1. No One

My heart fluttered. My feet rolled like I was walking on clouds at the news of my mate's return from his business trip, ignoring my post-surgery pain. My pounding heart was even higher when I witnessed a convoy of sleek, black imported cars pulling into our driveway.

I waved my hands cheerfully.

"Eth..."

I wanted to call his name, but I couldn't. My breath caught in my throat.

It was because another woman was in Ethan's arms as he climbed down from the car. Her platinum blonde hair shimmered under the sun's rays, and her clear skin, like white jade, was so beautiful.

‘Oh…?’

I know her. Isn't that her?

But what broke my gaze away from the woman's familiar face was her protruding belly and Ethan's arm, which hugged her waist gently as he supported her. His eyes gazed intently at hers. When I saw the blaze that lit up in those usually cold eyes, I was assaulted by realization.

'Don't tell me...'

"Isn't she Charlene, the girl who was saved by Lady Narsha and became her maid?"

“No way. Could it be she's... pregnant with Alpha Ethan's child?”

The maid next to me worded what I was thinking. I trembled as the two of them grew closer. Ethan's warm gaze broke, replaced by a cold one as he noticed me. He sighed, then spoke.

"I'm tired, so you go back. Unless you can attend to her needs."

I lost my breath.

Attend to her needs? Why should I? I'm your wife and your fated mate, Ethan. So why should I attend to her like a maid should?

"She's with my child, so mind your attitude," Ethan said, answering my unspoken question.

My heart sank to the ground.

“Lady— I mean, Narsha, long time no see. As you see, it's… not exactly nice to see you again.” Said the woman.

She was really Charlene, the maid who used to serve me closely and who I considered my little sister. I let her go home a year ago because she said her mother was sick, but what is the truth?

The two of them brushed me aside as they entered the mansion, followed by the servants, who were openly giggling at me.

I was confused. I felt like someone struck the back of my head. I stared blankly at the floors for what seemed like an eternity. When I came to my senses, it had become dark. I left my room and headed to Ethan's study room.

The guards in black uniforms kept me from entering. But I had a pair of scissors in my hand—not to be directed at the guards, but at my neck. Using that method, I managed to break through.

I open the door with a loud bang.

The guards started apologizing to Ethan as they tried to pull me out. But Ethan didn't give us a moment's glance. He continued to look down at the document he had been flipping with his indifferent attitude.

“Explain it!” I shouted with a crack at the end.

Ethan slowly raised his eyebrows as he put down the document. He signaled the guards to leave the room, then shifted his gaze to me.

“She's pregnant with my child. Something you couldn't do for seven years. Need more?”

“Bu-but I even birth your child.” I refute timidly.

He scoffs. “Yeah, two useless daughters, not son.”

My stomach churned. I know he and the others in his pack are expecting the birth of a son to be his successor, the future Alpha, but...

"They are still our children, Ethan."

“Look, you are an omega, and you can only give birth to daughters who are as weak as you. Don't you think that’s an embarrassment for me?”

I bit the inside of my mouth.

“We… we can still try to have a boy. Not by you impregnating another woman! Even more so if it's Charlene!”

“Trying, you say? Even in your last pregnancy, you conceived another girl, right? But you even had a stillbirth that you had to undergo surgery."

I clutched my painful stomach. It hasn't even been a week since I lost our unborn daughter in a stillbirth, but Ethan doesn't seem to care about any of that.

“Yo-you can’t do this. Our daughters—”

"Charlene will give me twin boys, you know."

My head started spinning.

“Narsha, try to think. Suppose you give birth to a son for me, do I need to sleep with another woman?”

“… No.”

"Haven't I been big enough to give you a chance in the last seven years?"

“…Yes.”

“Then am I the one bad one?”

“…No?”

"See, you're the one who disappointed me. Are you not going to say sorry?"

I muttered as if under a spell. "… I'm sorry."

I… had disappointed him, huh?

“Ah, also, Charlene is my chosen mate and will be the Luna of this pack. You have to respect her.”

I widened my eyes. If it's anything, I thought Charlene would be the one to be his side woman, his breeder, and not his Luna.

“Your… Luna? But I thought I was your Luna as I'm your fated mate and wife."

He spoke softly. “Narsha, does it make sense to make you my wife, let alone a Luna of a pack when you can't produce the future Alpha?”

“But you already claimed me and marked me. Does it make sense to have another woman as your Luna?"

A look of disappointment flashed through his eyes. “Narsha, I didn't know you're such a woman hungry for power. I thought your feelings for me were greater than your ambitions.”

“What? That's not what I—"

The door opened with a loud bang for the second time. But this time, Ethan, who had been glued to his seat while responding to me indifferently, jumped out.

I thought, 'So this man can stand up from his seat.'

Ethan approached Charlene with a worried face. He talked sweetly at her, asking why she bothered coming all the way here when she was supposed to rest.

Charlene glares at me. There was not a trace of the adorable Charlene I once knew if, indeed, I ever knew her.

“Look at her, Ethan. I told you already that she covets Luna's position so shamelessly. I told you to throw her out!”

Ethan hugged Charlene's shoulder, persuading her not to get worked up for the likes of me.

Charlene spat again. "You should thank me 'cause I only asked him to remove your womb as a condition for letting you stay here because I could have killed you otherwise. So, stay quiet like a dead rat as you usually do, Narsha."

I swear I didn't hear any sound other than a long, deafening ringing for a second.

“… What did you just say? What have you taken from me?”

I glanced down at my stomach.