Đang tải thông tin quảng bá...
After my mother was murdered, I decided to leave him
NovelShort
Hoàn thành
“Miss Holly, we have found a body. The features match your mother. We need you to come to the pack hall for identification.” My smile, reflected in the polished metal mirror of the bridal hut, sh...
Chương (7)
第1章
“Miss Holly, we have found a body. The features match your mother. We need you to come to the pack hall for identification.”
My smile, reflected in the polished metal mirror of the bridal hut, shattered with a single message delivered by the patrol runner.
When the healers pulled back the hide-covered shroud, her body was hardly recognizable. Her eyes were gone. Her core and organs torn out, as if some creature had fed on her life essence.
I fell to the ground, screaming until my voice broke, and the world faded into darkness.
When I woke again, my fiancé, Evan Marks, the future Alpha of the Stoneclaw Pack, sat beside me. He brushed away my tears with gentle fingers and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.
“They caught the beast responsible,” he whispered. “I made sure he paid for what he did to your mother.”
He vowed that for the rest of his life, he would protect me the way she once did.
But that night, startled awake by another nightmare, I sensed movement outside the sleeping den. Through the narrow gap of the wooden door, I saw Evan holding my half-sister, Sarah, in his arms.
She sobbed into his chest, shaking from head to toe.
“If she ever discovers the truth, she’ll kill me.”
Evan cupped her face, gentle as always.
“Sarah, listen to me. Those wanderers fooled you. You didn’t know what they were. This isn’t your fault. You’re a victim too.”
A coldness settled deep in my bones. My breath caught.
So this was the truth. My mother died because of Sarah. And the male who swore to love me for life was protecting her.
After sending Sarah back to her quarters, Evan turned and saw me collapsed on the floor. His expression wavered for a heartbeat. Guilt. Irritation. Then something harder.
“So you heard everything?”
His voice held no warmth. Only annoyance that his secret had been found.
“Don’t blame Sarah. Your mother pushed too hard. She kept asking Sarah to help her place her savings with those travelers. She walked into danger on her own.”
He tossed a blank parchment onto the nearest table, the Stoneclaw seal still fresh.
“Write whatever number you want. But forget what you heard. For now, we keep the peace. The bonding ceremony is in five days. We will proceed as planned.”
I stared at the male who once promised to love me under the Moon Goddess's light. Now he felt like a stranger wearing a familiar face.
I wiped my tears, my heartbeat steadying into something colder.
If my ceremony was destined to become my mother’s funeral, then in five days…
I would return the favor, with interest.
……
I said nothing. Evan grew impatient, yanking off his leather chest wrap and tossing it onto the wooden stand beside our bed of woven furs.
“If you understand, then sleep.”
But something inside me snapped. Grief, rage, betrayal. It all tore free at once.
“Pretend? Are you serious?”
My voice echoed against the timber walls of the den.
“You knew. You knew my mother was the only family I had. You knew how much it mattered to her to see me walk to the bonding altar in white. And Sarah destroyed everything.”
Did he really not understand why my mother had been desperate to gather coin? Evan’s family had looked down on us from the moment our packs allied. His parents barely tolerated me. My mother had tried so hard to prove she belonged in the same hall as them. That was why she sought Sarah’s help, hoping for once she wouldn’t be dismissed as useless.
I still remembered the patrol commander’s quiet words.
“She tracked the wanderers down to reclaim her savings. She didn’t know they belonged to a rogue organ-trading circle. They butchered her and took what they could use.”
The memory hollowed my chest. Tears blurred my vision.
“If it weren’t for Sarah and her mother, none of this would have happened. All I want is justice for my mom. And you’re stopping me from even that.”
“Enough, Holly.” Evan’s growl cut through the room. His eyes darkened with irritation. “Sarah was fooled as well. She lost everything too. And you? Instead of compassion, you’ve been spreading that she is your father’s bastard cub. Do you have a heart at all?”
