Chapter 2

I emerged from the temple with my soul shattered. For the sake of the child in my womb, I had to find Kieran and demand the truth.

Having composed myself, I arrived at Kieran's territory council hall. The guards at the entrance showed flickers of panic upon seeing me, attempting to block my path: "My Lady, the Alpha is currently inside..."

Ignoring their protests, I strode toward his office door. Just as I was about to push it open, Isabella's voice drifted from within.

"Kieran, our bond is still new and my power remains unstable. My chest aches constantly... only when you're close does the pain subside."

Kieran's voice was low and gentle,a patience I hadn't heard from him in ages: "Don't be afraid. I'm here. I'll continue channeling my strength to stabilize yours."

"Kieran, look into my eyes when you answer me." Isabella's left hand tugged at his tie while her right pressed against his chest. "In here,have you ever truly let me go?"

Kieran's throat bobbed, his breath catching at the warmth of her fingertips, yet his voice remained cold: "You're imagining things."

"Am I?" Isabella laughed softly. "When you agreed to let her marry in my place, it was only to force my return, wasn't it? Your heart has always belonged only to me, hasn't it?"

After a suffocating silence, Kieran's voice emerged "The past doesn't matter anymore, Isabella. "

Another pause stretched endlessly. When Kieran spoke again, his tone was weary: "These questions serve no purpose now. You're here for whatever time remains. I will not let you suffer alone."

"So you won't deny it?" Isabella pressed. "You won't say you don't love me?"

"Isabella, don't push this. I'm here because—"

"because of what?" She moved closer "because you still care? because seeing me dying tears you apart?"

"You need to rest," he said.

Standing outside the door, I felt a complex mix of emotions. He hadn't confessed his love, but he also hadn't denied her accusations.

Our marriage had been built on duty, not love. But what exactly had I been hoping to find here?

I slowly closed my eyes, fighting to keep my tears from falling. If this was Kieran's choice, then I would free from the burden of our false bond.

But the child.... The weight of that reality crushed what remained of my shattered heart.

I wandered back to my territory in a daze, my mind fractured beyond repair.

When awareness returned, I found myself standing before a shimmering dimensional barrier being prepared by pack members. An omega approached her enthusiastically: "This is the Memory Gallery we're creating for Lady Isabella's birthday!"

Compelled by some masochistic impulse, I stepped through the mystical threshold. The realm contained extracted memories from Isabella's entire life, and what I witnessed there destroyed me completely.

During those endless nights when I had been imprisoned in the Isolation Chamber, desperately waiting for Kieran to rescue me,he had been with Isabella.

I watched memory after memory unfold with crystal clarity:

Kieran in his magnificent wolf form, racing alongside Isabella beneath the full moon;

In the moonlit grove, he stayed close enough for her to lean against his warm fur；

He even personally groomed her fur with tender devotion, the same gentle care he showed me.

Every single memory bore the exact dates，those same nights when I had been locked away, clinging to hope that my mate was fighting to free me.

During that month of darkness and despair, he hadn't been fighting for me at all,he had been with Isabella the entire time!

His public declarations of love at the Council meetings, his cancellation of the Morgrave alliance,it had all been an elaborate deception, a smokescreen to hide his true activities.

My fists clenched so tightly that my nails drew blood from my palms, yet I felt no physical pain. The emotional agony had numbed me to all else.

I could bear no more. Without a word, I turned and fled the Memory Realm.