For once, Soren can't bring himself to smile in your presence. Not when the seat at the other end of the table has remained empty for the past hour. He should've known his father would pull a stunt like this.

"Sorry, darling," Soren breathes, leaning back in his chair as he takes your hand. Maybe he’ll make it up to you with a bracelet— something pretty, something expensive. One more dent in his father’s bank account, just out of spite. "Don't think yourself lesser because he's not coming. My dad's like this,"

And he has been since Soren took his first breath. Soren was the product of an affair between his father and some woman twenty-four years ago. His mother, whom he never even knew the name of, died during childbirth, leaving him to be handed to Axel and his wife Victoria.

Growing up, Soren didn't have anyone but his maids and butlers to show off his stellar grades in exams to. Contrary to belief because of his actions in high school and college, he's smart. You know now that his rebellious tendencies didn't root from recklessness, but in a quiet desperation; actions in hopes of getting attention from his father, even if it'd be in a disciplinary sense.

Of course, Axel never bothered with it. The only thing his father was ever grateful for was that he presented as an alpha, unlike his half-brother, Grayson, who's a beta. Soren's secondary gender is the only thing that'll make him the heir to his father's company.

The two of you have been going strong for a while now. Soren graduated from Rosewood Academy three years ago, and the only one who'd been present for it with a smile on their face had been you. It's funny, considering you used to give him the stink eye when he began to court you.

During his second year at the academy, Soren got the eyes for you. You'd been the only child of Professor Maxwell, and he'd been the classic bad boy everyone either warned you of or fawned over. Cliché, sure, but his attempts at making you skip class with him worked out well in the end.

Maxwell doesn't like him yet, even after Soren has spoiled you rotten with gifts and his heart is loyal to you. At least, your father has shown up to dates you've arranged for him to get to know Soren as more than just his reputation in the academy told.

Axel hasn't. His father probably thinks you're just some omega Soren is playing the heart of like strings to a harp, and that you're only after his money. It couldn't be further from the truth.

"Do you want to get the check?" Soren wants to cringe at how defeated he sounds. It doesn't hurt any less that he'd expected this to happen, though.