“Compassion?” I laughed, the sound brittle. “What about my mother? She died in the worst way imaginable.”
“She died because she made foolish choices,” he scoffed. “Sarah had no part in it. Do not even think about harming her.”
His voice held the frost of a winter storm. My wolf shuddered deep inside me.
I clutched the front of my tunic as if it could hold my breaking chest together. The packed-earth floor blurred under my tears.
“Evan,” I whispered, “have you forgotten? When you were taken by rogues, who risked her life to save you? Who fought them off with her bare hands?”
“Do you remember the night she lay in the healer’s bed, half-conscious, and you knelt beside her and promised you would never hurt me? That you would care for me for as long as you breathed?”
His jaw tightened. His expression hardened into something sharp and cold.
“Do not drag up old stories. I have given you and your mother shelter, food, status for years. Whatever debt I owed, it’s paid.”
Then, as if he wanted to slice me open further, he laughed without warmth.
“This is about coin, isn’t it?”
He flicked the parchment at me again. The edge scraped across my cheek, sharp enough to draw blood.
I tasted iron on my tongue as I clenched my fists.
“I don’t want your coin. I want Sarah held accountable.”
He rolled his eyes, a lazy exhale coming from his nose.
“Go ahead. Let’s see which pack elder will stand against me in a hearing. Know your place.”
Then his gaze narrowed. “I will not have a hysterical female as my mate. This ends here.”
His signal stone hummed. He glanced down and, instantly, his face brightened.
“A gift? From you? That is thoughtful. Truly, those trade alliances only succeeded because of your charm.”
“What? No escort? Don’t worry, I will come get you. Stay where you are.”
He did not grant me a single look as he strode out of the den.
The door of woven branches closed behind him. My tears burned trails down my cheeks.
Fine. If this was the path he chose, I would not stop him.
I turned to pack my belongings when the messenger stone on the table buzzed again.
“Miss Holly,” the paralegal from the council said cheerfully, “since you withdrew the charges in your mother’s case, we are closing the investigation. Just keeping you informed.”
My blood turned to ice.
I had never withdrawn anything.
第2章
I froze. Dropped the charges? What in the Moon’s name were they talking about?
I ran to the Council Hall as fast as my legs could carry me. But by the time I burst inside, the parchment containing my mother’s case had already been shredded into tiny pieces and tossed into the fire pit.
Everything blurred. I fell to my knees, clutching the Council scribe’s sleeve, my voice cracking.
“You promised. You said you’d help me get justice for my mother.”
The scribe looked uneasy. He let out a long, defeated sigh.
“The person who withdrew the complaint was your mate. Evan Marks. No one here can go against a future Alpha. I am truly sorry.”
With a curt nod, he signaled the guards, and they escorted me out into the dirt path beyond the Hall.
But I wasn’t giving up.
There had to be someone in this cursed territory who still had a spine.
Hands trembling, I rode from pack to pack, seeking any elder or lawkeeper who might help me. One after another turned their backs. The answer never changed.
“Forgive us, Miss Holly. Alpha Heir Marks made himself clear. Anyone who touches this case will lose their post before sunrise. We cannot assist you.”
I sank to the ground outside the Stoneclaw border. My palm landed on a shard of rock, slicing skin, blood seeping out. I barely felt it.
When I was sixteen, my father cast my mother and me out of his den. The same day, Sarah and her mother moved in.
I still remembered Sarah, only thirteen, standing on the steps of the pack house with a smug little smirk. That was the day I learned my father had been unfaithful for years.
Mom and I wandered for days, packless and cold. One freezing night, we stumbled into a clearing where rogues were forcing a young wolf into a cage. Evan Marks, heir of the Stoneclaw Pack, was bound and beaten.
Mom didn’t hesitate. She lunged into the fight, claws bared. She saved him… and nearly died doing it. She took blade after blade meant for him.
