Chapter 4

The turning point came faster than I expected.

Less than a week after Derek left, his father, our pack's Alpha, had a heart attack after a high-intensity patrol. He was rushed to the medical center.

His condition was critical. He needed expensive heart bypass surgery immediately.

His mother panicked.

She reached out to Derek through their mind link, again and again, but was met with complete silence.

Her hands trembled as she switched to his phone, dialing his number repeatedly.

All thirty-plus attempts to reach him vanished into the void.

There was nothing. Fighting back tears, she stormed into the family business demanding to know what was going on.

The answer they gave her chilled her to the bone.

Derek had requested an extended leave, and had given his subordinates explicit instructions not to tell me or his parents.

He had completely vanished.

His mother's face went pale. She was about to report him to the pack's enforcers as a missing person.

That was my moment. I stumbled up to her, letting the tears flow.

"Mother, I... I think Derek tricked me!"

I put on a show of a woman pushed to her breaking point, and I laid out the whole "fake bond-breaking" scam.

My voice was shattered, every word soaked in hurt and despair.

"Mother," I sobbed, nearly fainting. "He... he also took all our liquid assets. He said he needed it for the trial... Father needs money for his surgery now, what are we going to do?!"

"That bastard!"

My mother-in-law was shaking with rage, her knuckles white. Then, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted, falling straight backward.

I caught her just in time, fighting to hide my ecstatic joy. I told the doctor calmly, "I'll pay for the surgery. Please arrange for the best healers immediately."

When she woke up in her hospital bed, I was sitting right there, my eyes red and swollen—I'd secretly rubbed them with a bit of onion—looking exhausted and pitiful.

Her gaze immediately fell on my empty wrist and my equally bare neck.

The heirloom necklace she had given me—the one made of moonstone and mithril, the symbol of a Luna—was gone.

"Elena, child, your necklace?" she asked, her voice hoarse.

I instinctively pulled my hand back and lowered my head.

I let my hair hide the cunning glint in my eyes, showing her only a sad, fragile profile.

"Father's surgery was more important," I choked out. "Derek took all our money... I had to... I had to sell the necklace on the black market. It should be enough to cover things for a while."

I looked up, took her cold hand in mine, and gazed at her with tear-filled eyes. "Mother, don't worry. Even though Derek abandoned us, I'll never forget how good you and Father have been to me. I'll never leave you. I'll take care of you for the rest of my life."

My mother-in-law couldn't hold it in any longer. Tears streamed down her face.

She clutched my hand, crying for a long time, and finally, she seemed to make a decision.

"Elena, my dear child, we're so sorry. We failed to raise that scoundrel right!"

She wiped her tears, her eyes becoming incredibly firm.

"From now on, you are our daughter. We'll just pretend... we never had a son named Derek."

I was celebrating inside, but on my face, I showed only shocked, grateful disbelief.

"Mother, how could I...? In my heart, you and Father have always been like my real parents."

The first battle was for their hearts. And I had won.