<h4>Chapter 284: Chapter 284 The Matchmaker’s Trap</h4>


    Author’s pov


    Sebastian rose from his chair with calm precision, offering a reassuring smile to his mother.


    "Don’t worry, I’ll go after her. I promise she won’t be working this weekend..."


    But Luna Regina wasn’t in the mood for subtlety. "Then go! What are you waiting for?"


    He walked downstairs, calm and steady.


    Back at the table, Alpha Yardley and Zaria exchanged a quick look, both amused and a little concerned.


    Zaria leaned closer to her father, lowering her voice.


    "If we keep messing with Mom like this and she gets mad enough to run off to Grandma’s in Colorado Springs, we’re all going to regret it."


    "Was that Cecilia who just left?" Luna Regina asked suddenly, snapping out of her daze."Did she and your brother fight?"


    Zaria froze, twisting her fingers."Uh..."


    York cut in smoothly, saving his sister.


    "You walked out, Mom. What did you expect her to think? You’re the one who always storms off. And honestly? You’ve already decided she’s not good enough. You never even gave her a real shot."


    Luna Regina flushed.


    "I didn’t disappear on purpose. I had a meeting with Green," she muttered defensively."Besides, it’s obvious your brother isn’t that into her if he’s already fallen for Green."


    "Wow," Zaria said, folding her arms."You sound awfully proud that your son might be cheating. Congrats on raising a future tabloid headline."


    "You little brat! " Luna Regina clutched at her chest in mock horror, but the insult didn’tnd.


    Then came the hesitation. Her expression shifted as she tried to make sense of it all.


    "Maybe I owe Ms. Moore an apology? I didn’t think Sebastian would move on so fast. I’m just as shocked as anyone."


    Zaria let out a long sigh.


    "Sebas really does fall for every woman he meets."


    Or maybe, she thought, he’s just fallen for the same one twice.


    Luna Regina wavered for a moment, then doubled down.


    "When two people hit it off like that, you don’t question it. That kind of connection? It’s rare. And Sebas’s just doing what feels right to him."


    Zaria stared at her.


    Holy shit, she actually believed this.


    She gave a slow, sarcastic p."Wow, Mom. Your mental gymnastics deserve a Olympic medal."


    York rolled his eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t get stuck.


    Alpha Yardley cleared his throat and delivered his verdict.


    "Enough spection. Sebastian will figure it out. Both Ms. Moore and Green seem like good young women. We’ll support whoever he chooses."


    Cecilia’s pov


    I’d barely made it to the lobby when Tang intercepted me.


    "Cecilia, Alpha Sebastian asked you to wait for him."


    "He’sing down too?" I asked, already feeling my stomach drop.


    "Yes. The car’s waiting outside." He jerked his chin toward the entrance.


    I walked out with him and reached for the front passenger door, but Tang blocked me.


    "He said he wants to talk with you on the ride back," he said, grinning as he opened the rear door instead. "Asked that you sit in the back."


    That maniptive jerk. I slid into the back seat, swallowing my annoyance.


    Sebastian joined me less than two minutester, slipping in beside me. Tang started the engine and raised the privacy partition. The car eased away from the restaurant.


    The backseat felt tense, like the air was about to snap. We sat with space between us, both acting polite, but the tension was obvious.


    Streetlights flickered across our faces, casting brief shes of light and shadow. The silence grew heavier with each block.


    "You liar," I snapped, breaking first. Offense is the best defense, right?


    Sebastian rested his elbow on the door, two fingers casually against his temple as he turned toward me.


    "Miss ‘Green’ ," he said smoothly."Are you really in a position to call anyone a liar?"


    "One issue at a time," I shot back. "You said you’d give me time to think before meeting your parents. This ambush? Is this your idea of giving me space? Trying to grill me alive in front of your whole family?"


    "So we’re starting with that," he said, pulling out a tablet and handing it to me.


    I looked at the screen. It was security footage from the jewelry store. Me and Harper, in as day. He’d known the whole time.


    I shut the tablet with a sigh. "I thought we weren’t talking about that yet."


    "Actually," Sebastian said, folding his arms and leaning back,"They’re connected. Last night you saw my family at the store. Then you went home and pumped Liam for intel. I’m guessing you recognized my mom and wanted confirmation. But instead of asking me directly, you danced around it by asking about my brother. That right?"


    "Yeah, so what?" I crossed my arms in return, refusing to flinch. If I was going down, I wasn’t going quietly.


    Sebastian reached over and yfully pinched my nose. "So what? You were sending signals that made me think you were ready. That’s why I arranged today’s dinner."


    I froze. Wait, seriously? That’s what it looked like?


    "You don’t believe me?" he said.


    I deted a little. My righteous fury was running out of steam.


    "So?" he asked."Still think those two things are unrted?"


    "I didn’t know she was your mom," I muttered. " Not until yesterday. I didn’t go looking for her on purpose."


    "Okay. But you didn’t tell me either. Were you afraid I’d use it to get closer to you? Thought I’d cling tighter if I found out?"


    His eyes locked onto mine, dark and unreadable.


    My heart stuttered. He wasn’t wrong. That thought had definitely crossed my mind.


    Now that he’d said it out loud, I couldn’t even meet his gaze.


    "I just thought if your mom found out it was me, she wouldn’t believe it was random. She’d probably think I nned the whole thing to make her like me. Or worse, that I was trying to trap you."


    Sebastian’s expression softened. "You’re not wrong about that."


    Seeing his mood shift, I jumped in quickly.


    "I nned to tell you tonight, okay? I just had no clue you already knew. And I really didn’t think today would blow up like this."