Afterward, Evan dragged us back to Stoneclaw against his parents’ wishes. Mom refused his offer of full support. Instead, she worked as a housekeeper at the manor. I transferred to the Stoneclaw training grounds, attending lessons alongside the young heir.
Day by day, I watched the boy I’d rescued grow into someone I couldn’t help but love. He loved me back. On my twentieth year, he held my hand before my mother and vowed he would protect me for life.
But things changed a year ago.
He returned from a night of feasting with nearby packs speaking about Sarah in ways he never had before.
“She’s not who I thought she was,” he told me. “She’s working three odd jobs to pay her way through training. Can you believe that?”
“And some rich wolf tried to claim her as his mate. She slapped him across the face. Feisty girl.”
Then he added, “You and she never got along. But maybe that’s because you never gave her a chance. If you spent time with her, you might see how lovable she is.”
My gut twisted, but I forced myself to ignore it.
Later, a friend told me Evan had purchased a rare moonstone bracelet once worn by an ancient Winter Queen. I assumed it was for my birthday.
But on the day of my birth celebration, Sarah posted on the pack board. That exact bracelet gleamed on her wrist. And in the reflection of a nearby window, I recognized a familiar male figure standing beside her, fingers interlaced with hers.
That night, I waited beside a dying candle. Evan never returned.
It was the first time he forgot my birthday.
After that, he forgot more. Anniversaries. Promises. Moments that used to matter.
Meanwhile, Sarah’s posts grew bolder. His silhouette behind her in feasting halls. His bare shoulders through a steamy bathhouse door. His hands adjusting her cloak.
Six moons ago, we signed our bonding contract. Evan told me he wanted to give me the perfect ceremony.
Now I knew the truth. There would never be a ceremony.
My hands steadying, I picked up the communication stone and spoke.
“You still want my shares in Stoneclaw Holdings,” I said coldly. “Fine. I will sign them over. All of them.”
He had gifted me those shares the day he finally won my heart. I told him it was too much. He insisted.
His voice echoed in my memory, painfully gentle.
“If you want the stars or the moon, I will give them to you. A few shares are nothing compared to that.”
I understand now. What we had was real. Once. But hearts change. Wolves grow cold. And love is never immortal.
The boy who once held me as if I were his entire world was gone. Devoured by time and choices.
As I ended the call, the stone vibrated with Evan’s message.
Calmed down yet?
I arranged the burial grounds and paid for the rites. Shouldn’t you be satisfied? Stop testing my patience.
Another message appeared seconds later.
Did you not hear me? Come to my study now. Sign the forgiveness decree for Sarah.
Something inside me finally broke. I called him. My voice shook with fury.
“Why should I sign anything for her? And if I refuse, what then? You going to press my hand onto the parchment yourself?”
第3章
He ended the call. Cold. Without a pause.
Seconds later, another image flashed across my message stone.
A scanned copy of an investment pact. A binding trade agreement signed between my mother and Sarah.
Large runic letters carved across the center read:
All trades carry risk. Any loss caused by personal misjudgment is the client’s own responsibility.
My mother’s name and blood-mark sat cleanly at the bottom.
Evan had been preparing for this. His legal advisors, a ruthless pack of seasoned elders, were ready to crush me like dust underfoot.
Still, I went to the Stoneclaw Council Hall.
Inside the lift platform leading up the tower, I ran into Sarah.
She wore a rare moon-silk gown tailored by the clan’s finest artisans, a jeweled pouch on her arm worth more than most warriors would earn in a lifetime, and around her wrist, the ancient queen’s moonstone bracelet glimmered.
She looked like royalty. Like someone born adored.
Her lips curled when she saw me.
“Oh dear, Annelise, you look dreadful,” she said in a syrupy voice. “I guess it’s true. When a she-wolf ages, the bloom fades. No wonder Evan lost interest.”
Then, feigning concern, she added, “Still haven’t buried your mother? Want me to help plan the rites? We are family, after all.”
My hands curled into fists. Rage burned so hot it felt like fire under my skin.
