Chapter 7

I couldn’t take the fake smiles and suffocating small talk in the banquet hall anymore. With a weak excuse and a tight smile, I slipped away, heels clicking down the marble hallway until I stepped outside into the cool night air.

The breeze by the pool cut through the heat clinging to my skin, and for a moment, I let myself breathe.

But peace was short-lived.

The sound of stilettos tapping against stone echoed behind me. I didn’t need to turn to know it was her.

Lilian.

She walked over slowly, hands cradling her baby bump like some fragile, treasured thing. Her voice was light, sweet—poison wrapped in sugar.

“Kane said once the baby is born, he’s buying me a villa. Big garden, plenty of sunlight. Just the way I like it.”

I didn’t say a word. She wasn’t worth it.

But of course, she pushed further. Stepping closer, she leaned in like we were old friends sharing secrets.

“Do you remember that night?” Her voice was soft. Intimate. “After Kane took that wrong pill…”

I went still.

“Do you want to know why it was me?” she whispered, eyes gleaming with satisfaction. “I wore your favorite white dress that night. Sprayed on your perfume too.” Her lips curved in a smug smile. “Isn’t it tragic? He thought I was you.”

My heart didn’t race. It didn’t break. It just… went quiet. Numb.

She took a step back, still smiling. “So really, I should be thanking you. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have all this.”

Before I could respond, she suddenly stumbled—and with a dramatic splash, fell into the pool.

“Help! My baby! Please—” she shrieked, flailing in the water.

People came running. Guests, servants, wide-eyed onlookers gasping at the scene.

And me?

I stood there. Silent. Unmoving.

Kane shoved past everyone, still in his dress shirt, and dove into the water without a second thought.

Jennifer arrived last, cool and composed, her voice low but cutting. “Do you realize what you’ve done?” Her gaze burned into mine. “How do you expect the Rockclaw Pack to explain their Luna pushing a pregnant woman into a pool?”

I let out a sharp, bitter laugh. “Do you want me to apologize?”

Before she could answer, I bent down and shoved Lilian—who had just clawed her way out of the pool—right back in.

She screamed. Everyone froze. Gasps echoed all around me.bBut I didn’t care.

With slow, deliberate movements, I pulled the crystal pendant from around my neck—the one Jennifer herself had fastened on me during the bond ceremony with Kane. A symbol of “purity and trust,” she’d said.

I threw it to the ground.

Crack.

The sound of it shattering was the only thing louder than the silence.

I turned my back on all of them and walked away. Kane shouted my name behind me, desperate and hoarse.

But he had no right to call me back anymore.

By the time I got home, the storm had broken. Rain pounded against the windows, thunder rumbling in the distance.

And then—Bang!

The front door slammed open.

Kane stood there, soaked, hair plastered to his forehead, chest rising and falling in fury.

“How long are you going to keep this up?” he snapped, his voice sharp with frustration.

I didn’t flinch. “I’m not throwing a tantrum.”

He stared at me like I was speaking a language he didn’t understand.

“But if you still expect me to apologize,” I said, voice steady, “then let’s dissolve the bond. Right here. Right now.”

He froze. Color drained from his face.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?” His voice cracked. “Julia, I forbid you to say that.”

I stared him down. “And have you ever considered what I wanted? What I felt?”

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Of course not. Because there was nothing he could say.

He reached for me, pulling me into his arms, clinging to me like I was the only thing keeping him afloat. “You promised,” he whispered. “You said no matter what, you’d stay.”

I let him hold me. Let him breathe me in. His scent, his warmth—it was all so familiar.

But inside, I felt nothing.

“You think I’d stay after everything?” I murmured. “After you shattered me? Because I loved you?”

He held me tighter, voice trembling. “It’ll pass. This whole mess will pass. And when the baby’s born, things can go back to the way they were. We’ll still be us. Just... give it time.”

I almost laughed.

He thought I was still that girl.

The girl who swallowed her pain, who forgave too easily, who loved him so much she lost herself.

But I wasn’t her anymore.

He thought I wouldn’t leave.

He thought I'd always come back.

But Kane… I already left the moment you chose her.

You think I can’t live without you.

But I already am.

This bond? This love?

It ended a long time ago.

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