to decide Catherine’s professional fate. But I wasn’t about to let her off easily either.

"Apologies should be meaningful," I said, walking to her table and picking up another glass of wine. I held it out to her. "Either pour this on yourself, or have your friend do it. Then we’ll call it even. But this is your only chance. If you ever come at me again, I promise you’ll regret it."

"Victoria, you’re being unreasonable!" she protested.

I raised an eyebrow. "Am I? How exactly am I being unreasonable? Weren’t you the one who threw wine at me first? Funny how you can dish it out but can’t take it." My voice hardened. "What did you expect? That I’d just stand here and let you treat me however you want? I’m not your mother—I don’t exist to coddle you."

The other diners nodded in agreement. Why should she be allowed to assault someone without consequences?

"If you won’t do it," I said, turning to Damien, "then I’ll leave the matter in your hands. She is your employee, after all."

I started walking back toward our private room, not wanting to waste any more time on Catherine Watson.

Behind me, I heard a splash and turned to see Catherine’s face dripping with red wine, the empty glass still in her hand.

"Are you satisfied now, Ms. Lancaster?" she asked, humiliation burning in her eyes.

"This isn’t about my satisfaction," I replied coolly. "It’s about facing the consequences of your actions. That’s what adults do."

With that, I turned and walked away.

Damien followed me after leaving Catherine with one final warning: "Ms. Watson, mind your boundaries in the future."

Back in the private dining room, I looked at Damien’s back, his jacket stained with red wine from when he’d stepped between Catherine and me.

He removed his suit jacket, thankfully protecting his shirt underneath from the wine.

"Thanks for stepping in," I said, "though honestly, this whole fiasco is technically on you. I don’t understand why successful women feel the need to compete over men. Catherine is clearly capable and attractive—she could have any guy she wanted. Why fixate on you?"

"Perhaps because I’m exceptional," Damien replied, his lips curling into a self-satisfied smirk.

"I think ’narcissistic’ is the word you’re looking for," I countered.

His expression shifted, growing more serious. "So, about that phone call. Who were you so desperate to talk to? Something you didn’t want me to overhear?"

My wolf Nora tensed inside me. Was he actually suspicious, or just fishing?

"I wasn’t ’sneaking off’ to do anything," I said defensively.

"No? You seemed pretty eager to get away."

"There’s nothing for me to hide," I insisted, though the call from my grandfather about the Crescent Dawn Pack’s potential alliance with the Northern wolves was definitely something I needed to keep private. "Let’s just finish dinner and go home. You should shower when you get back—you smell like a winery."

"I’ve already eaten," he said, watching me closely.

"Then let’s head out." I stood up, ready to leave.

"Wait," Damien called out, stopping me.

"What is it?"

"On second thought, I’m still hungry. I should eat a bit more." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He began to eat again with deliberate slowness, clearly in no rush to end our evening. My urge to leave and return his call seemed to have triggered something in him.

I sighed. "Fine, but hurry up."

My impatience only made Damien slow down further. He took a leisurely bite and asked, "Why the rush? Is there another man waiting for you?"