“You knew it was a scam,” I hissed. “You knew those wandering traders were frauds. You tricked my mother into giving away everything she had.”
She widened her eyes, pretending to be hurt, though a smirk tugged at her lips.
“How could you accuse me like that? I was only trying to help,” she crooned. “Your mother wanted more coin for your bonding dowry. How could I refuse?”
My chest tightened. Blood roared in my ears.
“That old woman adored you,” she went on, voice slipping into a sneer. “Loved you more than her own life.”
Then she leaned close, whispering, her breath brushing my ear.
“One day, I stepped on Head Alpha Marks’s prized moon-peonies. On purpose. The steward said he’d cut your mother’s pay for three moons. She begged on her knees. Right in front of me.”
“She hadn’t taken a single rest day in months,” Sarah giggled. “All to save money for your perfect wedding. And when I told her to crawl across the garden like a dog? She did. Instantly.”
My world shattered. All those times my mother smiled through exhaustion, telling me not to worry… I never knew what she had endured for my sake.
As the lift platform doors opened, something inside me broke.
I raised my hand, vision blazing.
“Sarah, you’re a monster.”
Before I even touched her, she flung herself out of the lift, shrieking as she held her face.
“Annelise, I apologized,” she sobbed. “I even knelt to you, but you keep tormenting me. Do you want me dead? Fine, then. I will die for your mother!”
She stumbled toward the stone wall, pretending she meant to smash her head against it.
“Sarah!”
A figure rushed past me. Arms wrapped around her protectively.
Evan.
He hauled her into his embrace and rammed his shoulder into me. I wasn’t prepared. My head snapped back, slamming into the stone wall behind me with a sickening crack.
The world tilted. Warm blood trickled down my neck.
Evan turned on me, eyes wild with fury.
“Holly, how dare you? Apologize to Sarah. Now.”
It looked like she was his mate. And me? Just some deranged outsider.
Sarah trembled against him, sobbing.
“I know she’s grieving,” she whimpered, clinging to him as if he were her last breath, “and I offered to pay it all back. I said I’d take any job, even the dangerous ones. But she still struck me. She cursed me too. Said I should drop dead.”
Evan pulled her closer, jaw tight, gaze burning with anger.
“Have I not given you enough?” he snapped at me. “Look at yourself. Just like your mother. Petty. Greedy. Always playing the victim. You deserved the punishment.”
My breath hitched. The hall spun, yet I stayed rooted, stunned into stillness.
“Petty and greedy?” I whispered. “That’s what you think of me? That wanting justice for my mother makes me a grasping lunatic?”
Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall.
For a moment, something in Evan flickered. But the instant Sarah whimpered in his arms, his expression hardened.
“I saw you attempt to strike her,” he said. “I don’t care why.”
He stepped toward me.
“This is the last time I will repeat myself. Apologize.”
My heart clenched like claws were crushing it.
“And if I refuse?” I answered, voice cold.
第4章
“She is not only the daughter of a mistress. She is the reason my mother is dead. And you expect me to apologize?” I shouted.
Sarah didn’t even speak. Evan’s eyes went cold as a winter storm.
“I warned you,” he said, voice sharp as steel dragged against ice. “Do not test me.”
Then he turned to his guards.
“Retrieve her mother’s body from the burial cavern. Drag it out.”
The words struck like poisoned blades.
“She will not learn until she is broken,” he said with a sneer. “Did you truly believe someone like you deserved to stand as Lady of the Stoneclaw Alpha line?”
He raised his chin in command.
“Feed the corpse to the wolves.”
He meant it.
His guards moved instantly, their boots thudding like a death march.
“No. No, please!” I lunged forward in blind panic, but another guard seized my arm. His grip was so strong I heard a sickening crack.
Pain tore through me, bright and blinding.
Tears clouded my vision. I sobbed until I could barely breathe.
“Evan, please. Don’t do this to my mother. She is already gone. Isn’t that enough?”
