Chapter 2

By nightfall he still hadn't come home. I was already planning how to cancel the Mating Ceremony.

In the middle of the night, I heard the bedroom door open, followed by familiar footsteps.

The mattress dipped beside me. He sat on the edge of the bed.

"Vivian, I'm sorry. I lost my temper today. I owe you an apology."

I didn't respond. I lay perfectly still, pretending to be asleep.

"The Mating Ceremony is right around the corner. I don't want anything going wrong at this point."

He stood up. Just when I thought he was leaving, his next words froze my heart solid.

"I'm here to grab my things. Sophie's not doing well tonight and I'm worried she might do something stupid. So I won't be back for a few days."

I said nothing, but my body wouldn't stop shaking. Tears soaked the pillow once again.

Then fate decided to play its cruelest joke yet — I found out I was pregnant.

I didn't know whether to feel joy or despair.

Joy, because I'd finally have a child of my own. Despair, because I couldn't give this child a whole family. Its father was worthless.

I went to a café nearby, alone, and ordered a coffee.

While I waited, I stared at the test results from the hospital, torn.

In the end, I decided to keep the baby. No matter what kind of man its father was, this was still my child. I'd raise it on my own and give it all the love its father never would.

The coffee arrived. One sip, and a searing pain tore through my chest.

That's when I caught it — a faint trace of wolfsbane in the coffee. I'd been so consumed with thoughts of the baby that I hadn't noticed.

I clutched my chest and collapsed. People crowded around me. Someone called for help.

As my vision blurred, right before I blacked out, I saw the waitress who'd served me the coffee — and her face had become Sophie's.

I don't know how long I was out. All I know is that I had a dream that felt terrifyingly real.

In the dream, I was surrounded by darkness. Countless hands dragged me into an abyss. At the edge of the cliff above, Ethan stood with his arm around Sophie. Their mocking faces burned like acid.

I kept falling. Falling...

I jolted awake. My hospital gown was drenched in sweat. The first thing I did was grab the healer's sleeve. "My baby! Is my baby okay?"

The healer told me to calm down. "You were poisoned with wolfsbane. Fortunately, we caught it in time. Your baby barely made it."

I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. This child was the only hope I had left. No matter what happened, I would never let anyone hurt my baby.

"We do need the father to sign some paperwork, though. Is he available to come in?"

My heart sank. Ethan was probably with Sophie right now.

He didn't love me. He certainly wouldn't love my child.

I already knew the answer, but I still picked up the phone and called him, just in case.

The call connected. Before I could say a word, sounds came through the speaker that left nothing to the imagination.

"Ethan, ah... be gentle..."

"Good girl. One more time..."

Even the healer turned away in embarrassment.

The air went cold.

My hand trembled around the phone. I hung up immediately. I should've known better than to hope. All I'd done was humiliate myself.

I couldn't look the healer in the eye. "I'm sorry. He's not available."

The healer nodded and quickly left the room.

I sat alone on the hospital bed. Then my phone buzzed with a notification.

Sophie had posted on social media — photos of her and Ethan on a date in the Moonlight Forest. The two of them embracing under the moonlight. He'd prepared a candlelit dinner and an expensive necklace for her.

He'd never once done anything like that for me.

And there were more posts just like it.