Chapter 4 I Reject Your Amends ！

Angel’s POV

After a long shower, I finally lay down, my body sinking into the mattress. My muscles still ached from the injuries, the bandages tugging uncomfortably against my skin. I closed my eyes, hoping for a few minutes I would forget everything and just sleep.

But the door opened and Bastien stepped inside.

His footsteps were slow and hesitant, nothing like the attitude he had been giving me earlier on. He stopped at the edge of the bed, and I could feel his presence looming over me.

“Angel,” he said softly.

I didn’t answer. I kept my breathing calm, my eyes half-closed as though drifting into sleep. But Bastien didn’t leave.

Instead, he sat down beside me, the bed dipping subtly under his weight.

“Beta Leo told me… about Dana.”

My heartbeat stilled.

Bastien didn’t look angry now. If anything, his expression bore an unfamiliar heaviness, regret? Guilt? I didn’t know anymore. I couldn’t tell which of his emotions were real, and which were not.

Maybe he realized that he had probably gone too far because  his tone got warmer.

“I didn’t know she was that badly hurt,” he continued, his voice lower. “I may have… overreacted.”

Overreacted.

He had locked my sister in a cage and threatened to kill her if I didn’t confess to a crime I didn’t commit. And even after that, I had called him multiple times to spare some doctors to tend to her but he declined every call.

He sighed. “I’m sorry, Angel.”

His apology felt plain, and too late. When I recalled everything he took me through recently, the heaviness in my heart returned.

“Angel…” He shifted closer. “I know you’re upset. But you must believe me, Lilian could never seriously hurt anyone. She’s too gentle. And she… she has only six months left to live.”

His voice cracked slightly. But I wasn't moved, he was still siding with her, using her condition as an excuse for everything.

“In her condition, she wouldn’t be capable of harming your sister. She barely has the strength to stand some days.”

Six months. I felt nothing.

“She’s dying, Angel,” Bastien whispered, as though that alone excused every disaster she had brought into my life. “Please don’t hold this against her. She didn’t mean any harm.”

Didn’t mean any harm. My sister had lost her wolf, her very identity and her future because of Lilian. But Bastien only saw one victim, and it wasn’t Dana.

He continued. “Tell me what you want. Compensation… anything. I’ll give it to you. Just don’t make this bigger than it needs to be.”

He thought this was a business dispute that could be handled by a mere compensation or settlement. He was willing to pay me off in exchange for my silence and obedience.

I finally turned toward him, my expression calm. Something inside me had already broken beyond repair.

“Anything?” I murmured.

“Yes,” he answered immediately. “Anything.”

I reached on the bedside drawer and pulled out a folder.

Bastien blinked. “What’s this?”

I didn’t explain.

I simply opened the folder and flipped straight to the last page. He assumed, of course he did, that this was about property. Assets. Compensation. Perhaps jewelry.

“Sign here.”

He did not hesitate. His pen glided across the paper in a rushed, familiar scrawl. His signature - Alpha Bastien.

He didn’t even read the title page to notice the word written in bold – divorce. His mind was already drifting back to Lilian, whom he claimed was “unwell and unattended.”

He handed the pen back.

“Alright… it’s done,” he said with relief. “And Angel… Please, try to rest. Lilian isn’t feeling well tonight, so I need to get back to her soon. The doctors said she shouldn’t be alone.”

Of course.

He rose to leave, but hesitated. “Maybe you should stay home for a few days. Don’t go to the hospital. I don’t want you disturbing Lilian with… unnecessary tension.”

I nodded. I nodded because there was nothing left inside me to fight with. He had signed the divorce papers without knowing. He had severed our marriage with his own hand.

Now all that remained was for me to walk away.

I picked up the documents quietly, slid them into the folder, and stood. Bastien watched me, puzzled by my distant expression as though he expected gratitude.

But I didn’t look back.

I left the room and went straight to the spare bedroom, the one no one used. For the first time in years, I slept in a bed separate from him.

At 1:00 AM, a loud alarm jolted me awake. It was the cooking alarm I set every night to remind me to prepare Finn’s midnight meal, something he had once insisted he needed to sleep.

But now? He barely acknowledged me. He told Lilian he wished she were his mother. He said I scolded him too much, while Lilian “understood” him.

I stared at the glowing screen as the alarm kept ringing. Then slowly, deliberately, I pressed delete. The sound cut off instantly, plunging the room into silence. I turned off the entire phone.

The next morning, I went to Bastien Group Headquarters, a place where I had worked tirelessly as Bastien’s assistant.

I walked into Beta Leo’s office with my resignation letter in hand. He looked up, startled. “ Angel? What’s wrong? Did Bastien ask you to…”

“No,” I said calmly. “This is my decision.”

He stared at me, shock tightening his features. “You’re leaving Bastien?”

“I'm leaving the company.”

He glanced at the letter, hesitated, then sighed heavily.

“Angel… you’ve always been loyal to him. I didn’t think you’d ever choose to leave.”

“I didn’t think so either,” I said softly.

He signed my resignation approval with slow, reluctant strokes.

“We’ll miss you,” he said in a low voice. “Your skills have been… invaluable.”

I nodded. But inside, my wolf whimpered in resignation.

Over the next few days, I focused solely on settling my work responsibilities, sorting paperwork, organizing files. I didn’t contact Bastien or Finn. And neither of them contacted me. Not even once. I had always known that love had been a one-sided devotion.

And now I expected nothing from them.

Three days later, my phone buzzed. It was a call from Finn’s kindergarten teacher.

“Angel?” her voice trembled with concern. “There’s… there’s been a misunderstanding. Could you come to the school?”

 When I arrived, the teacher met me outside the classroom, looking both anxious and confused.

“We thought someone unfamiliar was trying to pick Finn up…” she explained cautiously. “But Finn said it was his mother.”

I stiffened.

“His mother?” I echoed.

The teacher nodded. “Yes… but when I saw you arrive, I realized—he meant Ms. Lilian.”

Inside the classroom, Finn sat on a tiny chair, his arms crossed, his little chin lifted defiantly.

“Finn,” the teacher called gently. “Your mom is here to pick you up, sweetie. You need to…”

“Finn’s mom is a housewife.” one of the kids in the classroom sniggered. Other kids laughed as Finn immediately got defensive.

“No, she’s not my mom…” he instantly rejected.

I felt a sting inside my chest. My own child was embarrassed of me.

The teacher looked at me helplessly, but I only offered a polite smile.

“There’s been confusion,” I said calmly. “Lilian helps out occasionally. It’s fine.”

Finn only darted me an apologetic glance before he ran straight into Lilian’s arms as she arrived moments later. She stroked his hair as though she were the rightful mother.

“Thank you, Angel,” she said kindly. “I’ll take him home now.”

I stepped aside. If it were before, I would have been angry but now I wasn't.

That night, around midnight, the doorbell rang. I opened it to find Lilian holding Finn, who was half asleep and sticky from chocolate.

“Finn loves clinging to me,” she explained, her voice sweet. “Also, he wanted chocolate, I thought he deserved it.”

She set him down before I proceeded to carry him into the house.

Finn rubbed his eyes. “I told the teacher Lilian is my mom because I was scared you’d stop her from taking me out. She was going to buy me chocolate.”

He clung my skirt as he continued, “I’m sorry mom, are you mad?”

He waited for me to snap.To scold or reprimand him. But I only brushed his hair gently away from his forehead.

“Go to sleep, Finn,” I said softly. “It’s late.”

He blinked, confused by my calmness, then trudged upstairs.