Sarah tilted her head, masking a smirk beneath feigned innocence.
“Evan… the dead deserve peace. Maybe we should spare her this time?” she whispered sweetly.
“You are too soft,” he replied with a sigh. “That softness is why she walks over you.”
Then he looked back at his guards.
“Well? Why are you standing there? Do I need to guide you to the cavern myself?” His voice cracked like shattered glass.
With each word, the last pieces of the love I’d held for a decade fell apart.
He knew. He knew my mother was my only weakness. And he crushed it without hesitation.
I broke.
My spine bent. My knees hit the ground. My pride spilled at Sarah’s feet like blood.
“Please,” I whispered, tears falling so hard I could barely speak. “Please leave my mother. Let her rest. I was wrong.”
Wrong for believing in fairness.
Wrong for hoping he might choose me over her.
Wrong for loving him at all.
As I bowed, the blood-soaked back of my collar spilled into view.
Evan’s gaze flickered. For a moment, he looked almost stunned.
“Is this enough for you?” I straightened slowly, digging up the last fragments of strength, staring at him with disgust I could barely contain.
His jaw tightened. He signaled to his advisor.
“Bring the pact.”
Only after I pressed my bloody fingerprint onto the scroll did his expression finally ease.
“You are bleeding,” he said quietly. “I will summon a healer.”
Releasing Sarah, he stepped toward me.
I slapped his hand away.
“Save it. Go tend to your precious girl instead. If you wait too long, her fake bruises might fade.”
I turned to leave, but Sarah slid her foot in front of me.
I tripped hard, crashing to the ground.
Evan’s instincts sparked. He reached out—then stopped, hand suspended in the air.
He hesitated. Then dropped his arm and stepped back.
“Find a healer yourself,” he said stiffly. “If your injury worsens, that is your problem.”
I forced myself upright despite the pain stabbing up my spine.
As he and Sarah stepped into the lift platform, he glanced back.
“I will accompany you to the bridal weaver’s hall tomorrow,” he said just before the doors slid shut.
The room spun. My knees buckled. Blood loss pulled the world into a haze.
In the blur, a memory flashed.
Evan at nineteen, newly burdened with responsibilities after taking over the clan’s trade routes. Exhausted, sleepless for days. One evening, I burned my hand a little while preparing stew for him.
A tiny blister.
But Evan found out. He stormed out of a crucial council meeting and raced home on horseback without waiting for permission.
He grabbed my hand, cradling it as though it were fragile crystal.
“I am sorry, my love,” he whispered, guilt heavy in his voice. “I should have protected you. As long as I breathe, I will never let anything harm you.”
He pulled me close, warm, trembling, his promise etched into me like a brand.
But that boy was gone.
He had grown into a cold, distant Alpha heir who looked at me as though I were nothing. As though I were disposable.
And now, he was the one hurting me the most.
I staggered toward the tower’s exit. The edges of my vision darkened.
Then everything went black.
But before I hit the ground… someone caught me.
Strong arms. Heartbeat unfamiliar. Scent foreign.
Just before darkness swallowed me, I heard a whisper at my ear. Quiet. Dangerous.
“Do you want revenge?”
A pause. Warm breath against my skin.
“In exchange for those shares… I can help you uncover the truth behind your mother’s death.”
第5章
Tears slid down my cheeks as I clung, half-conscious, to the stranger’s tunic.
“Re… venge…” I whispered, the word barely formed.
When my eyes opened again, all I saw was white. Too bright. Too quiet.
A healer’s cavern.
I turned my head slowly, wincing at the ache across my body, and reached for the message stone beside my bed. A rune-lit message from Evan waited, sent during the night.
I’ve matters to attend tomorrow. Go fit your bridal gown on your own. The bonding ceremony is near, so stop throwing tantrums. Enter the Stoneclaw line with some dignity.
I stared at the glowing runes, emotionless, then brushed my thumb across them, erasing the message.
