Chapter 422: Hatred (A side Story)

Oric had been watching Willow for most of the night. She looked stunning in the silver sparkly skin tight dress, and he knew she had chosen to wear something head turning on purpose. That was just how Willow was. Even when they were teens, she liked to stand out, and while it was not sexy clothing back then, Willow did things with her hair that other girls were afraid to do, boldly going against the social norms.

Just as the fact that she was interested in him was, in a way, Willow going against the grain. Prejudice was rampant in a country as homogenous as Pan. To many, Oric, a man of mixed heritage, was not considered an eligible bachelor for unmarried women. Despite his success, or the success of his family; many families were big on pure bloodlines, and to them, Oric was a stain.

That was not to say that there were no interested women. Especially after he lost weight and started to focus on his appearance, but the differences between himself, Connor, Bastien and Cylus were clear. When they were in middle school, Oric's family was the most influential, with Connor's coming in a close second, but it was Bastien and Cylus who had marriage offers pouring in from the moment they hit puberty.

Things had not really changed much either. Oric and Connor had slept with many women of high standing, but neither of them had to face some of the crazed behavior that their other friends faced. Bastien alone had three paternity scares, and Cylus had his own share of troubles. In the beginning Oric had believed that Mina was the same way, but he later found out that she had been trying to set him up with Willow, unaware of their history.

Out on the dance floor, Willow moved her body in ways that made the men around her drool. It was uncommon for women to dance so suggestively, but it was also Willow, nothing she did was common. Even Connor, who had claimed to only want Mina, was staring at Willow as if she were a ripened fruit waiting to be plucked.

The men only stopped staring when someone wrapped his arms around Willow's waist and the pair embraced one another. Oric was already feeling uncomfortable with Connor and other men staring at her the way that they were, but he felt sick when he saw her grinding on the man.

Since finding out how things had appeared from her perspective, Oric's mind had been focused on the what if's. If Oric had known back then that he had three days to get Willow a contraceptive, he would have taken his time to do so. He would have enjoyed the moment without worry, and in turn, he would not have pushed her away. Oric was over Willow, and he was more than ready to move on, but the guilt he felt toward her was very much still there, and he at least wanted them to make peace with one another, for the sake of their parents.

Oric recognized Jeremy Barnes, the man came from a famous line of attorneys who specialized in business law. He had met the man once, and he had never heard anything foul about him. Of course, that was because he never inquired.

"Do you know who that man is?" Oric asked Connor. He hoped to get more information because it was obvious that Willow knew him well.

"I don't. He came with one of my cousins." Connor pointed his glass toward his cousin, who made his way to the stage. He was annoyed that he had been summoned in the middle of making headway with a woman he had his eye on for months.

"What?" The man grumbled.

"Don't be an ass or I'll tell my father about the money you 'borrowed.'"

"I did that for you," the man said incredulously, but Connor waved him off.

"That was a test, and you passed, but I have another test for you." Connor was in line to take over the family business and his cousin, who was among many, wanted a position within the company. Nothing grand, he just wanted to outshine his siblings who were favored, but otherwise useless. "The man you came with, tell me about him."

"Jeremy? There is not much to tell. He keeps pretty much to himself." As Connor's cousin spoke, Oric watched Willow leave the room, and he saw Jeremy following her. "Involved in a bit of a scandal though. He is expecting a child. He keeps saying it isn't his, but everyone knows the truth."

"How does he know Willow West?" Oric asked, startling Connor's cousin, who was surprised to hear the name Willow from the lips of a man who was not Jeremy. He went into detail about the pair's relationship, including the constant cheating the man had done. "Does she know about the baby?"

"Only a few people know, and she has not been in The Four Cities for weeks, so I doubt she does. She knows about most of the cheating though." Oric's feet were already moving, as he thought he was about to become Willow's grand savior. Oric planned to expose Jeremy, and in his mind, it would give Willow a reason to forgive him, and they could both move on. He made his way to her room, which was left unlocked, but she was not there.

Defeated, Oric sat on the bed. Not really sure why he thought he would find Willow in the place where she and Mina slept. It was more likely that she and Jeremy found an un-booked room to occupy and trying to figure it out was an uphill battle Oric was unwilling to face. He just hoped that she already knew about Jeremy's secret, because he saw the way she looked at the man. It was exactly the way she used to look at him, as if no one else in the world existed.

----

The walk to her room was a short one, but halfway there, Willow was unable to hold back the flood of tears that had been waiting to fall since Jeremy's confession. She loved him, she knew she did. She regretted letting him chase her, and never telling him how she felt. Her mind began to torment her, and she wanted nothing more than to just sink into the bed and cry, but her worst nightmare greeted her instead.

Oric sat at the edge of her bed, and Willow looked around the room to see if he had come with Mina, who she knew like the man. Not seeing her friend, Willow straightened her back and pretended she had not just been crying.

"Are you waiting for Mina?" She asked, her voice wavered as she spoke.

"Are you okay?" Oric asked, he had never seen her cry, and the sight of her tear-streaked face caused him to panic.

"I just finally understand why you wanted closure, so I will give it to you." Willow shut the door and stared directly into Oric's eyes. "I hate you, not only because you destroyed a special moment for me, but because you never came to apologize after. You lied to my parents, told them it never happened, and when they suggested that we stay away from one another, you agreed. I hate you because when everyone turned their backs on me, you allowed them to, and then you sent your friends to try to sleep with me. I hate you because everything you did caused me to lose someone I love."

Oric unpacked Willow's words line by line, but he was completely stunned when she mentioned his friends. He had never sent anyone to do anything, in fact, he and Connor had physically fought because he had asked if he could date Willow. That moment had been defining for Oric, and he thought it had sent a clear message among their group; Willow was still off limits to any of them.