Chapter 2

Ophelia’s POV:

“You—”

Raymond shot up from his chair. He nearly threw the woman off his lap; she scrambled away, stumbling over her own discarded heels as she frantically pulled the bodice of her silk dress up to cover her flushed chest.

I stood frozen, the weight of Ria in my arms the only thing keeping me upright. I swallowed hard, trying to force down the massive, jagged lump that had formed in my throat. 

“What are you doing here?!” He sneered.

He didn't reach for his shirt. He stood there, bare-chested and looming, radiating a predatory heat as he stalked toward me. My legs trembled, the muscles turning to water, but I forced myself to hold my ground.

“What am I doing?” I repeated, my voice a hollow echo. I looked at him, searching for even a flicker of remorse in those cold blue eyes, but I found only a simmering, righteous anger. “What are you doing, Alpha? Our daughter is dying upstairs while you... while you are this?”

His brows furrowed for a fraction of a second as he looked at me, then his gaze flickered to the woman cowering by the bookshelf. Now that she was standing straight, trying to fix her disheveled auburn hair, the bile rose in the back of my throat. I finally recognized her.

Camilla. His secretary. 

“You dare to question me?” Raymond sneered, closing the distance between us until he was inches away.

I clenched my free hand into a fist, the nails biting into my palm. My mind felt like a train jumping its tracks, reeling back through the years. I saw a montage of every night I had spent waiting for him, every humiliation I had endured in silence, every bruise I had hidden beneath long sleeves.

I had long ago made up my mind that I would stay in this marriage forever. I had told myself this was my punishment. This was my atonement for the sins of my past, for a life I had tried to leave behind. I didn't mind the coldness. I didn't mind the lack of love. As long as he remained loyal—as long as he never replaced me—I could endure the ghost of a life. I could force myself to love this man.

But this? Seeing my worst nightmare come to life after four years was like a punch to the gut. I wanted to run. I wanted to turn around, walk out that door, and disappear into the night. But I couldn't. Not with Ria’s shallow, rattling breath ghosting against my neck.

“I—” I cut myself off, my voice cracking like dry parchment. I took a shaking breath and forced the words out. “I need to go to the hospital. Now, Raymond.”

He stiffened, his eyes finally dropping to the bundle in my arms. Ria was almost entirely hidden by the thick wool blanket, her head resting heavily on my shoulder, but he knew who she was. He only had one child, no matter how much he wished otherwise.

He sneered, a sound of pure disgust. “What is wrong with her now?”

The word ‘now’ hit me like a lash. I tightened my grip on Ria, shielding her body with mine. “Her fever won't go down. It’s been three days, and she’s turning blue, Raymond. I need to get her to the emergency room.”

My voice had gone soft, nearly a whisper. The idea of begging him—this man who was still covered in the scent of another woman—was utterly repulsive. But I was an Omega with no keys, no money of my own, and a daughter who was fading. I would crawl through glass if it meant saving her.

He scoffed, turning his back on me to stare out the floor-to-ceiling window at the dark, sprawling estate. “You—” He stopped, then spun back around, his face contorted with a sudden, explosive rage. He jabbed a finger at me, his voice rising. “This is why I hate you so much! You can’t seem to let go, even though it’s clear that she’s a lost cause!”

My eyes widened, my chest burning as if he’d poured acid into my lungs. “What are you saying?! She’s three years old! She’s your blood!”

“She is a mistake!” he roared, his Alpha aura flaring. “This useless daughter of yours is not going to live past six, and we both know it! The doctors know it! You waste your time all day and all night doing nothing but bumbling around her like an idiot when you’re supposed to be serving your Alpha! When you’re supposed to be providing me with a real heir!”

He stepped forward, his massive frame shoving into my personal space. “And now, see what your carelessness has led me to resort to. Do you think I wanted to break our marital vows? Do you think I wanted to cheat on you?! No! This is all your fault. If you weren't so obsessed with a dying child, maybe you’d be a wife worth touching!”