But just beneath it, another glow caught my eye. A post on the clan’s spirit board.
Evan had taken Sarah on a private skybeast flight to watch the northern lights near the ice fields.
In the green glow of the aurora, their silhouettes leaned close together. Matching moon-forged rings gleamed on their fingers.
The caption carved beneath it pierced like ice.
He told me I am the only one for him. He promised to protect me from every cruelty in this world. How could I ever let go?
Below it, a cutesy avatar with a cartoon wolf couple commented:
And no matter how far you run, I’ll find you. I’ll bind you to my side forever. Don’t even try to escape, silly girl.
I didn’t need to check who wrote it. I knew the tone. That possessive style of speech.
It was Evan.
I remembered the day I once asked him to carve matching avatars with me on the clan board.
He rolled his eyes and snapped, “Are you twelve? I’m busy. Leave.”
And yet I had once dreamed of stargazing with him on the northern cliffs. I’d planned every detail. He said he was too busy.
Too busy, always too busy.
Now I understood. He wasn’t incapable of romance. He simply chose not to be romantic with me.
My throat tightened as I set the stone aside.
That was when I noticed the envelope lying quietly on the bedside table.
Inside was a travel parchleaf. Departure in two days.
And a small note:
You’re welcome. Hope the gift suits you. For your wedding. —V.
I knew then. The man who carried me to the healer’s cavern last night was Victor Keane, sworn enemy of Evan Marks.
I sent him a quiet thank-you rune and checked myself out soon after.
Then came a call from the bridal weaver. The gown my mother had ordered had been tailored, ready for pick-up.
The last gift she left me.
I had to retrieve it.
But when I entered the weaving hall, I froze.
Sarah stood there, twirling in my gown.
“Annalise… you came,” she said with a sugary smile, spinning in front of the polished silver mirror. “I had to make sure it fits. Trying to help you out.”
She tugged the neckline lower, revealing fresh red bite marks across her collarbone, her tone mockingly bashful.
“Oh dear, Evan is just so… passionate. I told him to be gentle.”
I stared at her performance, cold and silent.
“You really did inherit your mother’s talent for stealing other wolves’ mates.”
Her smile twitched, then sharpened.
“Oh? Didn’t you hear? I’m carrying Evan’s pup.”
“And your bonding license?” She laughed. “It’s fake.”
She held up her spirit stone. A recording flickered: a dim feasting den, Sarah on Evan’s lap. He was tipsy, kissing her lazily.
“Bear the child safely,” he murmured. “When he is born, I’ll gift him the Stoneclaw holdings.”
Sarah’s voice purred, “But… what about my sister?”
Evan chuckled. “I never married her. I’ve been slipping herbs into her morning milk to keep her barren. I’ll just say we adopted.”
It was like lightning struck me. My vision spun.
So that was it.
Love had died long ago. I was just the last fool who didn’t notice.
I dragged in a breath, straightened, and forced out a calm smile.
“Well, congratulations. Becoming the next Luna of Stoneclaw is within reach.”
“But that gown is mine. Take it off,” I said coldly.
I lunged for the skirt, but before I could touch her, one of her guards—appointed by Evan—kicked me hard.
The force sent me sprawling. Pain tore through my abdomen, twisting like something had been shoved out of place.
Sarah lifted a pair of shears from a nearby table. Her voice grew gleeful as she traced the blade along the silk.
“Evan said no matter what I do, he will clean up my mess.”
The shears sliced through delicate lace. Through the soft gleam of moon-woven silk. With each cut, she destroyed the last gift my mother ever gave me.
I lay there watching the pieces fall like dying snowflakes.
Even my rage felt numb under the crushing weight of everything.
Sarah strutted away, leaving shredded ruin behind her.
I dragged myself back to what used to be my den.
Once inside, I tore open every chest and shelf, pulling out every gift Evan had ever given—jewels, fine hides, carved keepsakes.
