Chapter 21 Don't Lie To Me

Chapter 21 Don't Lie To Me
"If I'm not satisfied, you also agree to be the one who offers rejection? You know exactly what the one who rejects will suffer, right?" I blink, trying to make sure I heard correctly.
"That's right. I know." Mr. Clapton nods. "As a male, I'm not going to ask my mate to suffer the pain of rejection, though your self-healing ability is far better than the average Alphas."
"You looked cool when you said that." I evaluate and smile at him.
I once again get back my good feelings for Mr. Clapton with just those words.
You're such a soft-hearted girl, Ella, I say to myself.
"I know I'm cool." He returns my smile.
"Then I have one condition about this agreement - please don't lie to me. I mean about your relationship life. If you meet a suitable girl to be your Luna, please tell me directly instead of lying to me. Because I hate betrayal and lies, and I'm not good at dealing with mental pain. Of course, I'll be honest with you." I state.
"Fair enough. I agree." After Mr. Clapton nods, he undoes the gauze from his thumb, smiles, and holds out his right hand to me, "I hope I never get to experience the pain of a million stabbings."
There is a very light tooth mark on his right thumb, obviously from me. It looks like it's going to recover. As I shake his hand, electricity runs through my body again, making my heart feel paralyzed.
"So, can you be my dance partner tonight?" Mr. Clapton asks, giving me a charming smile.
I remember it's Saturday-Blue Moon University's centennial celebration. But I'd already promised Liam, and it would be too bad for the boy if I changed my mind.
"Speaking of tonight's party, you know Liam is not yet old enough to find a mate. If I suddenly change my mind, he must be too late to find his dance partner. How about our agreement go into effect tomorrow?" I suggest, cautiously observing Mr. Clapton's expression.
His smile vanishes. But ignoring anything other than his arched eyebrows and pursed lips, I can pretend he wasn't angry at my words for the moment.
"I get it. You'd rather dance with a younger boy than not care if your mate has time to find a dance partner. I suddenly suspect that mate pull has more effect on me than it does on you." He sighs and shakes his head.
"Why?"
"If it had been any other woman who twice refused to be my dance partner, I might have already thrown her into the Atlantic Ocean. But I couldn't bear to do that to you. Well, whatever, we'll see." With that, Mr. Clapton turns around and walks into the bathroom sink.
***
I don't understand what he means by "we'll see" until I get a message from Liam after walking Ethan and going back to my apartment.
[Sorry, Ella, I can't go to the dance tonight. I know I was wrong... Please forgive me.]
I ask Liam why, but I receive no response other than a [read] prompt, and the voice call is hung up. When I plan to make my second voice call, I find out he has deleted me.
What happened?
"Meow~" Ethan is licking his paw.
It finally hits me that this might have something to do with Mr. Clapton. After a few seconds of hesitation, I decide to call Mr. Clapton.
"Do you miss me? My Ella, we've only been apart for less than three hours." he sounds like he's in a good mood.
"Did you do something to Liam?" I ask.
"Hmm, it appears Ansel has become more productive. Remember what I said to you this morning? 'We'll see!'." Mr. Clapton's soft laugh reaches my ears, and he doesn't seem to think he's done anything out of line.
"What? Mr. Clapton, do you not realize you're interfering too much in my personal life? He is my friend, but he now refuses to contact me and has deleted me. What the hell did you do to him?" I ask angrily.
"You're mad at me? Just for that 19-year-old Gamma? Speaking of that boy, Ella, I find you very attractive to rats. I helped you get rid of him. You know he was planning to..."
"Stop it!" I clench my fist and angrily interrupt Mr. Clapton, "Look, I know you have great status and wealth, and there's a huge gap between us. But those are not the reasons you can manipulate my life. You can't let your assistant bother or even hurt my friend just to have me as your dance partner. If you really want to give me a try to be your mate, then please respect my friends and me."
I can clearly hear the sound of Mr. Clapton's intake of breath. I do not need to guess to know that he is furious, but I am not afraid to piss him off! If he were standing in front of me now, I would still dare to shout at this infuriating control freak.
He is silent for a few seconds, seemingly adjusting his temper. "So what? I've done it. What are you going to do? Declare the 1-month dating experiment invalid and then have me reject you at the dance tonight?" He asks, with a mocking tone I am familiar with.
No! I don't want him to reject me! Those are the first words that appeared in my mind. Honestly, I am angry at him for doing something to Liam without asking me first, which cost me this friend. But it isn't enough to cause Mr. Clapton the immense mental pain of rejecting his mate.
I sigh, "I'm not going to the dance tonight. I'm tired! Sorry, Mr. Clapton, please invite some other girls!"
Without waiting for Mr. Clapton's reply, I finish our call.
Ethan jumps on the couch and rubs his head against my knee.
I hug the cute little guy but accidentally let a tear drop onto his head. Ethan lifts his head and gazes at me with golden eyes. He sticks his tongue out, licks my chin, then climbs up my shoulder and licks my ear.
A bad mood turns to be healed by this sweet little guy. "Hey, little guy, you know it hurts a little when you lick me, right?" I giggle and lift him up.
Who cares about that badass? My Ethan is the treasure that will never break my heart. The pleasure lasts for a few seconds when I glance at the shopping bag sitting on the floor. Naturally, I remember the jerk mate again.
"AHHH! Sweetheart, why is your owner such a jerk? Maybe we'll break up in less than a month." After wailing, I cuddle Ethan and mutter to myself.
"Ella? Are you okay?" It is Mia's voice. I am completely unaware that she is in the apartment.
Her bedroom door is opened, but Mia is not the only one who comes out of it. There is also a man who looks familiar to me - it seems to be one of Mia's ex-boyfriends. What's his name?
The man smiles and says Hi to me, then tells Mia to call him if she needs him again, and leaves. It looks like they had a pretty passionate night. But I wonder why Mia would call her ex-boyfriend here.
"Do you remember what's his name?" Mia asks me the next second after the man closes the door.
"I should be the one to ask you that question. Besides, you can't even remember his name, so what did you note in your contact book for him?" I ask in surprise.
"I forgot. Longer-lasting ex #11?" Mia shrugs and walks to the kitchen and opens the fridge to get the milk.
"Why not Lucas?" I ask.