With each sentence, he jabbed his finger into my shoulder, pushing me back. One step. Two. My feet caught on the edge of the rug until my back finally hit the cold, hard wood of the wall. I shuddered, the impact jarring Ria.

My eyes felt heavy, my throat parched. I wanted to cry. I wanted to wail until the walls came down. But the tears wouldn't come. It had been a decade since I’d cried. 

“She’s our daughter,” I said, my voice eerily level. I forced my gaze to remain steady against his burning, terrifying blue eyes. “How... how could you blame your own weakness on a sick child?”

I finally spat the words out. I had let them all humiliate me—the pack, the staff, the socialites. I had let them paint me as the lowly, lucky Omega who had stumbled into a position she didn't deserve. But I would not let him sully her name. I would not let the dirt I was crawling in touch her.

She was not a mistake.

For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then, the monster woke up.

Raymond’s hand shot out, grabbing my shoulder with bone-crushing force. I gasped as Ria began to slip from my arms. I clutched her tighter, even as his fingers bruised my skin.

“You fucking dare to talk back to me?” he hissed, his face inches from mine. “It seems I have given you too much freedom. To dare think that an Omega as lowly as you could call me weak? You want to see my strength, Ophelia? Fine. I will show it to you!”

His hand came back and then swung forward in a blur.

CRACK.

The slap was so loud it echoed off the high ceilings. My head snapped to the side, my vision exploding into white spots. The copper taste of blood filled my mouth.

Ria, jolted awake by the violence, let out a piercing, ragged wail. She buried her face into the crook of my neck, her small hands clutching my nightdress. “Mama! Don’t hurt Mama!” she screamed, her voice thin and terrified.

“Give her to me,” Raymond growled, reaching for Ria’s blanket. “If she’s going to die, she’ll do it without your pathetic influence.”

“No!” I shrieked, twisting my body to shield her.

He grabbed Ria’s arm, trying to yank her away from me. The sight of his large hand on her skin triggered something primal inside me. I didn't think about the consequences.

I lunged forward and sank my teeth into his forearm. I bit down with everything I had, tasting his metallic blood as I ground my teeth together.

Raymond roared in pain, his grip on Ria loosening just enough. He shoved me away with a snarl of pure animal rage. I lost my footing, my socks sliding on the polished floor. I went down hard, rolling to protect Ria as we hit the ground. My head slammed into the corner of a heavy wooden filing cabinet.

Pain exploded at the base of my skull, a dull, nauseating throb that made the room spin. But I didn't let go. I pulled Ria into my chest, curled into a ball on the floor, trembling.

Raymond stood over us, clutching his bleeding arm, his chest heaving. “I should have never taken you as my wife,” he panted, his voice trembling with a lethal edge. “It’s clear now that I made the biggest mistake of my life. Someone like you—so stupid, so useless, so vulgar, insolent, always begging and unable to even bear a proper heir. I should have abandoned you long ago and married someone worthy.”

I looked up at him through a haze of pain, my body shaking uncontrollably. The physical pain was secondary now. The fear was primary. It was all-consuming as I realized what was coming.

“You think I am weak, huh? Think you’re so strong?” He sneered, stepping back into the center of the room.

Suddenly, the door to the office creaked further open. Zoe stood there, clutching her ribs, alongside a house guard who had run over at the sound of the screaming. Camilla stood by the desk, watching with wide eyes.

Raymond took a deep breath, and then he unleashed it. His Alpha Voice.

“I, Raymond Ambrose Vorthas, Alpha of the Vorthas Pack, have had enough of your incompetence and your insolence,” he declared, his voice booming. “You have failed your Alpha. You have failed this pack.”

I tried to speak, to beg him to stop, but the Alpha’s voice kept my jaw locked.

“I hereby revoke my marriage vows!” he thundered. “I cast you out! I break the bond that ties your soul to mine! From this moment forward, you are nothing to the Vorthas name. You are stripped of your title and your protection!”

He stepped forward, pointing a finger at the door. “I reject you, Ophelia Vitale.”

The bond inside me snapped. It felt like a limb being torn from my body without anesthesia. I let out a broken, silent sob, clutching Ria to my chest.