One by one, I tossed them into the refuse bin.
Behind me, I heard footsteps.
Familiar ones.
Human. Heavy. And unmistakably his.
第6章
Evan paused at the doorway. “What did you throw away?”
I didn’t bother to look at him.
“Just some rubbish I should have gotten rid of long ago.”
He didn’t seem to care. As if remembering something suddenly, he added, “I heard Sarah accidentally tore your bridal gown. But don’t worry. I told the weavers to rush another one. It will be finished in time for the ceremony.”
He slung his cloak over one shoulder.
“Remember, tomorrow night is the clan gala at my family’s longhouse. Don’t be late. I have matters to handle, so I won’t be coming back tonight.”
He took his keys of the stables and walked out. Not once did he glance at the overflowing waste bin behind me—packed with every gift he had ever given.
The next night, at the eighth bell.
I arrived alone at the Marks Family’s feast grounds.
The moment I stepped into the torchlit garden, I saw them.
Evan and Sarah.
Dressed in matching ceremonial attire, glowing under warm firelight like royalty born under the Moon Goddess.
Mrs. Marks’s expression tightened the instant she saw me.
Her smile cracked and fell apart.
She wore the jeweled necklace Sarah had gifted her. Her eyes dragged over me with disdain as sharp as claws.
“You’re an hour late. No surprise. No manners at all. Just like your mother, the thief.”
But Evan had told me the feast began at the eighth bell.
My fists curled.
Long ago, I had once mentioned that Sarah’s mother had been a mistress. The next day, Mrs. Marks’s missing jewelry “miraculously” appeared beneath my mother’s bedding.
Evan knew she’d been framed.
He never once defended us.
But now—I didn’t bow. I didn’t shrink. I stared Mrs. Marks straight in the eyes… then looked directly at Sarah’s smug little smile.
“I’m not here to be insulted,” I said coldly. I turned to Sarah. “And my mother was never a thief. She didn’t raise me to seduce other wolves’ mates like some mothers raise their daughters.”
The words barely left my mouth before a violent slap crashed across my cheek.
My ears rang. My body hit the ground.
A metallic taste filled my mouth.
Evan towered over me, eyes cold and superior.
“You spread rumors about her! Don’t you see how it torments her? How long are you going to keep this up? Do you want her to throw herself off a cliff?”
I pushed myself upright, face burning with fury.
“She suffered? She?” I let out a short, broken laugh. “She suffered from her own choices. And you—you know exactly what she’s done. My mother is dead. I have lost everything. And you just stand here, letting her play the victim?”
Whispers rippled through the crowd—soft at first, then louder.
Evan’s jaw tightened.
“Leave,” he growled. “Go calm yourself. You’ve humiliated yourself enough tonight.”
The garden buzzed as clan elites gathered.
Mr. and Mrs. Marks stepped forward with forced smiles and cups of spiced wine.
“Let’s not spoil the evening. Come, everyone—drink.”
Guests swarmed Evan and Sarah with praise.
“To the blessed couple!”
“Congratulations to the future Alpha pair. A perfect match!”
Evan had always insisted our relationship stay secret.
He never told anyone about us.
And now?
He smiled like a perfect gentleman, standing beside Sarah as if she were the rightful Luna.
He didn’t explain anything.
Didn’t deny anything.
Didn’t even glance at me.
Sarah clung to his arm like she belonged there.
Beneath the lantern-light, they looked like a storybook couple.
And I?
I was nothing but a stain marring the scene.
I laughed—soft, breathless, bitter—and turned to leave.
But a hand blocked my path.
Sarah.
Her smile was triumphant.
“Leaving so soon?” she purred. “But I haven’t told you how that old woman died.”
My heart stopped.
“What did you just say?”
She leaned in, her voice a poisonous whisper.
“I told her if she wanted her coin back, she’d have to record something… entertaining. The sort of thing traders pay for.”
She grinned wide.
“But she got all righteous. She refused. Even insulted me and my mother.”
A twisted laugh slipped from her throat.
“So I taught her a lesson.”
She sighed dramatically, as if bored.
“Did you know? She barely made it past fifty before she collapsed. Still had the nerve to cling to my leg and beg—beg—me to return the money for her sweet daughter.”
She clicked her tongue.
“Pathetic, truly.”
第7章
Her words struck like lightning.
For a moment, rage swallowed everything inside me. No sound left my throat, only fury, raw and blinding.
Then I snapped.
I lunged at Sarah.
My claws curled. Nails tore into her skin.
I yanked her hair, dragged her to the ground, clawed at her face and throat.
“You monster. Give me my mother back.”
But before my fingers could do real damage, agony ripped across my back. Then my ribs. The guards were on me, kicking and striking until I curled on the ground like a broken doll.
Gasps cut through the night air of the clan garden.
Evan pushed past them, his face stone-cold.
He didn’t even look at me.
He went straight to Sarah… trembling, crying, performing beautifully… and wrapped her in his arms as if she were fragile crystal.
When his gaze finally slid to me, it was cold enough to freeze bone.
“You’ve gone too far. Kneel. Apologize to her. Now.”
I stared at him, stunned.
But he wasn’t finished.
“Your mother was weak. She was abandoned and died chasing coin. And now you blame Sarah? Everyone here saw what you did. Are you proud of yourself?”
The murmurs around us grew louder, uglier.
“I heard her mother once stole the Luna’s jewels,” one woman whispered. “They say she died during a rogue kidnapping with her organs missing. Sounds like she got what she deserved.”
“And the daughter is no better,” another spat. “Ungrateful brat. Just like her mother. Raised to seduce any male she sees.”
I was still on my knees. I wanted to scream that they were wrong, to tell them my mother wasn’t a thief, that I wasn’t what they called me.
But my throat burned. No sound came.
Evan’s patience thinned.
“Apologize, Holly. I’ll count to three. One… two—”
Disappointment scorched me, hollow and deep.
I gave in.
My knees hit the cold stone. I lifted my chin… and slammed it down in a bow so hard I tasted blood.
“I’m sorry. I was wrong. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
Blood mixed with tears as my vision blurred.
I looked up with a twisted smile, empty and bitter.
“Is that enough, Evan? Did your precious darling get her apology?”
He froze. His pupils shrank as if, for a heartbeat, he finally saw me. Saw what he’d made me become.
He took half a step toward me.
But Sarah clutched his arm, voice trembling with false fear.
“Evan… she looks unhinged. I’m scared.”
He hesitated. Then stepped back. And held her closer.
His eyes turned away.
“Go home, Holly. Try not to shame yourself again.”
I rose, shaky but standing.
I looked at him one last time.
Then I walked away.
The night winds were bitter when I reached the Bonefire Hall. I stood in silence as my mother’s body was reduced to ash, her remains scattered into the sea beyond the cliffs.
As the last ember died, so did the last tether of my heart.
Gone. Just like that.
At midnight, I slipped off the bonding ring. I placed it gently into the nightstand drawer.
No need for dissolution rites. His love had never been real.
How convenient.
I packed my travel satchel, opened the door of my den.
My message stone pulsed.
Evan: Did you see a healer? Sarah forgives you. Let us forget tonight.
Another pulse.
Evan: I collected a new gown. It is beautiful. I will bring it later.
Silence.
Another pulse.
Evan: Are you asleep? Why ignore me? The bonding ceremony is tomorrow. Behave yourself.
I blocked him. Every rune, every channel.
I crushed the linkage stone between my fingers and let the fragments scatter across the path outside.
A spirit cart waited by the gate.
I climbed in.
“To the sky harbor.”
The night forest sped past, lanterns blurring like ghosts.
Ten years of love, pain, and foolish devotion… fading like mist.
“We will not meet again, Evan. And by sunrise, your wedding gift will be waiting. Exactly on time.”